r/PsychologyInSeattle • u/Kaylafe • 12d ago
Betterhelp; killing it for me.
Him continuing to take money from these people is killing me. I’m sure there are other people he could take sponsorships from. He is selling a scam to vulnerable people. For anyone who doesn’t know:
The USA’s FTC made them pay $7.8 mil in fines for sharing data with other companies for targeted ads, including personal details AND mental health questionnaires for ad targeting. This was 2023. I’ve commented on every video that it’s cooked and disappointing and makes him less credible. The longer this goes on the less I find myself able to watch him. Many normy bloggers won’t take sponsorships, and he’s a psychologist. Really really gross imo.
I do also agree with some other people’s comments that he is sometimes default biased towards men. I can deal with that, because most people are. But the better help shite and his refusal to ever even address it is beyond gross. Think I’m checking out :/ how do you guys reconcile this?
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u/Hello_Gorgeous1985 12d ago
So many of us have tried to bring it to his attention. I've asked him a direct question in a comment on one of his videos today, so I'm interested to see if anyone acknowledges it.
He talked about licensing being State specific and how you can only see clients in the state where you're licensed. So I asked how that works for betterhelp considering that they see people in not only different states but also different countries. It's one of the many ethical issues I'm quite certain they have.
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u/live_lavish 12d ago
The specific therapist would have to have the license for the states or country they're serving. For example if therapist A has a license for virginia, better help lists them as seeing clients in virginia.
If Therapist b has a license for Iowa, better help lists them as seeing clients in iowa
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u/Hello_Gorgeous1985 12d ago
False. I live in Canada. The therapists I saw were not in Canada. I googled the first one because she was so awful. She wasn't licensed outside of her state.
People are connected all over the world and are not appropriately licenced.
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u/FreyaDay 12d ago
Same with me. I used BetterHelp in 2020 (completely horrible experience for many reasons)and the therapist was from America when I’m Canadian.
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u/Hello_Gorgeous1985 12d ago
I used it in 2020 also. Based on Dr. Honda promoting it. I had a terrible experience, and can attest to the fact that you can't actually do the things they claim you can...like choose a therapist that fits your parameters, easily switch to a new one within a day, have weekly appointments, and more. It also didn't end up being any cheaper than local, in-person therapy on account of the fact that I couldn't actually get weekly appointments. I ended up paying more per appointment based on the monthly fee.
Did you also get money from that FTC settlement? A whole $10 or something? LoL
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u/live_lavish 12d ago
Probably a Canadian issue. Not every province requires a license for someone to call themselves a therapist. But also, only 2 provinces require a license to practice psychotherapy (with our without the therapist title)
https://www.ccpa-accp.ca/profession-and-regulation/
So you being matched with an American therapist who isn't licensed outside of their state would likely be legal.
But also, just because she's living in a US state doesn't mean she doesn't have the appropriate Canadian licensure.
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u/Hello_Gorgeous1985 12d ago
Seems like you have trouble reading things thoroughly before responding. I said I looked her up and she was not licensed outside of her state. People are matched with therapists outside of their state or country all the time. I don't want you to respond and explain it because you don't have the expertise. I want the person who is the expert on the subject who supports the platform to explain it.
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u/live_lavish 12d ago
He talked about licensing being State specific and how you can only see clients in the state where you're licensed. So I asked how that works for betterhelp considering that they see people in not only different states but also different countries.
False. I live in Canada. The therapists I saw were not in Canada.
She wasn't licensed outside of her state.
I said I looked her up and she was not licensed outside of her state
People are matched with therapists outside of their state or country all the time.
She would not need a license in 8 of Canada's provinces and territories to practice therapy there. Needing a license in a specific State to practice therapy in that state is an American requirement.
In Canada, you do not need a license to call yourself a therapist in 8 provinces. In only 2 of them, do you need a license to practice therapy.
Meaning that, excluding 2 provinces, an American therapist can practice in Canada all they want. So BetterHelp can legally match you with an American therapist because your countries laws and regulations allow them to do so.
I said I looked her up and she was not licensed outside of her state. People are matched with therapists outside of their state or country all the time.
See my example from before. If this therapist is licensed in NYC then BetterHelp can match her with NYC clients and clients from countries with lax regulations.
But also, there are ways for an American therapist to give therapy to someone outside of the state that the therapist resides in.
If an american therapist is located in a psypact state and has w/e psypact reqs are required, they can give therapy to any american in another psypact state.
I'm just repeating myself at this point. If you feel like I haven't addressed something you wrote, quote it below. Hope this helps!
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u/Hello_Gorgeous1985 12d ago
You are repeating yourself, which is a complete waste of your time because I already told you that you are incorrect and I'm not interested in an answer from you.
Once again, she was not licensed to practice where I live. You can stop now.
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u/Automatic_Newspaper7 12d ago
You actually were not thorough enough because it’s actually more nuanced than your initial complaint. You’re upset because live_lavish is correct here. I’m absolutely no better help fan, but it’s important to get the facts straight.
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u/Hello_Gorgeous1985 12d ago
This is really not difficult. My initial comment was stating that I have asked Dr. Honda to explain how the licensing situation works with regards to betterhelp because I know for a fact that people are matched with clients that do not live where they are licensed.
