Online Therapy

[lightning05]

I live in the U.S. and will be out of work at the end of this week, which means I won't have health insurance after the month of August. I could sign up for state insurance but since I don't have a job I probably would be on the lowest tier and IDK if that includes mental health. I have some savings but paying for therapy out of pocket will quickly become too expensive.

Has anyone used any online, sliding scale, or pay-by-session therapy? I looked into TalkSpace and BetterHealth but both are pretty pricey with the cheapest plan being $200 USD a month. I could always just do a month or two and then call it quits, but I'm just trying to explore my options.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[may71]

You might want to try calling 211 to see if they can advise you about insurance.

I don't know anything about online therapy

 

[sinking_ship]

Medicaid does cover mental health I think, at least the states I've lived in, though it pays out less so it's maybe harder to find a therapist who will take it.

If you search for a therapist on the psychology today website, usually therapists will say on there if they do a sliding scale fee. Or there is probably some local resource like community counseling or something, that's meant for low income.

 

[lightning05]

@sinking_ship It's crazy because it was really hard for me to find a therapist in my area WITH insurance so I'm dreading the search now, especially since a lot of them are closed for in person sessions or fully booked with clients. A lot of therapists I reached out to in the past have said they were no longer taking new clients. It is harder to get them to take Medicaid patients.

I think I am liking the idea of online/text/video therapy because I could probably start seeing someone faster and I could have more sessions in a week (from what I've been reading online). I also like the anonymity of it. I personally find starting over with a new therapist completely exhausting and anxiety inducing and I believe an online program would allow me to switch more easily if I'm not liking the person up front. I will check to see if any clinics nearby are open or taking clients. I have gone to free clinics in the past, the last time being about 6 years ago. Sessions were limited but at least it was something.

 

[Innocent Forever]

If there are any training centres near you that might be somewhere to start.

 

[lightning05]

@Innocent Forever that's how I got the free sessions before. I just ended work so this next week will be dedicated to finding therapy as I still need to sign up for the state insurance. Someone told me that if I can to choose a different insurance plan than the standard because they have better insurance but I may not qualify for that one since right now I have no income. It's so difficult to search for a mental health provider smh