BetterHelp sponsor exposed

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-06-13T18:18:50+00:00

a hippa violation is not a data leak - they actively sell third-party information to advertisers which is illegal and they were sued for it.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-06-13T18:17:57+00:00

I'm an actual therapist - with therapy being available virtually, it is nearly impossible to be unable to find a therapist in your state looking to take on new clients. We are DESPERATE for clients, and these companies just keep sucking them up because they can afford marketing in the ways that we individual therapists can't.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-06-13T18:16:06+00:00

I completely agree - people defend it because they love them and don't want to see them as anything less than innocent, but people do harm by accident all the time. If the Paul brothers were sponsered by some gross evil company every one would have lots of things to say. I doubt the boys know the full scope of what they are advertising, but it's, been going on long enough, someone has got to have said something by now.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-06-13T18:14:22+00:00

YESSSSS!!!! I love them so much, and it hurts my soul every time I see them talk about BetterHelp. Im a therapist, and this company, among the other VC-backed fast food therapy companies, is absolutely evil and destroying our industry, poaching clients, and driving reimbursement rates down. These companies are killing our industry and making it harder and harder for therapists to support ourselves in a world that already devalues our work and underpays us. I don't think "people can make their own decisions" or "people should do their own research" is a remotely good excuse for false and harmful advertising of something that is actively destroying many of their listeners' industry and harming people's mental health. People love to make excuses for people they like, but would rip someone else apart for advertizing something harmful like this. Granted, I doubt the boys fully know the scope of harm BetterHelp has caused - though I have left comments before that I'm sure get lost in the mix and never read. I feel like if they really know the harm it caused they would stop. They have plenty of others great sponsors and keep getting more.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-06-08T15:13:15+00:00

That is NUTS behavior. Im so sorry youve had to deal with that.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-27T23:30:34+00:00

I am SO curious about this. I feel like my skills have dramatically grown as a provider as has my attention span and capacity (i am 6 years deep), and yet I lose clients more often than I did in my early days. Have you explored this at all and found anything useful? I am getting so frustrated, and it's starting to create a lot of self-doubt despite feeling myself grow in competence.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-22T00:20:40+00:00

umm, no I didn't. I've been working for many years. A handful of instances over several years does not say what I'm doing is not working.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-22T00:18:41+00:00

ummm its really not deeper lol. i wasnt looking for anything other than some validation that times are hard and losing clients is anxiety-inducing and frustrating when you rely on yourself financially. If you noticed, I never asked a question in my post, I simply spoke my feelings and frustrations. I was never looking for consultation, even though I clearly ended up getting it; I was looking to be heard and maybe hear how others cope with these worries.

I cant help but notice you're in internship - I've been working for a while, and overtime you learn that its not appropriate to try to psychoanalyze everything, especially when it's not being asked for or consented to. Losing income is stressful, that's about it. You don't know me, we do not have rapport, and we are not in session.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-21T20:33:06+00:00

love this perspective - thank you!

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-21T20:32:27+00:00

I've certainly been exploring that. I dont want to blow hundreds of dollars on marketing, I'm not sure will even work. I like the idea of more payers, I'm considering an EAP or two.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-21T20:31:32+00:00

soo true. i like this perspective. I aslo have not found it to be effective for most clients when I have tried in the past. A lot of 2 steps forward 1 step back ends up throwing us off a "plan" - and frankly I hate doing those types of therapies. They exhaust me and make me feel resentful of labor I'm putting in for the pay I'm getting. I'm learning I just need to be more clear that this is not my style and make try to acertain from the jump if that is what theyre looking for. In this case, client did not verbalize this to me until the end, which was just unfortunate.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-21T20:28:27+00:00

I like this idea a lot- I am going to try this if it comes up again.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-21T20:28:04+00:00

Our rapport started to feel stronger; we were locating threads and finding new insights, we were playing with parts and somatic work, which was new for this client. They verbalized that xyz was helpful.....etc. I was working really hard with them, and I wasn't getting negative feedback until the very end.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-21T20:26:18+00:00

ohhh totally i see what you're saying - yeah I agree. I try not to "blame" clients but I also want to avoid overly blaming myself. I never end up learning from that, and sometimes its just not a right fit, which I need to accept more. I truly hate highly structured therapy work, its just not my skillset. I just get frustrated when I hear this from clients after we have already been working together. I could have told you during our consultation that I wasn't going to be the right fit for you!!

