December 24, 2022
A BetterHelp Therapist Reportedly Told a Gay Patient to Turn Straight
READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Caleb Hill, 22, got more than he asked for after seeking therapy on BetterHelp. As reported by Business Insider, Hill was advised to turn straight after his conservative parents kicked him out of the house.
"He said either you sacrifice your family or you sacrifice being gay," Hill told The Wall Street Journal. "I needed someone to tell me I was gay and that was OK. I got the exact opposite."
BetterHelp claims that it provides mental health services to more than three million clients. Hill is only one of the clients who have made claims of issues with the company, according to a recent investigation by the Journal.
The company's over 29,900 therapists are not considered employees but independent contractors. A BetterHelp spokeswoman reportedly said the company pays more than the median for a licensed therapist in many places.
Here's how it works: BetterHelp uses algorithms to match patients to therapists. However, many therapists on the platform aren't accepting new clients, or have left the platform entirely.
As the pandemic caught fire, so did online mental health services for BetterHelp. However the company's training process did not change and was minimal, the Journal reported. A former clinical director at the company told the Journal that therapists were "treated like Uber drivers."
Despite thorough background checks and other measures to ensure their trust as employees, providers have continued to have their own challenges related to mental health.
A spokesperson for BetterHelp told Insider by email: "We firmly stand behind the high-quality service provided at BetterHelp, both in successful therapist matching and ongoing care." The company claims 85% of its clients who do their first session continue on with other sessions.
But is a nod to conversion therapy a part of the package? The therapist who was assigned to Hill's case declined to discuss the issue with the Journal. BetterHelp also declined to comment to the Journal specifically on Hill's case.
