Key takeaways
- Talkspace is a subscription- and message-based online therapy platform that accepts insurance.
- Talkspace offers individual, couples, and teen therapy. It also provides psychiatry and medication management services.
- Our tester liked 罢补濒办蝉辫补肠别’蝉 app and how she could message her therapist between sessions, but didn’t like how she couldn’t choose her own therapist or filter for a therapist.
Talkspace is an online text and video chat therapy platform that offers access to therapists who cover a broad range of mental health services.
Keep reading to learn how Talkspace works, how effective the service is, how our tester liked the platform, and whether it’s a good fit for you and your lifestyle.
Keep in mindTalkspace is not a substitute for emergency services. If you or someone you know is thinking about harming yourself or someone else, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or use the chat feature at 988Lifeline.org.
What we liked
- You can message your therapist anytime between sessions. Your therapist will respond as soon as they’re able.
- Subscription plans are flexible, starting at $69 per week.
- Talkspace accepts some insurance.
- Text therapy may be more comfortable for some.
- Flexible scheduling is available.
- Psychiatry and medication management services are available.
What we didn’t like
- Live sessions are only 30 minutes.
- No sliding scale available.
- Our tester did not like that she couldn’t use filters to search for a therapist who matched her needs.
- Our tester found the mobile app to have some bugs.
- The Journey Symptom Tracker can feel too general and purposeless.
- Value may not be there if you prefer live sessions over messaging.
Talkspace was founded in 2012 with the goal of making mental health services more accessible for everyone. Its message-based platform can be a draw for some who don’t feel comfortable going in or meeting a therapist face-to-face.
Between sessions, you’re able to contact your therapist with any lingering thoughts or questions, and your therapist will get back to you at their earliest convenience. Plus, you have multiple subscription options, allowing you to either exclusively message your therapist, meet over video once per week or more, and add workshops.
The variety of plans and services offered can change as your needs change, which makes this platform flexible in more way than one.
Our tester | Grace
I’m 23 and a new college graduate. I’m Asian and LGBTQIA+.
I wanted to try online therapy since I always have a really busy schedule and [Talkspace] made therapy seem so much more accessible and less daunting!
“[Talkspace] helped me open up and made therapy sessions seem so much easier to fit into my schedule.”
Online therapy
Talkspace offers online therapy services for multiple different demographics. It offers individual therapy, therapy for veterans, therapy for teenagers (ages 13 to 17 years), and therapy for LGBTQIA+ folks. Talkspace also offers couples therapy through its sister platform, Lasting.
While you cannot filter therapists by preferences or demographics, Talkspace was able to connect Grace with someone who matched her needs and someone who Grace felt like was a good fit.
“I was able to voice issues that I usually don’t discuss or even let myself think about,” she said.
Talkspace offers three different subscription models. The first has unlimited messaging therapy, which allows you to message your therapist at any time through text, video, or audio messages 5 days per week. Usually, your therapist responds within a few days.
The rest of the subscription models also feature unlimited therapy, but you can have live sessions based on the plan you choose. The second plan allows four live video calls with your therapist each month, or one session per week. If you opt for the last plan, you’ll get the unlimited messaging, four live sessions per month, and weekly workshops.
All three subscription plans include the following resources:
- clinical symptom recording through an online symptom tracker
- the Happify interface, a science-based app that aims to promote happiness
- resources for work-life planning, financial wellness, and legal advice through 罢补濒办蝉辫补肠别’蝉 employee assistance programs
I also thought I was matched with a therapist that understood me and was able to ask really insightful questions. She knew exactly what to ask to guide me towards critically thinking and finding my own answers.
Psychiatry
Talkspace also offers psychiatry services for people interested in both mental health care and medication management. Psychiatrists and nurse practitioners staff the program.
While Talkspace Psychiatry offers useful services, it’s worth noting that psychiatry professionals are unable to prescribe controlled substances like Adderall, Ativan, and Xanax. They are also unable to prescribe lithium, which can help treat mood disorders.
Talkspace Psychiatry’s costs are different from the online therapy costs, as it requires an initial evaluation fee of $249, and each follow-up visit costs $125.
All about therapists
Talkspace offers a number of licensed, accredited, and experienced therapists. These professionals are credentialed, and the company performs a complete background check before hiring them for a role.
Professionals must have 3,000-plus hours of clinical experience in their area of expertise. They may have additional training to specialize in certain therapy approaches.
Talkspace employs a wide range of therapists who specialize in various therapeutic approaches and focus areas. The initial sign-up questionnaire will help match you with a therapist who suits your needs and has experience addressing your specific mental health concerns.
When you are matched, you are able to see your therapist’s photo, availability, time zone, and professional license number. You can also see their approaches to therapy, what they specialize in, how long they’ve been practicing, and how long they’ve been with Talkspace.
If you are matched with someone you’re not sure about, you can always request to switch. Additionally, if you begin working with a therapist and feel that they are not a good match, you can easily request to be matched with a new one.