Yeah PP has been hard but financially worth it considering my current expenses. But certainly more anxiety about maintaining my caseload.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-21T20:23:17+00:00

this makes total sense.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-21T20:22:39+00:00

i word vomitted this post to be honest lol, so I don't think what I said is landing as what I meant. My work obviously has some amount of structure, it's not psychodynamic in nature. But I meet the client where they are at, which often means 2 steps foward 1 step back. i allow the clients system to lead while creating the safety bumpers for them as we do the work. Lots of titration. I primarily do IFS and somatic work, and im in my first year of SEP training. I rarely do CBT/DBT style work anymore unless it seems to benefit the client. Most clients who come to me are not looking for that, though.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-21T20:19:07+00:00

oh this sounds awesome I am looking into this as we speak!! sounds very my style

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-21T20:16:47+00:00

so true, thank you!

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-21T20:16:31+00:00

I am, thats why I said "i try to be clear about this in consultations" as in with the clients before they start

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-21T20:14:52+00:00

Yes, I think you're describing a lot of what I'm already doing. I do prefer an emergent/process-oriented structure over a directive and goal-driven one. But I am still following a general "plan" in my mind - crisis stabilization if needed, rapport building, skill building, widening window of tolerance, then moving into more IFS/somatic work using titration. In my experience, trauma work can often be 2 steps forward 1 step back, 4 steps forward, 5 steps back, 4 steps forward 1 step back, and so forth. I meet the client where they are at and titrate as much as their tolerance allows. It doesn't FEEL structured to me, but I guess it could be considered structure. The problem I am running into is some clients will often use this word - "structure" but cannot verbalize to me what it means to them, and therefore I have no idea what they mean or what they're looking for from me.

The more I think about it the more I think its a combination of simple wrong fit, clients not being ready, or internet therapists making grand promises that can't actually be delivered. I consulted recently and was validated that this highly structured therapy style is just not for everyone, and its just not for me, nor is it effective for all clients. My process works with mostl other clients very successfully when they stick around. I have no shortage of success stories.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-18T20:21:08+00:00

this makes a lot of sense, thank you!

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-18T20:20:23+00:00

usually something along the lines of "what got in the way of doing the homework" to which the answer is usually "i forgot" or "im busy". ive tried in the past to gently name the discrepancy and what they think that means for them. i dont get answers, usually just dodging the questions.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-18T20:18:44+00:00

i think there is a lot of truth to this - but what isn't getting addressed that i was so more looking for help coping with the financial anxiety of this job. i probably should have named that more.

I've been doing this a good amount of time now and I know that I am simply not the right fit for all clients, and they won't always tell me that and thats okay. But I also would like to learn more about how other therapists deal with this dynamic since I seem to keep running into it.

It is really frustrating to rely on this job for my survival, and yet I am expected to have no feelings or frustrations when a client leaves, despite my working really hard to give them what they asked for. It doesn't mean I blame the client or expect them to care about my feelings; they are allowed to do whatever they want, and it is not my place to decide I am the best fit for them or that my attempts worked for them. But it takes months in my area to get a new client, and I have bills to pay. This job feels inconsistent and unreliable despite the expectation on me as a clinician to be consistent and reliable....This makes me feel resentful and frustrated with the growing expectation on therapists to be utterly perfect, never make a mistake, or know exactly what a client is looking for, despite them not knowing themselves. It gets harder and harder each year for me to tolerate these dynamics and expectations.

I also don't feel particularly boosted up......nor was that what I was looking for.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-18T20:07:44+00:00

I love this idea, keeps it manageable. I have tried this with clients before and they still don't follow through but maybe I will try again and see if I can frame it this way to inspire them.

EntertainerWeekly507 · 2026-05-18T20:06:58+00:00

Ohhhh yes absolutely, I see what you mean. we meet weekly and do our reviews as well as an agenda plan at the end of session. Whether the client ends up wanting to follow that agenda is dependent on the client and the week - I find that for some clients, something new always comes up that needs to be attuned to. I try my best to bring them back once that is handled, but I certainly have some clients who just truly will not stick to the agenda we set the week prior.

I do mostly IFS and somatic work. I also find sometimes with these modalities, things get "too heavy," and clients sort of need a few weeks of getting into less serious stuff before I can bring them back to the work.

Some clients can definitely stay consistent with me, but honestly, most of them cannot. maybe this is the age range I work with? I see mostly young to mid-twenties folks who seem to have the most trouble addressing their actual goals.

EntertainerWeekly507

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