Top Story, Startups

If you could get therapy through text messaging instead of an in-person visit, would you be more likely to do it?

Telehealth startup Talkspace provides therapy through its text message application.

By Nicole Oran on June 03, 2015

If people could text their therapist when they need them from their own home, would that make people more likely to use a therapist and use them more often?

The tele-therapy trend was the driving force for Talkspace, a company married couple Roni and Oren Frank founded and launched in 2012. Roni credited therapy with saving their marriage.

In-person therapy isn’t always an accessible or reasonable option for people who need counseling. It can be costly and inconvenient. In some cases, the anxiety of talking about what might be an uncomfortable subject with a stranger in an in-person visit is enough to put people off of seeing a therapist.

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For those reasons, mental health needs may be neglected. But in a technology-driven world where quick-hit messages are the way many people communicate, the option to chat online or text message a therapist, whenever you want, is a reality, if you can afford to pay out-of-pocket for the service.

The Talkspace app is one of those services that is making therapy much more available with digital, real-time support. In exchange for a weekly $25 fee, for which users are billed monthly, users get unlimited texting service. Video chat options are also available.

Nicole Amesbury, LMHC, is one of the more than 200 active therapists working with Talkspace. For her, this format has provided a new opportunity in helping others.

“Text-based therapy affords people a different modality. We’re not trying to replace face-to-face therapy,” she says. “But there’s a variety of people who can’t tolerate or participate in face-to-face treatment, so they need someone to help them. There’s something unique and valuable about the writing experience.”

She shared a specific example of why this can work better than traditional therapy.

“If someone was raped and experienced trauma from that, they might have hesitation about going out or being in any similar situation – a symptom of PTSD. By being able to come online, in your own home in a comfortable space is helpful. If I were to ask them a question, they can take as long as they need to respond to me – it’s easier to work through trauma that way.”

This is not a crisis hotline operation.

Customers work with the same licensed therapist for the duration of their session, but if they’re unsatisfied they can pick another therapist. The idea is that because the new therapist can access the text message string from the previous sessions, they already have the patient’s history, so the transitions are much smoother.

Having a convenient, anonymous service like Talkspace can be a useful tool for many types of people – from those who are constantly traveling to even those in the LGBTQ community who haven’t yet felt comfortable to come out publicly.

As Roni pointed out in an interview, dealing with stigma and shame are a huge part of why people avoid seeing a therapist. With this mobile option, it eliminates that aspect and provides a safer experience for those willing to reach out for help.

Despite the unlimited access patients have to the service, it doesn’t mean that they will always get an instant response. The company provides a way for people to text whatever challenges they are dealing with at a given time. The therapist can then look at what a person wrote and respond accordingly.

Roni noted that this format has multiple beneficial aspects. Not only do people have access to informed, rapid feedback, they also experience the benefits of what could be considered journaling — a practice many therapists recommend generally.

In some ways, this methodology resembles some traditional aspects of tending to what’s going in on inside our minds, what might be troubling.

“If you look way back to confession in the Catholic church, people are not looking directly at each other,” Amesbury says. “People want to be heard but they don’t want to feel like they are being interrogated.”

There are real benefits to be had through sharing our personal stories and working through our challenges. If it’s made easier in a format catered to the modern generations, maybe more people will actually feel heard – even if it’s through a text message.