How Long Are Counseling Sessions At Betterhelp?

This article will discuss the various services available at Betterhelp in terms of their main features and how long they can last up to. Furthermore, the article will also comment on possible reasons as to why Betterhelp allows such a policy towards its clients and the sessions they have with their service providers. Lastly, the article will also introduce Betterhelp and the cost of its services briefly to help the audience develop a better understanding of the entire topic.

How Long Are Counseling Sessions At Betterhelp?

Counseling sessions at Betterhelp do not have a limit in terms of how long their duration can be; they are as long as the client requires them to be.

There are a number of types of sessions the client can engage in and they differ in their nature and the expected duration in terms of time:

• Live Chat Sessions
• Chat Rooms
• Live Phone Sessions
• Live Video Sessions

Before we look at each of these types and how they affect the expected duration of a session, we will look at why Betterhelp gives the client the liberty to have as many sessions – with no check on time – with their assigned counselor. Also the article will now introduce what Betterhelp basically is!

What Is Betterhelp?

Betterhelp is one of the largest online platforms that provides multiple services for all types of people who are suffering from mental health problems and require counseling. What is great about this service is that it is online hence it is available anywhere and every time. You do not have to go to the doctor’s office to get an appointment or wait in line for your turn. This is great if you feel pretty down and getting out of bed is a challenge for you!

With approximately 1700 licensed therapists available online at the click of a button, Betterhelp ensures that its clients receive the best help they can get by connecting them to professional therapists and counselors who know what they need to do This is apparent by the total number of sessions which Betterhelp has already conducted from their platform; a whopping 70 million sessions already completed! This is possible because the company understands the needs of clients well and hence provides therapy related services to them online and not just at  physical location. In a world where things are changing constantly and the unknown is always around the corner, it is becoming more of a need rather than a desire to get services online and at your doorstep – we simply don’t have time nowadays!

Why Is There No Check On The Duration Of A Counseling Session?

There are a number of reasons why Betterhelp has adopted this approach when it comes to conducting counseling sessions. Other online platforms that provide mental health services usually place limits on the duration of a counseling session between a service provider and client but Betterhelp does not. Why?

Here are a few reasons why:

• Greater Quality, Less Quantity
• Satisfied Customers
• Nature of Service
• Customer Needs Vary

Greater Quality, Less Quantity

Betterhelp is smart enough to understand from the business point of view that if they focus on quality then they don’t really have to put much effort in terms of quantity to concentrate the market. In fact, fewer sessions will do the job and this will have many benefits.

Sometimes one long session can help clear a lot of issues the client has; they may need time to express the problem they are going through, get feedback from the counselor and give their opinions on the feedback. If the session is long enough then all of these things can be covered in one go if required and desired. Hence, both the client and counselor will save their time in the long term because they won’t have to have repeated sessions through the week to cater to the same issue.

Furthermore, the service provider who works with Betterhelp will be able to cater to more clients. Instead of having repeated sessions during the week with the client due to time limitations, they can have one long session. They will be able to manage their time better.

Satisfied Customers.

It sounds bad when your counselor tells you the time for the session is over compared to a counselor who tells you to take as much time as you need. It is better than having surprise sessions throughout the week and this will keep both parties satisfied! 

Hence, Betterhelp realizes that by having longer sessions, they will not only save resources in the long term such as time and effort of their service providers but also have more satisfied customers who know they can take their time and that of the counselors to thoroughly discuss the problems at hand.

Nature of Service

It depends on the nature of service how much time may be required to have a proper conversation with the counselor. At Betterhelp, people can have sessions with their counselors through chat rooms, live chatting and live phone or video calls. Every medium of interaction has its own nature and hence the time required to interact with the counselor through that medium may be different.

Let’s take an example. If someone wants to discuss the issues they face with their spouse through a chat room then that may span over the entire day – problems with the wife or husband don’t go away that easily right? However, on the other hand, take someone who is willing to discuss how they feel through a live phone session; they might require less time. 

So it depends on what medium the client chooses to use to interact with the service providers and so Betterhelp understands that it is better to leave it rather than fix limits trying to understand the complex algorithms behind the entire service. Lets keep it simple at Betterhelp!

Customer Needs Vary

This is a pretty obvious one. Every client not only has different needs but a different nature. Some of them have huge problems they are going through and they need consistent support from a counselor to keep them going; others may have problems that pop up from time to time and may not need too much attention. 

Also, clients have differing personalities in the sense that they may require more time to open up while other clients may be very blunt about what they think and feel. Betterhelp again realizes these truths and hence ensures its service incorporates all types of peoples and their needs.

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Types Of Counseling Sessions At Betterhelp & Their Duration

Live Chat Sessions

These sessions are conducted in real time and need to be scheduled beforehand keeping in mind the schedule of the service provider. The benefit of this is that you can receive immediate responses from your counselor on the issues you want to discuss. These may extend for long periods but not typically as long as the ones conducted through chat rooms which we will describe next!

Chat Rooms

Chat rooms are available 24/7 so you don’t really need to schedule a session with your counselor for this one! All you need to do is drop a message to them about whatever is going through your mind; maybe you want to share some feedback regarding an activity they advised on, inform them about a problem or its resolution or get their views on something you are experiencing. 

With this medium of interaction, counselors may not get back to you immediately but will respond sometime during the day. This is why these chat rooms stay open all the time throughout the week and clients have access to them without any conditions. It is a good option clients can avail.

Live Phone Sessions

Like other sessions these sessions are not limited by time but must be scheduled keeping in mind both parties convenience. It is a counseling session that is more intimate than the other two we just discussed. It is a medium that allows the counselor to gain more insight on the current situation of the client based on their tone, style of speaking and words they choose to use. It can help them provide better advice as they now have more information about the client to determine their true state and advise accordingly.

Live Video Sessions

Even better, these sessions are the most intimate of all. They are similar to face to face interactions but of course the client and service provider are not in the same room. They may be more formal in the sense that both parties prepare more. They need to find a good place to sit, dress appropriately and ensure the other party can see them more clearly. 

It’s possible these sessions are fewer in nature but of more duration.Then again it depends on the personality and preferences of the client.

Nonetheless, video sessions and the ones we described above are not limited by time. How long they need to be can be determined by factors such as:

• The nature of the problem
• The comfort level of the client
• The availability of the counselor
• The preference of the client
• Other factors such as availability of stable internet connection

Conclusion

This article first answered the question of how long counseling sessions are at Betterhelp by addressing the types of sessions they have and what factors may affect the duration of these sessions. In between, the article also looked at what Betterhelp basically is and pointed out other factors that affect the duration of sessions.