BetterHelp

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BetterHelp

Basic information
Founded	2013
Legal structure	Subsiadiary
Industry	Psychotherapy
Official website	https://www.betterhelp.com/

BetterHelp is a mental health platform that provides direct online counseling and therapy services via web or phone text communication.

Incidents

Private data sharing

BetterHelp's Privacy Policy explicitly states that any private information shared with therapists will remain confidential. Specifically, it clarifies that such information will not be shared with third-party advertisers:

To be clear, we don't share any data or information you share with your Therapist with any Third Party advertisers. Even if you opt in to Advertising cookies and web beacons, we still don't share information with Third Party advertisers like Member names, phone numbers, clinician diagnosis, questionnaires answers, sessions data, journal entries, messages, worksheets, or any other type of private communication you have with your Therapist on the Platform.

According to an FTC complaint, the company failed to protect its customers' information and instead sold it to third parties:

BetterHelp used a wide variety of tactics to share the health information of over 7 million consumers with platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, Criteo, and Pinterest for the purpose of advertising.

Unethical pay structure

Andrew Flynn, a counsellor who joined BetterHelp in September 2022, stated that in the UK, a BetterHelp subscription costs between £40 and £70 per week, while he was paid approximately £18 per session. To achieve a reasonable annual salary, therapists would need to exceed the 20-hour weekly limit for therapy sessions recommended by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

70% of respondents in a survey had a negative experience with better help In UK therapists don't need accreditation to practice unlike US, nevertheless there are bodies which accredit therapists, BetterHelp therapists may not be accredited in UK.