Our tester, Grace, had mixed feelings about the service. She liked her therapist and thought it was a good match, but “on the other hand,” she said, “I like having more control over which therapist I end up with and I would have preferred to read and have the option to choose who was working with me.”
To get started with Talkspace, you can sign up on the website or register in the app through the Google Play Store or App Store. On the website, click on the buttons for the type of service you’re interested in. If you’re in the app, simply hit ‘get started.’
Afterward, you’ll be asked to complete a questionnaire that will ask you about your life, goals, and preferences.
After you’ve completed the survey, a matching agent helps connect you with the best therapist for you. The agent uses a scripted questionnaire to ensure you’re matched with a therapist who fits your exact needs. Within about 48 hours, you’ll get information on your personalized match and what the next steps look like.
Our tester, Grace, tested Talkspace for 4 weeks, and she found the onboarding process easy, saying it took around 15 minutes.
“The therapy platform was very easy to navigate…and it was very easy to schedule an appointment as the app guided you through choosing times based on your therapist’s availability. It even split the times into morning, afternoon, and evening.”
Because of her schedule, Grace met her therapist after 2 days of being matched, but she was matched within 20 minutes.
“I really like the therapist I ended up with,” she said. “I believe that we were a good match…but I was disappointed to see that they didn’t mention preferences in the quiz flow when they were matching us.
“I also went through the steps to try switching therapists, and again, they did not ask us if we [had any preferences, like] someone who was experienced in counseling people in the LGBTQIA+ community. But this time, we had some options in the potential therapists we could see.”
Talkspace had a really simple sign-up process and the matching service worked really well for me. I can see it being very easy to start and use, even for people who are new to online therapy.
Talkspace offers three different subscription plans that cater to different budgets and health needs. Some insurance plans may cover the services. You can take the online assessment to help determine whether your insurance is accepted.
Talkspace also accepts some employee assistance programs and other plans. There are no contracts, so you can cancel your plan anytime.
While Talkspace doesn’t offer a free trial, a free consultation is available with a matching agent to discuss how Talkspace works and the matching process.
The three levels for individual subscription plans include:
- Unlimited messaging therapy: $276 per month
- unlimited text, video, and audio messaging 5 days per week
- Unlimited messaging therapy plus video: $396 per month
- unlimited text, video, and audio messaging 5 days per week
- four live 30-minute sessions per month
- Unlimited messaging therapy plus video and workshops: $436 per month
- unlimited text, video, and audio messaging 5 days per week
- four live 30-minute sessions per month
- weekly workshops
The couples therapy plan includes four 30-minute monthly video sessions plus unlimited text, video, and audio messaging in a group room with your partner and therapist. The cost is $109 per week, billed $436 every 4 weeks.
Psychiatry services are offered as an add-on plan and cost $249 for the initial psychiatric evaluation and $125 for follow-up visits.
At any time, you can change to a new subscription level or pause your plan. Changes are effective immediately. During the next billing cycle, your account will be credited if you downgrade your plan, or the difference will be charged if you upgrade your plan.
Does Talkspace take Medicare?
As of May 2024, Talkspace announced that it “is now in-network with Medicare in certain states.” People with Original Medicare or Medicare Advantage can now receive online therapy, and Talkspace is working to expand coverage so it can take Medicare in all 50 United States.
Insurance coverage
Talkspace works directly with certain insurance companies to offer coverage for mental health services. The company currently accepts plans from Aetna, Cigna, Optum, and more. You can determine whether your insurance plan is eligible by completing the onboarding questionnaire.
For those who are covered, the average copay is around $25 (but could go all the way down to $0, depending on your plan).
If Talkspace doesn’t accept your insurance, you may be able to get services covered through your job’s employee assistance program (EAP).
Talkspace partners directly with some companies to offer mental health services to their employees. You’ll need to contact your employer for an EAP code that can give you access to the company’s services at no cost to you.
Talkspace is compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Talkspace says all communication between the software and the servers, including chat data, is encrypted. The app also requires you to enter a password and lets you create a unique password for added security.
If you’d like to remove or modify your personal data including chat histories, you must fill out the appropriate request form and email it along with a copy of your photo ID to the company at privacy@talkspace.com.
The company notes in its privacy policy that it may use data you provide to “modify, and develop new products, features, and services.”
Talkspace also states that it may use data you provide to “conduct clinical and other academic research, internally and with approved research partners and identify summary trends or insights for use in external communications,” noting that direct identifiers like name and contact details will be removed.
The platform had their privacy policy listed and could be easily found under the settings up. Other than that, it wasn’t addressed very much and privacy did not seem to be a huge emphasis but also not a huge concern.
Overall, customer satisfaction with Talkspace varies greatly. The company currently has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. Most complaints from Talkspace users here have to do with billing issues, requests for refunds, dissatisfaction with the therapists, and the rate of therapists’ replies.
Some reviewers say they liked their therapy but did not like the company, citing that contacting customer service is “a nightmare” and takes them a week to several weeks to respond.
Though Grace did have a positive experience with Talkspace, she did have some notes that she found influenced her decision to discontinue using their service.
