Online-Therapy.com Review: Tried And Tested In 2024

Online-Therapy.com offers a convenient and affordable way to meet virtually with a therapist who practices cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a type of therapy that helps a person recognize and change negative thoughts and behaviors to achieve improved mental health. However, the program may not be adequate for those with nuanced or serious mental health concerns.

Key Features

• Therapists are available via text, voice chat or video sessions.
• CBT-based program features worksheets, a journal and a planner to schedule mental wellness activities.
• The fully virtual program can be accessed worldwide from any location with an internet connection.

Online-Therapy.com was founded in 2009 by former investment banker Carl Nordström to make CBT accessible online to the general public. CBT is often supplemented by homework exercises aimed at helping an individual identify and change negative behaviors that can cause anxiety, depression or other mental health conditions.

Pros	Cons
• Members have access to unlimited messaging with their therapists • HIPAA-compliant program featuring end-to-end encrypted communications for privacy • Available internationally • Offers couples therapy • All therapists have CBT training • Range of subscription tiers, with a 20% discount the first month • Materials and worksheets are downloadable.	• Monthly subscriptions only: No option to pay by week • Accessibility depends on membership tier • Platform doesn’t accept insurance • Therapists don’t prescribe medication. • I experienced some connection issues during live sessions

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Online-Therapy.com

• Access to licensed therapists specializing in various areas
• Convenient, at-home therapy sessions
• Evidence-based therapeutic techniques and tools
• Affordable therapy options with flexible payment plans

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On Online-Therapy

• Three subscription tiers available, ranging from $200 to $440 per month
• Members can access unlimited messaging with their personal therapist, who responds within 24 hours Monday through Friday.
• Each membership plan includes 45-minute live sessions with users’ personal therapists, which take place once or twice per week depending on the subscription level.

Online-Therapy.com provides users with a structured online therapy program divided into eight video, audio or text sections. Each section features educational resources about mental health conditions, interactive worksheets and tools for learning how to identify and change certain behaviors for enhanced mental well-being.

When an individual signs up for a monthly Online-Therapy.com subscription, the platform matches them with a therapist specializing in CBT based on their personal profile, but members can switch therapists at any time. Online-Therapy.com’s licensed therapists focus on depression, anxiety, relationship issues, anger management and a host of additional mental health concerns.

All Online-Therapy.com therapists hold advanced degrees in CBT counseling, clinical psychology, social work or another specialty or a doctorate in psychology and practice from the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia or Ireland.

Specific program features depend on the type of subscription an individual chooses. A basic subscription includes unlimited messaging with a licensed therapist and access to the program materials but doesn’t include live sessions. The standard subscription includes the basic features, as well as one live therapy session per week, while the premium subscription unlocks access to all of the program features plus two live therapy sessions per week. Live sessions can be held over audio, video or text chat.

Online-Therapy.com offers three different subscription tiers for individual therapy, which you can see in the table below. All tiers come with 20% off the first month.

Tier	Services Included	Monthly Cost
Basic	• Unlimited Messaging • Access to therapy program	$200
Standard	• Unlimited Messaging • Access to therapy program • One 45-minute live session per week	$320
Premium	• Unlimited Messaging • Access to therapy program • Two 45-minute live sessions per week	$440

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Online-Therapy.com has only one tier for couples therapy, which costs $420 per month and includes access to the eight-section program and one live session per week. All memberships are eligible for a 20% discount off of the first month.

Online-Therapy.com may reduce the stigma associated with mental health challenges, says David Tzall, Psy.D, a licensed psychologist based in Brooklyn. “[The platform] is attempting to make [therapy] accessible to people who might not initially attend traditional mental health services,” he adds.

However, Online-Therapy.com’s approach to CBT may be too “cookie-cutter” for people with more complex concerns, cautions Dr. Tzall, who says he doesn’t believe the basic subscription, which only offers text communication, offers a meaningful way to connect with one’s therapist. “Texting lacks the tone, body language and cadence that is needed when helping a person address their internal world,” explains Dr. Tzall.

In general, Dr. Tzall doesn’t recommend Online-Therapy.com. While he notes that the service may be helpful for individuals with mild mental health concerns, he suggests that individuals with chronic or long-term mental health conditions contact a local therapist instead.

I signed up for Online-Therapy.com as a newcomer to talk therapy. However, I was already familiar with CBT because I read a self-help book on the subject during a previous emotional rough patch. My hope in using the service was to talk through some family issues and break out of my negative thought patterns.

Signing up for the service was quick and easy. After choosing my focus areas and the standard subscription tier, Online-Therapy.com matched me with a therapist practicing in my state. I was also given the option to change therapists right away. At the time, there were three to choose from in my state (Tennessee), as well as some therapists in other areas, like New York. However, most of the options were from different countries, such as the U.K and Australia.

I decided to stick with my auto-selected therapist, and I’m glad I did. My therapist was kind, empathetic and provided gentle, non-judgemental advice. They helped me to recognize unhelpful patterns and behaviors in my life and offered solutions from an outside perspective.

For example, I tend to bottle up my emotions and silence my needs and wants. My therapist suggested better methods to express myself, and, after only a few weeks, I noticed improvements in my communication skills. My family relationships also improved. This progress made me excited and motivated to continue every week.

I didn’t feel like my therapist used a cookie-cutter approach with me. However, I can’t say the same about the program itself. Each of the eight sections of the program focused on a different CBT principal, which wasn’t helpful to me because I was familiar with the style of therapy already.

Some sections may not apply to everyone who signs up, either. For instance, one of the early sections is devoted to anxiety. As anxiety wasn’t one of my focus areas, I didn’t fill out that worksheet. Other features like the journal, activity plan and yoga were also quite basic, and I didn’t use them much.

Meanwhile, I found the live sessions significantly more helpful for my concerns. I enjoyed the audio and video chats, but found it difficult to effectively cover ground via text sessions.

Most of the live sessions went smoothly. On one occasion, I experienced connection issues that led to a delay of around 10 minutes. However, the customer support response was excellent. I emailed them to let them know about the connection issues, and they responded to my emails within 24 hours and added seven extra days to my account. They also added an additional seven extra days when my therapist missed a session due to a personal emergency.

While I was initially going to try out the program for only a month, I decided to subscribe for a second month because I connected with my therapist and saw improvements with their guidance.

I may renew my subscription intermittently when I feel down or want extra support. The affordable price is a major perk and makes it easy for me to resubscribe. However, I would prefer an option to pay weekly rather than monthly, as it’s more convenient for me to schedule bi-weekly sessions.

Overall, I enjoyed using Online-Therapy.com because it connected me with a wonderful therapist who offered personalized guidance for my situation. I would resubscribe for further live sessions with the same therapist. I was personally underwhelmed by the sections and worksheets, but I think these features could be useful for a beginner to CBT.