If you need help with a mental health challenge like depression or anxiety, consider mobile apps available to you on your phone or tablet. Online therapy apps on your phone or tablet allow you to talk to licensed professionals who can provide the help you need. The best mental health apps offer convenience, discretion, and security.
Whatever you’re going through, therapy can be a powerful ally to help you improve your well-being. With or without a mental health issue, it can help empower you to live the life you want, foster better habits, and even improve your quality of sleep.
The best mental health apps allow you to participate in mental health treatment and therapy sessions from anywhere in the world. Sometimes, you might need help responding to a more serious mental health concern like panic attacks or other serious mental health crises like clinical depression. Or perhaps you need help with depression symptoms, how to manage anxiety, eating disorders, manage stress in day to day life, navigate a physical health concern or another mental health issue. Other times, you might need help with a less acute personal issue, like seeking career advice for career success, how to practice self care or managing a mental health disorder. Using a therapy app can quickly help you relieve stress and anxiety related to these and other life issues. Things like cognitive behavioral therapy with a licensed therapist help a wide variety of mental health conditions and it can help you overcome negative thoughts, learn self-care, find stress relief through breathing exercises, improve self-confidence and more.
Text messaging therapy allow you to chat with a therapist through text or video chat, 24 hours a day. You can also view messages and notes from previous live video sessions, which makes it easier to recall and retain advice.
In-depth mental health conversations may require a little more time for the therapist to respond. Messages sent using your therapy app are available for you to check at your convenience. Luckily, most platforms require the therapist to respond at least once a day, so you can get the help you need.
Phone apps, also known as voice therapy, arrange calls with a therapist using your telephone or device and a compatible app. Depending on the type of therapy recommended in your treatment plan, you may be able to combine phone and text sessions for your online mental health solution.
Over the phone therapy may be helpful, especially if you're experiencing a mental health crisis. Also, some therapists may use voice messages to communicate, making it a little more convenient.
Video chatting allows you to get the closest possible experience to an in-person session. With video messages, you can speak with a therapist in real-time at least once per week as long as your connection is reliable. The best mental health apps with a desktop feature usually run more smoothly. Video chat sessions, aka video therapy, also work well for couple's therapy, marriage counseling, and sessions that involve another family.
Many mental health apps are available for download on mobile devices. Finding the best online therapy app for you depends on why you need it, pricing, and features. Services with the capability to match you to a professional based on your symptoms or needs are ideal.
BetterHelp matches clients dealing with common mental health problems with a licensed therapist who provides the type of therapy you need to alleviate your mental health-related concerns. This is one of the best-known online mental health platforms for diagnosing and treatment of mental health issues, and for good reason. Signing up is easy, and through desktop and mobile communication, BetterHelp provides numerous options for receiving mental health support. BetterHelp employs thousands of licensed therapists, and its highly-rated therapy app offers quick help for common mental health disorders. It's widely-considered one of the best therapy app available in the therapy app store.
ReGain is another popular site that offers mental health services via an online therapy app. What makes ReGain different for a therapy app is its focus on providing couples with counseling to support their close and intimate relationships, including marriages, long-term relationships, friendships, and family troubles. The goal of ReGain is to improve relationships by first improving mental health.
Like BetterHelp, ReGain employs licensed professionals. ReGain allows you to talk one-on-one or together with your partner through the therapy app or via desktop. Sometimes, both individual and couple's therapy are needed to improve the relationship. A popular pick in apps for couples, ReGain is a good fit for couples who are ready for an alternative to traditional therapy or counseling and are interested in trying a therapy app. Couples can use the platform to begin healing their relationships from the privacy of their own homes. For any relationship, using ReGain should help with addressing relationship issues and individual mental health concerns or potential mental health issues.
Talkspace is an online therapy app that operates very much like BetterHelp.com. The Talkspace app provides online mental health services and runs familiar ad campaigns featuring celebrities like Michael Phelps. Similar to BetterHelp, it offers a matching service for thousands of therapists to provide mental health services and support.
Talkspace focuses on its app to provide services, but it lacks the critical desktop features that BetterHelp offers to make attending video mental health chat sessions easier for clients. However, the lack of a desktop option may not be a problem for someone seeking help solely through their mobile device.
This platform comes with two advantages: scheduling and billing. Users can view available appointments and schedule immediately, which is particularly beneficial in times of crisis. Also, although most mental health apps are out-of-pocket expenses for users, some health insurance plans will cover Breakthrough. However, Breakthrough is quite expensive for users whose health insurance plans do not cover its services.
Faithful Counseling is similar to BetterHelp, but it approaches counseling from a Christian perspective. Faith-based counseling is often available through religious organizations and houses of worship, but Faithful Counseling allows clients to receive online help from a licensed therapist. This service may be a good fit for individuals looking for a Christian spiritual connection in their online sessions.
Mental healthcare providers serving members of the LGBTQ+ community need to be particularly aware of specific needs and respectful of identities. Pride Counseling offers online therapy from therapists who specialize in serving the LGBTQ+ community. For clients who are seeking to come out to loved ones, struggling with issues of acceptance, or needing guidance in finding their identities, Pride Counseling is the therapy app that guarantees authentic support.
The teenage years often include many struggles: finding a sense of identity in this world, figuring out what career to pursue, dealing with hormonal changes, dealing with peers, struggling with mood changes, life in general, issues with friends, ways of communication, processing new information… managing these and other stressors can be a challenge for any teen. Teen Counseling offers online therapy from a therapist or counselor licensed to work with teenagers. Adult families can send Teen Counseling invites to their teenagers. For teen users, everything, aside from mandatory reporting of abuse or self-harm, is private.