- Length of live sessions: “Thirty minutes is wayyy too short,” Grace says. “I found that we would begin digging deeper into topics and issues around the twenty minute mark…it definitely takes me a while to settle in, be comfortable, and then open up about certain issues… [I] would have benefitted a lot more from having an entire hour.”
- Therapist matching: Though Grace did feel like she had a good match, she was looking for a counselor who was “LGBQIA+ or familiar with LGBQIA+ counseling. I know Talkspace has licensed therapists who have experience working with the LGBTQIA+ community, so it would have been great to add that as a question or option in the quiz flow.”
- Bugs and glitches: Grace thought the desktop and app platforms Talkspace offers are intuitive and easy to follow, but she found the mobile app to be a little glitchy. “Sometimes you needed to scroll a few times before sending a message. Since Talkspace primarily offers a texting service, this is a bug that should be fixed as soon as possible.”
- Symptom tracker: For all subscription plans, Talkspace offers a Journey page where people can take notes on their long- and short-term goals, as well as log their symptoms in a tracker. “I think this feature might have the potential to help someone…solve attainable goals or [give] direction,” she says. “I also think the symptom tracker isn’t very helpful [for me]. It seems to imply that going to these therapy sessions can reduce your anxiety and depression frequency significantly, which is a little bit of an unrealistic expectation and could give users a sense of disappointment with not seeing it go down.”
In the news
You may already be aware of Talkspace controversy after recent concerns from former Talkspace employees, who have made claims detailing unethical marketing practices and data privacy violations from the company, including:
- manipulating reviews
- advertising services in a way intended to trigger consumers into using the service
- using user data and medical records to develop marketing and advertising strategies
However, none of these allegations have been proven.
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Talkspace features thousands of licensed therapists. Many are trained across multiple areas of expertise, including anxiety, issues affecting the LGBTQIA+ community, addiction, relationships with family or friends, eating disorders, and more.
While text therapy can be helpful, Talkspace isn’t a perfect fit for everyone. Deciding whether text therapy is right for you will largely come down to your lifestyle and preferences.
I would highly recommend this service to readers that prioritize texting with their therapist as an important means of communication. The platform is easy to use, the matching service seems to be effective, and it makes therapy extremely flexible and accessible.
Without the face-to-face experience that comes with traditional therapy, it’s possible to miss out on affirmation and comfort from things like eye contact and a warm smile. Still, some people may prefer the privacy of talking through text rather than face-to-face. Grace also mentions that she would not recommend Talkspace to those who “would rather video call over texting, as the price is too high for people who don’t utilize texting to the max.”
罢补濒办蝉辫补肠别’蝉 24/7 access may be a key benefit for those wanting something convenient and flexible. A chat room on your preferred device can help keep your calendar clear and save you time on commuting.
Don’t think Talkspace is for you?
Take a look some of our other picks for the best online therapy options:
If you need emergency help, a text therapy platform isn’t the best choice. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or your local emergency services.
Yes, Talkspace is a legitimate online therapy platform with a large nationwide pool of licensed professionals that the company says are credentialed in accordance with the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) standards.
Talkspace states on its website that 80% of users have reported that it was as effective as or more effective than traditional therapy.
Though more studies are needed, some research on online therapy in general (which usually includes video conferencing as the medium, not text-based therapy) suggests that online therapy is as helpful as in-person therapy for treating some conditions.
On third-party review sites, some Talkspace users have reported frustration and dissatisfaction with the platform or the therapists they worked with.
One of the key differences between these platforms is insurance acceptance. BetterHelp does not accept insurance, while Talkspace accepts certain insurance, including:
- Premera
- Cigna
- Optum
- Gatorcare
- Aetna
BetterHelp does say it offers financial aid options, so you may keep that in mind if you find that BetterHelp is the best fit for you.
Talkspace plans vary, but pricing starts at around $276 per month. On its website, Talkspace compares its pricing to the cost of in-person therapy sessions, which it says can range from $175 to $500 per session.
Talkspace is HIPAA complaint.
According to Talkspace, all communication between the software and the servers, including chat data, is encrypted. However, you’re unable to delete chat transcripts because they’re considered to be medical records.
罢补濒办蝉辫补肠别’蝉 privacy policy does outline that, if you opt in to participate in research studies, “protected health information will be disclosed as part of these studies, your information will only be included with your written authorization.”
Yes, it does take Medicare. As of May 2024, Talkspace accepts both Original Medicare (parts A and B) and some Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans. The company is working to expand Medicare coverage in all U.S. states.
There are some key pros and cons to consider with Talkspace.
Although the research on online text therapy is limited, it may be a good option if you’re looking for convenient, cost-effective therapy from home but would rather skip the webcam or telephone. And with 罢补濒办蝉辫补肠别’蝉 flexible plan options, you can choose to add on live sessions on a monthly or weekly basis.
If you’re in immediate danger or need emergency mental health services, call someone you trust, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, or your local emergency services instead of relying on a service like Talkspace.