[JohnMakin]

While you're not wrong, in many many states in the US, if not a majority of them, finding a therapist that is both a) covered by your insurance and b) accepting new patients can be extraordinarily difficult if not impossible. At the same time, demand for mental health care is steadily rising. That's why these apps do so well.

[NoZebra120vClip]

I've found that some of the best therapists don't accept any insurance at all, and it'd be foolish to limit one's choices to therapists who are covered by conventional health insurance.

One very good choice in my area is Catholic Charities. They have licensed counselors as well as students under supervision, and they charge a mere $35 per session. This is a great choice for those who are uninsured or have trouble getting in somewhere.

My Christian health sharing ministry shared all costs for a Catholic therapist while I was seeing him. Since this is not a "health insurance" arrangement, I didn't need to worry about whether he was in-network or approved; he just submitted his bills to them. My health sharing ministry also has a service that "reprices" bills, i.e. renegotiates them based on market rates and lops off overcharges that commonly occur.

And yeah, "BetterHelp" has this illusion of availability, and that can be very alluring to people in distress, and that's a dangerous thing. If someone gets mixed up with gig-worker counselors, they may find themselves worse off than when they started. "Good things come to those who wait", as it were.

[JohnMakin]

> and it'd be foolish to limit one's choices to therapists who are covered by conventional health insurance.

I mean, many people don't have a choice, or it's prohibitively expensive. Good for you if you have such flexibility.

[ebiester]

So long as you’re not LGBT, or considering an abortion, or any number of things that run afoul of the Catholics.

[NoZebra120vClip]

While I am neither LGBT nor abortion-minded, I found that Catholic Charities employs counselors and students from all walks of life, and not all of them are Catholic. Also, Catholic Charities serves everyone in the community, no matter what their faith or race or sexual preference. They are notable for their service to the refugee population, many of whom are Muslim. So I would say that you do them a disservice if you think that their counselors will argue with you over these issues, rather than supporting and respecting you as a person with things to work out.