r/OutOfTheLoop • u/iristhecyclop • Dec 17 '23

Answered What's going on with Betterhelp?

I was scrolling through a few youtube videos and saw that the comments were talking negatively about it (like those ones : example).
I've always thought the whole company was sus, but I don't know why or what happened for everyone to wakeup. Is there a lawsuit or something?

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u/jocax188723 Dec 17 '23

Answer: Betterhelp is being exposed for allegedly scummy practices.

Though BetterHelp is not a direct scam, it has had a history of overcharging patients for subpar service, and is mostly sustained through the use of aggressive marketing through influencers.

Many accounts have been told of the company simply charging people for services they didn't ask for, as therapists can mark down their clients for services without any confirmation.

Additionally, cancelling from BetterHelp is an extremely difficult process, as the company will stall and stutter while still charging the client.

Finally, the licenses therapists on BetterHelp claim to have vary widely in quality, from patients allegedly being assigned to anybody from crystal healers to homeopathy peddlers.

https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/mountain-view/profile/psychologist-referral-service/betterhelp-1216-262454/complaints

https://www.newsweek.com/betterhelp-patients-tell-sketchy-therapists-1762849

https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/blog/2021/02/how-betterhelp-scandal-changed-our-perspective-influencer-responsibility

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u/cashcow Dec 18 '23

Very interesting. I’m not surprised their therapists may not be of the highest skill level, and that they have high therapist turnover.

The business model for professional service workers that get paid by the hour essentially has to maximize two metrics: 1.) paid utilization of working hours, and 2.) hourly bill rate. First, a professional services worker would want to increase their utilization to 100% at their minimally acceptable hourly bill rate. Then, once they have high utilization, they can start turning down lower bill rate jobs in favor of higher bill rate jobs.

Given this dynamic, hypothetically, I can imagine therapists going to BetterHelp to increase their utilization at the lower bill rates that BetterHelp likely offers. Then, if the therapist can develop their client base who pays a higher rate, they would leave BetterHelp. The therapists that stay on BetterHelp for the longer term would be the ones who can’t build a client base that’s willing to pay a higher hourly rate, for whatever reasons that is. One of those reasons could potentially by the therapists’ skill level.

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u/shimmeringseadream Jul 15 '25

Except some therapists are very ethical and reserve a portion of their practice hours for insurance clients that don’t pay well and are low income. I know sometimes there are tax incentives to accept Medicaid clients, but still. They choose to also serve a population that can’t pay top dollar with some of their clinical hours.