The Truth About BetterHelp & Your Career as a Therapist

BetterHelp is everywhere—podcasts, ads, emails promising lucrative pay. With claims of $122,196 per year for 40 hours a week, it sounds tempting, right? (They literally sent Miranda those numbers to try to “recruit” her in December of 2024!) But let’s take a closer look at the numbers and stories behind the promise.

Did you know that over 17% of all therapists in the U.S. are now working for BetterHelp? With over $8.35 million spent monthly on podcast advertising alone, their reach is undeniable. Yet, reviews from therapists who’ve worked with them paint a very different picture:

• Those enticing earnings calculators? Many report that real income often doesn’t match up.

• “I work for BetterHelp as a therapist and their pay scale sucks.  You get paid per hour but the sessions are 45 minutes long.  If I had to rely on this for my main income I wouldn’t be working for them.”

• “Yep. $30/hr for 5hrs and then $35/hr for the next 5hrs and then $40/hr...and so on. It really is ridiculous. I tried it out and thought maybe it would not be as bad as I have heard but where there is smoke there is fire.”

• 1099 status means therapists shoulder self-employment taxes (15.3%), pay for their own retirement, vacation, and sick days.

• A “40-hour workweek” isn’t what it seems—when you add documentation and treatment planning, it’s closer to 50–60 hours. And let’s be honest, few therapists can sustain that pace.

• Worse yet, by partnering with platforms like this, therapists are often competing against themselves, supporting a model that prioritizes profits over sustainable pay for clinicians.

Meanwhile, profitability for BetterHelp is slipping. As user numbers drop, where will they cut costs? Likely with even lower therapist wages. Well… I suppose they could lower their advertising, but based on the 12 different recruitment letters I’ve gotten on multiple platforms it doesn’t look like they are slowing down in that area anytime soon.

But it is just a side hustle…

Let’s talk about side jobs, side gigs, side hustles, and the job you have just until things get moving… How does this impact you being able to actually create something that is sustainable for you. When do you implement your marketing plan? Are you actually competing against yourself?

Read more about how Betterhelp invested $26.9 million dollars in ONE 3-month quarter advertising on podcasts alone here.

Do you feel like you are competing with BetterHelp (and other online tech companies)? You are.

Do you feel like it is getting harder to be seen and noticed with all of these online tech companies with deep pockets for advertising who don’t have to be profitable since they have venture capital funding? You are right.

Feeling tired, angry, or frustrated with all of this? You aren’t alone.

But, we want to invite you to pause, take a breath, and notice something right now: They are nothing without your labor.

Therapists: You are SO incredibly valuable.

None of these companies can exist without your education, training, and licensure. Your expertise is what is truly fueling and funding these companies.

But, are you providing that at the expense of your soul, or of your clinical outcomes? Signing up for some of these companies in the interim or “just for now” while you are overworked, underpaid, and burning out may NOT be in your best interest.

Bear with us for a second. Imagine you are looking for a great long-term committed, monogamous partner. But, that is hard to find - no worries you are in no rush. But, you’d like companionship in the meantime.

You meet someone who isn’t ideal for a committed relationship. But, they are great activity partners. No problem. Except when you are spending every bit of extra time with them. And, they are actively keeping you from dating other people. They are also non-monogamous while requiring you to be monogamous- this is not the kind of equitable relationship dynamic you were intending.

This relationship isn’t what you’d choose for yourself but suddenly you feel stuck and trapped since they moved into your home without telling you and you don’t know how to get them out. Whether this is something you’ve experienced, or a client or friend has shared you probably know how this goes.

Now let’s go back to the relationships you are choosing in your business. Are these really good long-term business relationships? Are they fair and equitable? Are they keeping you from being able to put energy towards what you truly want? A few things we’ve seen happen when partnering with online tech companies that aren’t good fits:

• Having to be all or nothing with taking insurance (no option for only taking certain plans that work for you)

• Having to choose between getting paid for work, versus providing quality care

• Trusting employers with client'’ PHI only to find they don’t really understand HIPAA or PHI and that they aren’t keeping clients’ PHI safe

• Getting paid 1099 contractor wages that don’t make sense after factoring in self-employment taxes (that you didn’t understand when you signed up)

• Being paid as an underpaid contractor, while being treated like an overworked employee

• Having zero time left to grow what you really want to get out of this “interim” relationship

• Having to compete against yourself to be underpaid in an unsustainable employment situation

Your energy, your labor, and your time are valuable. We know that not everyone has the privilege to say no to exploitative relationships. But, we also know that if all of the therapists who said no to exploitive relationships, these companies would be gone overnight. Their millions of dollars in ad spend would be gone and you wouldn’t be competing against them for clients, or for the first page of Google.

Consider what kinds of relationships you are in. Do you really know who you are in a relationship with?🧐

If this has you rethinking your next step, we’ve got you covered. Check out this replay of a training designed to empower therapists like you to build a private practice that doesn’t rely on middlemen.

In this training, you’ll:

• Learn how to evaluate where you’re at with a customized assessment.

• Create a sustainable 90-day business plan to grow your practice on your terms.

• Discover practical strategies to overcome stuck areas and thrive.

Bonus: You’ll also receive a FREE Private Practice Analysis Worksheet to help map out your path forward.

Grab your replay now and take the first step toward building a practice that values your time, effort, and expertise.

You deserve better than BetterHelp. Let’s build a career that works for you.

Warmly,
Kelly, Miranda, and the zynnyme team

References- I know we don’t usually include references in our blogs but we threw around a lot of numbers in case you want to go and check it all out for yourself.

1. Tap Twice Digital: BetterHelp Stats​

2. Market.us: Therapist Statistics 2024​

3. Indeed: BetterHelp Reviews by Therapists​

4. Behavioral Health Business: BetterHelp User Decline in 2024

5. BetterHelp Reviews on Reddit