How to Find a Therapist That Takes Your Insurance

BetterHelp insurance availability, coverage, and cost may vary by state, plan, provider network, therapist availability, and deductible status.

To find a therapist that takes your insurance, start by reviewing your mental health benefits, then search your insurance provider’s in-network directory for therapists near you or online. 

Once you find potential therapists, confirm directly with both the therapist’s office and your insurance company that they currently accept your plan, are in-network, and that your expected copay, deductible, or coinsurance details are accurate before booking your first appointment.

Finding a therapist that accepts insurance doesn't have to be overwhelming. Understanding your benefits, searching provider directories, and confirming what a therapist actually accepts can help you find covered care and avoid surprise costs.

If in-network options are limited, you can also compare local options with online therapy.

The process can be broken down into manageable steps. If you’re looking for a therapist that takes your insurance you can start by reviewing your plan's mental health benefits, searching insurer and therapist directories, reaching out to providers directly, and confirming coverage details before the first appointment.

Below, explore a step-by-step guide to finding a therapist that accepts insurance, along with answers to common questions about mental health benefits and coverage.

Does insurance cover therapy?

Many health insurance plans include mental health or behavioral health benefits, though what those benefits cover can vary widely. 

Coverage may depend on the specific plan, the provider network, the deductible, copay, coinsurance amounts, and whether a given therapist is considered in-network.

Under the Affordable Care Act, plans sold through the Health Insurance Marketplace are required to cover mental health and substance use disorder services as essential health benefits. 

Additionally, federal mental health parity rules generally prevent plans that offer mental health or substance use disorder benefits from applying more restrictive limits on those benefits than they do for comparable medical or surgical benefits.

If you’re unsure where to start, BetterHelp’s guide to whether health insurance covers therapy can provide additional context on common coverage questions.

Review your mental health benefits

Before searching for a therapist, it may help to get a clear picture of what the current insurance plan actually covers. You can start by logging into the insurance company's online portal or call the member services number printed on your insurance card to request this information.

When reviewing mental health benefits, it may be worth asking about or looking for the following:

• Mental health or behavioral health benefits and what services they include
• Copay or coinsurance amounts per therapy session
• Whether a deductible must be met before benefits apply
• The number of covered sessions per year, if a limit applies
• Whether a referral or prior authorization is required to see a therapist
• In-network versus out-of-network coverage and how costs differ between the two

Having this information on hand before starting a therapist search can help narrow down options and avoid unexpected costs.

Search your insurance provider directory

Most insurance companies maintain an online directory of in-network providers. 

These directories can typically be accessed through the insurer's website and often allow you to search by location and specialty area. Additionally, you can search for provider type including:

• Psychologists
• Therapists counselors, Licensed clinical social workers
• You can also search by location or specialty area as well as by location or specialty area.

Because provider directories may not always reflect the most current information, it’s a good idea to confirm directly with a therapist's office that they are still accepting the insurance plan before scheduling an appointment. 

Therapists may change their network participation status, and directory listings can sometimes lag behind those changes.

Use therapist directories and filter by insurance

In addition to insurer directories, a number of independent therapist directories allow people to search for providers and filter results by insurance accepted. 

These platforms can make it easier to browse therapist profiles, review areas of focus, and identify providers who may be a good fit before making contact.

Contact therapists directly

Searching for a therapist near a specific location, or an online therapist, can serve as a starting point for building a shortlist of potential providers. When reviewing profiles, it may be worth considering whether the therapist's areas of focus align with what you're hoping to address in therapy, whether that involves anxiety, relationship patterns, life transitions, grief, or something else entirely.

If a therapist's profile does not clearly state which insurance plans they accept, reaching out directly is a reasonable next step. 

You can call the therapist's office or send a direct message through the directory platform to ask whether they accept a specific insurance plan. Getting this confirmation early can help avoid scheduling delays or unexpected out-of-pocket costs later.

Verify coverage with your insurance company

In many cases, a therapist's office will verify insurance coverage before a first appointment. However, if that step does not happen automatically, it may be worth contacting the insurance company directly to confirm that a specific provider is in-network and that the expected benefits apply.

When calling the insurance company, ask about deductible status, session limits, and any prior authorization requirements that may be in place. Knowing these details ahead of time can help set realistic expectations about therapy cost.

For situations where a preferred therapist does not accept insurance, it may be worth asking the insurance company whether sessions paid out of pocket can be submitted toward the plan's deductible. 

Some plans allow out-of-network expenses to count toward a deductible even when they are not covered at the in-network rate, which could reduce overall costs over time.

If you find a therapist that you really want to work with, ask them if they offer a sliding fee scale. A sliding fee scale is a pricing model that some therapists offer that adjusts the cost of a therapy session based on an individual’s income.

Can online therapy be covered by insurance?

Research suggests that online therapy can be as effective as in-person therapy for a range of mental health challenges. 

A review published in World Psychiatry found that internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy produced outcomes comparable to face-to-face treatment across multiple conditions, suggesting that the format of care may matter less than the quality and consistency of the therapeutic relationship.

Whether online therapy, sometimes called teletherapy, is covered by insurance depends on the plan, the provider, and the state in which a person receives services. Many insurance plans have expanded teletherapy coverage in recent years, though the specific rules around coverage can vary.

When exploring online therapy options, it may help to confirm with a prospective therapist that they offer the session formats the plan covers, which might include video sessions.

For those who want to pursue online therapy and are weighing costs, BetterHelp offers pricing options that may be comparable with the copays of many insurance plans, ranging from $70 to $100 per week based on your location, referral source, preferences, therapist availability, and any applicable discounts or promotions that might apply.

BetterHelp also accepts insurance for online therapy through major insurance plans; if your therapist is in-network, you may pay a copay per session rather than a full session rate.