The best therapy app for you depends on your needs and schedule. Do you want a desktop therapy option or only a mobile app or other apps? Some of these therapy apps are broad in what they cover, while others have a specific focus. You may want to try out several of them completely free via free trials or a free version, if available, to find the right fit.
As mental healthcare has expanded into different channels thanks to advances in technology, mobile apps like therapy apps that allow a more user-friendly interface for young adults in online therapy have become a large and growing field of options for millions of people. The online therapy services described here are useful, but by no means exhaustive. More information is available through many reputable sources, like these rated reviews of mental health apps from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.
In considering which services might best support your mental health journey, you may want to look at which use research-based or evidence based methods, offer feedback, or provide flexibility and ease of use. You also may want to think through which channels of communication are the best fit for you. The most important component of any app, however, is the same as any other mental illness treatment: Can it adapt to meet your individual needs per person or for many people and provide the care that will support your well-being and goals? It is well worth it to take your time in finding a therapy app that offers what you need. These reviews from BetterHelp users show what a difference the right fit can make.
"Back in those days of pandemic and crisis we have been under a lot of pressure and trying to find a way out… I consider myself very lucky to be with Laurie. She gave me hope from the beginning and even I cut to show her more how I feel, even it’s hard for me to cry to a strange I feel her support. Sometimes I start to write the way I feel every day and she remembers even those details. I feel I’m moving forward even if there are some dark says she is always telling me don’t be hard on yourself. I appreciate she listen to me, and she gave me hope in the way in the words I never imagine this app has such professional and human very human people!"
"Lauren is a wonderful therapist! This is my first time using online therapy and she has made me feel so comfortable and confident about this process. We use a mixture of chat and phone calls which works great for me. She is so easy to talk to, understanding, and supportive. I feel very thankful to have been matched with her."
Can Online Therapists Diagnose You?
Online therapists can diagnose you with a multitude of conditions, like bipolar disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. Online therapists can also use a variety of different therapy techniques to treat their patients over the internet. One of the most common therapeutic approaches is cognitive behavioral therapy, which can help a person understand and work through their negative thoughts to increase self esteem. Overall, online therapists can treat almost all the same conditions that traditional therapy treats.
Can Apps Help Mental Health?
There are a variety of different therapy apps, aside from just the best therapy apps, that can help with mental health. Some therapy apps help your mental health by providing daily affirmations for self confidence and breathing exercises to manage and maintain your mindfulness. Other therapy apps monitor how long you spend on social media applications per day in an effort to limit your time on these potentially harmful apps. Finally, there are other therapy apps that you can use in addition to the best therapy apps to track your progress and track your mood throughout your therapy journey. These are just some examples of the many therapy apps that you can use to help your mental health and if you're interested, there are many therapy apps to choose from.
Is A Mobile App As Good As A Therapist?
There are many therapy apps out there but the answer to this question does depend on your particular condition and how you react to particular therapeutic settings. However, the research, according to a variety of sources including Harvard Medical School, shows that online therapy is just as effective as in person therapy. Having the same effect as in person therapy is largely due to the fact that therapy relies on verbal communication between two people, disregarding the need for a physical presence. Check out some of the other links on this page for more information about online therapy.
Online therapy has been around in some form since the beginning of the Internet but has exploded in recent years due to improving technology and greater mental health awareness. Many apps via mobile device provide video sessions, video chat, and possibly even support groups. Online mental health is also a competitive market, so you can find better prices for the services you seek.
Most online therapists or mental health professionals offer phone or voice chat sessions. With that said, phone sessions do lack the additional input of nonverbal communication that can be found with video sessions or video chat, which may be valuable for treatment. However, if you are unable to talk to a therapist in person or in a video chat or video sessions, a phone session can be invaluable for your mental health journey, even if it's just a few minutes or a longer period of time per week.
These are the best therapy apps where you help yourself. For example, you may download one of the best therapy apps to help you accomplish your goals, and while the moble apps may have reminders and other ways to keep you accountable, you enter the information and keep yourself going.
Other self-help platforms may use prerecorded voices or sounds. For example, mobile apps like meditation apps or a sleep app may play ambient sounds to calm you down or have a prerecorded meditative breathing session for self care. Some fitness platforms could be considered therapy-focused as well. Working out is a great mental health booster, and apps that allow you to reach your fitness goals can also improve your mental health.
These apps tend to connect you with people who are going through similar situations or can provide advice and guidance. These people are usually not mental health professionals. If you would like to speak with people who are facing challenges similar to yours, or even if you’d like a space to vent, a community app might help. Some of these options are free, but others charge fees.
Therapy apps connect clients to licensed therapists for online sessions. They may include features from the other two types, but they focus on working with a professional. You can pick a plan and text, call, or video chat for your conversation. They tend to charge weekly or monthly fees. Some of the top choices are BetterHelp, Regain, Talkspace.
It depends on what you need. Here are a few of our favorites:
Many of these options charge fees, but may have free versions to try out. Download them and see which ones work for you!
Here are a few of them:
While effectiveness can vary from person to person, online mental health sessions with a mental health professional have many benefits for mental illness such as anxiety and depression. Many studies, such as this one in 2014, have indicated that online sessions can be just as effective as in-person sessions and in person treatment. Online therapy via mobile apps can also provide specialties like cognitive behavioral therapy that can help reroute negative throughts.
BetterHelp and Talkspace are two big names in online therapy, and when you are looking to start online sessions, you may wonder which one comes out on top. Both are well-run mental health services and have similar advantages. Both offer help from licensed therapists for a fraction of the price of in-person sessions. However, BetterHelp comes out on top for a few reasons, such as: