9 Best Online Psychiatry Services

Guide to Choosing the Best Online Psychiatry Service

• Price: Cost and insurance coverage are clearly important factors, so you should review fees and insurance plans accepted before signing up for any service. Know your monthly budget and whether or not you want to pay per session or a monthly fee for a set of recurring services. Also, decide whether you’re OK with paying a membership fee in addition to service fees. Consider the length of appointments, provider qualifications, and additional perks (like the ability to message your provider) when calculating the value for money. Some online psychiatry services may also offer financial assistance. For example, service fees may be able to be waived or reduced, and some psychiatrists may offer sliding-scale pricing. It’s always worth emailing customer service to inquire about making services within your financial reach. 
• Treatment area: The focus of an online psychiatry service is also important: does it specialize in care that includes your particular diagnosis or age group? (For example, certain sites specialize in care for ADHD or depression and anxiety but not much else.) Can it treat multiple issues that you may have (such as additional co-occurring conditions like substance use)? Do you have access to a therapist in addition to a psychiatrist/prescriber? How broad is the service’s network of providers where you live, and what are their qualifications? If you’re looking to find out whether or not you’re experiencing a diagnosable condition and what that is, you’ll want to start with a more general online psychiatry service.
• Medication options: The particular medications/prescribing services available are important to check. Most companies are not allowed to prescribe controlled substances. Some may have less experience or comfort with certain types of medications or diagnoses. Access for refills or discussing urgent side effect issues should also be considered. Also, check if medication is a separate charge or included in the service fees.
• Scheduling: Scheduling is one of the best potential advantages of online psychiatry companies, but only if the service actually has good availability for a wide range of times, and with the same provider each time instead of a more worrisome random provider approach. Ease and accuracy of scheduling is also important. If you have a specific need for appointments that fall outside of normal business hours, look for services with the widest range of scheduling options. And be sure to consider if you’re willing to wait a bit longer for service in order to secure appointments at a specific time.
• Choosing a provider: You’ll want to consider credentials and experience: Did the provider attend well-established or well-known academic training programs? Are they actively board-certified, and in what specialties? Is their identity or cultural background similar to your own? Additionally, you’ll want to be sure the service has a relatively easy way to switch to a different provider in the event you don’t feel that the first one is a good match. Look for services that ensure easy access to customer support for technical issues (such as video signal problems) or billing concerns.

Are Psychiatry Services Right for Me?

Online psychiatry can be helpful if you live in a remote area with limited in-person providers, have a schedule that makes it difficult to fit in appointments, have difficulties leaving the house, or want a therapist with a specific identity that’s not common where you live. Choosing an online provider might also be helpful if you’re concerned you’ll need to switch psychiatrists or medications and are looking for support quickly.  

Online psychiatry services are typically not intended for people in severe distress or crisis.

What If I’m Having Thoughts of Harming Myself?

Anyone with thoughts, urges, or plans of suicide or self-injury, or mental health symptoms that endanger their own or others’ well-being, should seek in-person emergency care ASAP by calling the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or going to their nearest or preferred hospital emergency room. Other free mental health resources include:

How We Tested and Reviewed Online Therapy Services

We evaluated 82 online therapy companies and therapist directories in order to compile this list.

Firsthand Experience

As part of our research, we signed up for talk therapy at all 55 online therapy companies we reviewed. We tested each company’s therapy services, and if the company offered other services (such as couples therapy and kid or teen therapy) we tested those too. Our testers are located all across the United States and abroad, meaning we have extensive information about each company’s services in a variety of areas.

User and Brand Surveys

In addition, we surveyed more than 8,000 therapy users: 100 at each of the 55 online therapy companies and the 27 therapist directories we tested. We collected over 100 different data points in which we asked users to evaluate each company’s services, from their therapist’s qualifications to whether they found a therapist who met all their needs to how they’d rate the company overall. We also sent questionnaires to each company we considered, asking for their perspectives on the services they provide, and we interviewed former patients and therapists at the companies where possible.

Research

In addition to the extensive research we performed on each of the 55 online therapy companies we reviewed, we also researched dozens of therapy directories. We tested each by searching for appropriate therapists for 37 hypothetical scenarios that might lead someone to search for a mental health provider across 18 ZIP codes. We then rated the results by how well the therapists we found in each directory could address each scenario, looking into whether it listed competent, licensed therapists who were qualified to treat these issues.

Expert Recommendations

Once we completed this testing and these surveys, we evaluated our findings with the help of three licensed therapists—Amy Marschall, PsyD; Nic Hardy, PhD, LCSW; and Hannah Owens, LMSW—in order to make our recommendations. These therapists provided extensive insight into the ethics and efficacy of online therapy as well as information about relevant therapeutic modalities and approaches.