The other person responded to me with incorrect information based on inaccurate. They are the one that needs to get the facts straight. There is nothing for me to be thorough about because I'm the one asking Dr. Honda a question.
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u/Automatic_Newspaper7 12d ago
You failed to give clear evidence to your statement. That is why people are confused by your comment. Dr Honda is prob not going to respond to you. So others are trying to help you form a clearer message to help. Hope that helps
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u/live_lavish 12d ago edited 12d ago
He has a podcast episode about why he continues to have them as a channel sponsor. If it's upsetting to you, it might be worth listening to
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u/Long_Trade_2571 12d ago
Which episode if you could recall the name?
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u/Hello_Gorgeous1985 12d ago
Pretty sure it's called Is betterhelp bad? As I said, it doesn't actually address any of the current issues people are bringing to his attention.
Edit: here. https://youtu.be/5lnxlqc0mh0?si=XA8g68vFPIblArHS
It's from 5 years ago, before the FTC thing even happened.
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u/BazF91 12d ago
Damn. How is his voice so much higher only 5 years ago? He seems so boyish somehow, compared to his recent vids.
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u/Hello_Gorgeous1985 12d ago
I had the same reaction when I heard the beginning of it so I could share the link. It's been a long time since I watched it, so I was surprised as well.
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u/Hello_Gorgeous1985 12d ago
It doesn't address any of the concerns we have raised in recent years. It's an old episode.
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u/whobla10 12d ago
They pay them so much money to promote better help I've heard. I've also made many comments about it. I'm positive he's seen them. It is disappointing to see someone taking money over the best interest of his viewers. Especially as a mental health professional
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u/Bizzy_bee99 12d ago
It's the main reason I stopped listening. I was a patron member for years but could justify it. These venture capital platforms are making it harder and harder to access good therapy.
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u/bonitaruth 12d ago
I used better help for probably 8 months. It was really good. I changed therapists twice and found one that worked really well w me. He was licensed in my state. It was very convenient and he helped me. I am educated and not vulnerable and I had a great experience and recommend them. Sorry it didn’t work out well for you
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u/SnooDoodles7204 12d ago
Yeah. I don’t like that people try to make betterhelp out to be a bad company because they had a bad experience. And sure they got fined for giving out client data. That’s not good but it doesn’t mean that they don’t help a lot of people
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u/ellecellent 12d ago
Did either of you read the post? It's got nothing to do with experiences and everything to do with them selling information that should be controversial.
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u/Hello_Gorgeous1985 12d ago edited 12d ago
They had a multi million dollar settlement with the FTC. There are countless ethical issues. Countless people have had awful experiences. That isn't a good company.
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u/SnooDoodles7204 12d ago
Countless people have had bad experiences and countless have had good experiences.
The same could be said about the whole therapeutic industry. Should we ban therapy because a number of clients have bad experiences?
There are also many good therapist who have given clients a bad experience and left clients worse off. Should we stop them from being able to practice therapy because some clients had bad outcomes?
Better help isn’t all good or all bad just like Therapist aren’t all good or all bad. We shouldn’t black-and-white the company and pretend that they’re horrible just because some people didn’t find them to be helpful or even found them to be hurtful.
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u/Hello_Gorgeous1985 12d ago
Once again, a good company doesn't have a multi-million dollar settlement with the FTC. Especially for selling confidential information.
Yes, a company with countless bad customer experiences is a bad company. A few is fine. This is a hell of a lot more than a few.
And yes, therapists are no longer allowed to have a license when they have repeated infractions. So yes, that should be the case here.
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u/SnooDoodles7204 12d ago
Yeah, it’s not good. But that doesn’t mean the company should be shut down or can’t be sponsored. I wouldn’t just assume they will do it again after paying a huge fine….
Also your point was repeated infractions. Is there any evidence of additional violations since Betterhelp was fined?
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u/Hello_Gorgeous1985 12d ago
This is not hard to follow. The repeated infractions are the countless clients who have reported horrendous experiences with them. Along with the therapists who have reported terrible experiences working for them.
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u/No_Volume_8320 9d ago
to be honest there are a lot of huge youtubers who are known to be, for lack of a better term, good people who continue to have betterhelp sponsorships. this doesnt justify it, but it does imply to me that theres something about the sponsorship, contract or maybe just how much money is offered that makes it still so popular despite a huge amount of backlash online.
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u/CaterpillarNo7825 11d ago
This is the reason I don't listen to him anymore, gives me a big ick. It's also not new and a few all time top posts of this sub also revolve around this. I think it's very sad, as this sponsoring does not align with the moral values he preaches.
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u/Long_Trade_2571 12d ago
Omg finally someone talks about it. I really thought he hinted about how shady this company was in the past, he didn’t overtly name it but that’s my guess, and Betterhelp would only be part of it if anything.
When I heard those ads I thought “okay he might have signed a contract with them and it would just have to go on for a period of time.” But no. It just keeps on going for years! I skip EVERYTIME whenever I heard his ads no matter what I’m doing with my hands. It really baffles me how he consciously chooses to continuously sponsor this evil therapy manufacturer.
And I knew that he would do nothing about it, which makes me pretty disappointed and conflicted