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Fact Checked
Teen Counseling is an online therapy platform geared toward supporting teens ages 13 through 19, as well as their legal guardians. The company offers flexible and affordable mental health care with professional therapists.
Teen Counseling
Teen Counseling is a subsidiary of the online therapy platform BetterHelp. The company facilitates communication between users and therapists in an affordable, discreet and accessible environment. The telehealth platform provides counseling to teens between 13 and 19 years old, as well as to their caregivers.
Each therapist or counselor on the platform specializes in a range of issues teens may face. Professionals include accredited psychologists as well as licensed marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers and professional therapists. In addition to completing the necessary education and training, all providers are required to have at least three years and 1,000 hours of hands-on experience to join Teen Counseling, according to the company. Providers are not employees of Teen Counseling and the site does not oversee them professionally.
Teen Counseling offers a network of licensed, trained, experienced and accredited mental health professionals who are qualified to provide guidance and support to teens (ages 13 through 19) and their caregivers as they navigate mental health issues and personal challenges. Each mental health care provider specializes in a range of issues teens may face, including:
Teen Counseling’s main strength includes the opportunity of being matched with a therapist whose expertise aligns with the teen’s concerns, according to a BetterHelp spokesperson. Another plus is the ease with which users can communicate with a therapist from the comfort of their own personal devices anywhere.
Caregivers and teens seeking Teen Counseling’s services begin by completing a short questionnaire to help the site match them with the right therapist. Caregivers have the option to invite their teen to participate in their sessions, or only seek parental advice in therapy. If a teen is applying for the service and they are under 18 years of age, their legal guardian’s consent is required to participate. Users are then matched to a therapist, with whom they can communicate via the platform’s messaging service, live chat, phone sessions or video conferences. Note since all providers are independent, each has different time limits on sessions. And while clients can reach out 24/7, the timeframe for expecting a response varies based on the therapist.
The specific types of therapy offered through the platform also vary based on individual therapists. Membership includes four live sessions per month, or in each four-week billing cycle, with unlimited emails, texts and messages to the therapist, notes the BetterHelp spokesperson. Additionally, therapists have a large repository of specific mental health-help worksheets they can share with the teen to help along the therapeutic process.
Teens and caregivers can have separate sessions with the same counselor to establish a trusting relationship with full confidentiality. A therapist will only disclose information from a session if there is reason to believe the teen may be in danger of harming themself or others. Teen Counseling provides a list of resources and hotlines offering free support to those who may be in immediate danger, including those who are considering self-harm or suicide.
Therapists cannot diagnose patients and are not able to prescribe or manage medications. This can only be done by a licensed medical professional such as a psychiatrist. Teen Therapy is also not an appropriate solution for teens required to undergo therapy by a court order.
Teen Counseling costs between $60 and $90 per week and varies based on your location, preferences and therapist availability. This rate includes four live sessions per month, as well as a user’s ability to utilize the different communication methods as often as they wish. Fees are billed every four weeks. Users can cancel at any time.
Insurance usually does not cover services provided by this platform.
Having a platform like Teen Counseling that is accessible for people who otherwise would not be able to access therapy services is a great benefit, says Katie Moore, Psy.D., a licensed clinical psychologist who treats adolescents and children with Affirming Psychological Services in Irvine, California.
“I see this and many other online therapy platforms as a ‘better-than-nothing’ service,” she says, noting that this platform can be a good option if you need therapy and don’t have access to other services.
Additionally, Dr. Moore sees challenges when it comes to the cost-to-value ratio of Teen Counseling’s services, saying the value may not be congruent with the cost of services. Since therapists with Teen Counseling cannot diagnose, they also cannot provide clients with a superbill for reimbursement from their insurance company, she says.
You Deserve To Be Happy
Asking for help takes strength. BetterHelp can match you with a professional, licensed and vetted therapist from any device.
As therapists are not employed by Teen Counseling and availability and quality of care may vary, the reviews of health care providers vary greatly. Similarly, online reviews for Teen Counseling are mixed, including on Facebook and the App Store.
One customer wrote that their daughter’s counselor has been a “positive influence during a difficult time,” and that their child says their counselor is a good listener. They also add that “the availability of online therapy is a huge benefit to all of our busy schedules.” However, there are a vast number of complaints from users about the lack of customer service and communication from the company.
The platform has just 2.1 out of 5 stars on Facebook, based on 19 reviews. Several complaints suggest the platform charged for access to the website before receiving any therapy services. Users also complain about a lack of access to customer support, including a lack of a phone number to reach the company, and a lack of solutions to their billing and technology challenges.
Rather than providing support, some customers allege they received an email with information on how to cancel their service, instead of how to proceed with therapy. Others indicate they were suddenly blocked from contacting their child’s therapist at all—to receive or reschedule service—when a billing or technical issue arose. Others reported issues with billing, such as being charged a large sum without receiving therapy and being denied refunds for incorrect charges.
“No meeting with a therapist for my child to this day and I have been charged for 3 months with no resolution,” wrote a Facebook user. “When I contact support to get some action/resolution, they say they won’t speak to me due to privacy and will only speak to my child directly.”
The company’s app maintains 4.7 of 5 stars on the Apple App Store, based on roughly 3,000 reviews, where users report positive interactions with qualified therapists that have addressed their needs or their teen’s needs. However, the same concerns about problematic billing practices, lack of matching users to a therapist with availability that aligns with their own and extreme difficulty in reaching customer service remain.
Teen Counseling provides services to teens between ages 13 and 19. Caregivers may also seek counseling through this service for parental advice.
Therapists are not employees of Teen Counseling, and each has different specialties and offerings. The specific options available depend on the individual therapist to whom a user is matched.
No. Teen Counseling therapists are unable to prescribe medications to patients.
The TeenCounseling.com homepage offers a questionnaire for caregivers and teens that helps match them to a qualified therapist. Billing will begin upon a client starting to receive therapy services through the platform.
Information provided on Forbes Health is for educational purposes only. Your health and wellness is unique to you, and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. We do not offer individual medical advice, diagnosis or treatment plans. For personal advice, please consult with a medical professional.
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Shelby is an editor with an affinity for covering home improvement and repair, design and real estate trends. She also specializes in content strategy and entrepreneur coaching for small businesses, the future of work and philanthropy/ nonprofits. An advocate for creativity and innovation, she writes with the knowledge that content trends tell an important tale about the bigger picture of our world. Reach out to her if you want to share a story.
Shawn is a dedicated news person who’s produced content for print and online. He’s worked in reporting, writing and editing roles across newsrooms like CNBC and Fox Digital, but he kicked off his career reporting on health for Healio.com. When Shawn isn’t doing the news, he’s probably deleting app notifications from his phone.
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