What's involved in finding virtual therapy these days?

November 7, 2024 10:39 AM

Hi All, Given the catastrophic U.S. election news I find myself wanting to look into therapy again. I'm anxious and somewhat concerned for my long-term mental well being. The last time I did this I was using BetterHelp (Please, no judgement, it worked well enough for my needs), and paying out of pocket. I now have access to employer coverage through aetna, though am not sure what mental health support it might pay for if anything. I vastly prefer virtual therapy if only because I'd have to pay for transportation and so on, which isn't ideal.

I'm looking for someone to help me understand what the process looks like. What do I need to do to verify if this is even covered by my provider, for instance? Should I look at their directory for someone, or be using another site? (Psychology Today??)

Thanks for any insights, all.

posted by Alensin to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

Psychology Today actually does work for finding one. But the first step is finding what your therapy options are through the insurance you've got, and if any provider will take what you've got.

I've never used AETNA so I can't advise you on how to use it, but in my experience with another provider, that service would actually look for people to refer me to and then it was up to me to contact them from there. The therapist will want to check if you're covered by them or not and you'll probably have some kind of conversation about what you're looking for and if you and the therapist are compatible. There would probably be some kind of trial run conversation call before you book, just to make sure. If you find people on Psychology Today, that should give you contact information, possibly insurance information as well.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:09 AM on November 7

The good news is that many many therapists I know (and the ones I have seen) do both- it's not hard to come by virtual sessions these days even if someone also has an office. If your insurance covers in-person therapy they would cover telehealth with that same provider. Don't use the directory; horror stories abound about how out-of-date and unhelpful they are. PsychologyToday is a better bet as a starting place, yes. It'll still take some leg work to make sure that providers take your specific plan, but you can narrow it down in the search function by who at least theoretically takes your insurance.
posted by wormtales at 11:11 AM on November 7 [1 favorite]

I found my therapist on Psychology Today, her listing showed my insurance and then I double checked my provider directory to make sure. We've been doing virtual sessions for a few years now, even though she has an office like 10 minutes away. I only went in person once, when my internet went down at the last minute. It was weird for both of us... lol.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 11:49 AM on November 7

You're on the right track finding a therapist through Psychology Today, as others have suggested. My wife receives most of her client referrals through Psychology Today. She recently started seeing more clients in person, but still does a fair amount of telehealth.
posted by emelenjr at 2:16 PM on November 7

Psychology Today’s website can come up with providers for your insurance, it’s essentially a database.

What might be a more nuanced experience is calling Aetna to have them do some provider sorting for you, including “telehealth” and “taking new clients”. Sometimes the Psychology Today site list people who are not taking new clients, which can be frustrating.
posted by childofTethys at 2:41 PM on November 7

Wow I am SO glad I just got the ball rolling on this a few weeks ago. First, I noticed that my insurer had listed a couple telehealth options so I filled in an intake form for one (Valera), assuming they would assign me someone or give me a couple options. But after a week went by hearing nothing from them I started to panic and went on Zocdoc, which I had used before for doctors but not for a while. It was really easy to use the filters to find someone who took my insurance and used some keywords I needed who also had availability right away.
posted by lolibrarian at 4:33 PM on November 7

I would start with your insurance company directory. There are new laws which require them to update the directory every quarter so it shouldn't be as grossly out of date as it used to be. Psychology Today will give you more information about the therapists and more ways to search but the information is entered by the therapist (and is not linked to the insurance directories) so you are relying on the therapist to keep it up to date.

One thing to watch out for is that some therapists will list themselves as taking insurance when they are really out-of-network so your insurance will only help if you have out of network coverage and you will pay more than if you use an in-network provider.

Another thing to know is that therapists who have "Associate" in their title are people who have completed their master's degree and are working under supervision before they get enough experience and pass their licensing exam that will qualify them to have "Licensed" in their title. Some insurance companies will pay for associates but others require a couple of years of licensed experience before they will consider a therapist for their network.
posted by metahawk at 5:41 PM on November 7 [1 favorite]

I'm a therapist, and pretty much every therapist/therapy practice I know does both telehealth and in-person; a lot of therapists prefer telehealth. So I'd focus on finding the therapist/practice first and then asking if they do telehealth; chances are very high that they do. You don't need to join a special platform like Better Help for it.
posted by bearette at 4:31 AM on November 8