With its convenient monthly subscription plans, plus the fact that it accepts various forms of insurance, Talkspace is an attractive option for those who are new to therapy, on a budget, or have a tight schedule. As a licensed therapist who owns a private practice, I have a unique perspective to review Talkspace. And this isn’t my first time testing Talkspace—I tried its individual and couples therapy back in 2023. My impressions then were mixed, with a pretty negative experience in individual therapy and a good experience in couples therapy.
This time around, I tried two individual sessions to see if there have been any changes or improvements since I was last on the platform—and there were, for the better. Here’s what happened.
Pricing
Talkspace has three different out-of-pocket subscription plans.
Messaging Therapy:
- Unlimited messaging with a therapist—you can reach out anytime receive prompt responses five days a week
- Cost: $69 per week, billed monthly
Video and Messaging Therapy:
- Unlimited messaging with a therapist, plus four 30-minute video sessions per month
- Cost: $99 per week, billed monthly
Video, Messaging, and Workshops:
- Everything in the video and messaging plan, plus access to weekly mental health workshops
- Cost: $109 per week, billed monthly
If Talkspace accepts your insurance, you’ll only be responsible for your copay.
I opted for the video and messaging plan. After signing up, I was able to book a session within just a few days.
Signing Up
Getting started with Talkspace is super simple. I headed over to the website and was met with a landing page reading, “Space to figure things out,” with bullet points highlighting the company’s best features: convenient access anytime and anywhere, professional support from licensed therapists, and flexible subscription plans. Underneath that were two buttons—one to get started and another to check your insurance coverage.
Once I clicked the “get started” button and specified I was looking for individual therapy, I was asked a series of questions, including if I planned on using insurance to purchase my plan, why I was seeking out therapy, my gender identity, my preference for my therapist’s gender, and the language I speak. These were good questions, though I found them a bit brief and inconsistent. For example, I was given tons of options for the question about my own gender identity, including transgender female, transgender male, non-binary, and even gender variant. This is one of the most inclusive lists of identities I’ve encountered on an online therapy platform.
However, when it was time for me to specify my preferred gender for my provider, I was only presented with the options of male, female, other, or I’m not sure—the inability to specify exactly which identity someone prefers (like trans or non-binary) could lead to disappointment or even inadequate services.
After that, I was prompted to select a plan.
Therapist Qualifications
Talkspace has a pretty wide variety of licensed providers, including clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, clinical counselors, and nurse practitioners (though you can’t choose which qualification you’d like). Getting matched with a provider was a rather brief process dictated by the answers I provided when signing up. Specifically, it seemed that Talkspace used information from the questions I answered about what I was looking to get out of therapy (support for new motherhood and symptoms of anxiety). It also took into account my gender preference for my therapist.
It is also possible to search for providers with a particular expertise, though that option isn’t explicitly shown to you while signing up. After a bit of digging, I found this page, where you can search for therapists based on your state of residence, clinical concern, and insurance.
But even without choosing my therapist myself, I was satisfied with the therapist I was matched with. Her bio indicated she had years of experience working with women’s issues, including transitions to parenthood, and she practiced various types of therapy that I was familiar with, like the somatic therapy EMDR and the trauma-informed, mindfulness-inspired DBT . This made her an excellent fit for a new mother navigating symptoms of anxiety. An added bonus was her quick availability – I was able to see her in less than a week.
While I felt good about my assigned therapist, I could see how the matching process could be a miss for other people. The intake (sign-up questions) is so brief and, like most online therapy companies, the matching process relies on an algorithm, which could make it hard to be paired with the right person. But luckily, in my case, Talkspace succeeded there.
How Therapy Sessions Work
You can schedule a session to be conducted via text (communicating with your therapist via text message), audio (speaking on the phone), or video. I opted for a video session. My therapist had plenty of times available, particularly in the early morning and late afternoon. This worked well for my schedule as a new mother, so I tried one appointment early in the morning and another around lunchtime. Both times, my son was unexpectedly awake, but I was able to feed him during our session, and she didn’t miss a beat while I did so.
My sessions were 30 minutes long, which frankly felt too short. Once I got her up to speed on a complicated family matter, my session was halfway over. I imagine that in a standard 50-minute session, we would have had much more time to process what is happening in my life, and I would have felt less rushed (though this is compared to in-person sessions—most online therapy sessions are between 30 and 45 minutes, with some exceptions).
However, my therapist was fantastic and made the most out of our time together. I noticed she was skilled at building a rapport with me, making lighthearted jokes and soothing my concerns when I was frazzled at my son unexpectedly being awake. She was very proactive, giving me strong feedback and tips on how to manage some of my life challenges. Some of her insight was very practical—I’m navigating issues with an aging parent, so she provided insight on public services available to the elderly that I was unaware of. I never had a single worry about her being engaged. She held continued eye contact, asked clarifying questions, and had precise responses. I was also pleased that there weren’t any technical difficulties.
There was continuity between each of my sessions, meaning I felt that there was a consistent rhythm and no technical hiccups. She remembered what we talked about in my last session and picked up right there at the start of the next session. I felt validated and heard in each session — she had a warm and empathetic tone that didn’t try to sugarcoat the reality of what I was feeling. Instead, she honored it and offered ways to deal with the challenges at hand.
While I didn’t use the messaging option in my patient portal to discuss clinical concerns, I did use it to troubleshoot scheduling issues. My therapist was prompt in her response, which I appreciated. Overall, I was pleased with my time with my therapist.
Switching Providers
Switching providers is very easy. In your client portal, which is where you can message your therapist, log on for therapy sessions, and view account details, there is an option to find a new provider. Once you click it, you’ll be asked to confirm your preferences for what you’d like to focus on and the gender identity of the provider, plus what state you live in. Upon doing so, you’ll be presented with a handful of other providers—the exact amount depends on how many therapists there are in your area who meet your criteria.
I received seven options in total, and each of them met at least some of the criteria I specified. However, I didn’t see anyone who necessarily struck me as better suited to meet my needs than my current therapist. I wasn’t interested in switching providers anyway since things were going well with my therapist, but it was good to know the option was there should the need arise.
Privacy and Other Concerns
Privacy is an important consideration when looking into any online therapy service. In 2022, several U.S. Senators issued a letter urging both BetterHelp and Talkspace to quit using anonymized data from client sessions to advance their marketing tactics, after a big exposé accused them of doing just that.
However, there is strong evidence of change. Talkspace’s privacy policy, which was last updated in July of 2024, states that it collects user information such as IP addresses for “marketing, including tailoring advertising;” however, it also clearly explains that “Once you become a patient the use of cookies, web beacons, pixels, and other processes are limited to ensure that we do not monitor or use patient information for other purposes without your consent.”
Be sure to take a look at Talkspace’s privacy policy before signing up.
My Experience, Then and Now
I first tested Talkspace in 2023, trying out both individual and couples therapy. My individual sessions left much to be desired. My first therapist was significantly late to the appointment; then, when she did finally arrive (nearly ten minutes into our time together), she proceeded to type notes loudly on a keyboard and asked me questions while avoiding eye contact. Yikes.
Couples therapy was a much more pleasant experience. Our couples therapist was skilled at building rapport with me and my husband. She had us tell the story of how we met and our general history, but my husband and I had to take turns sharing. This was a fun way for us to break the ice with her and I imagine an interesting way for her to learn more about us. She was also efficient at gathering information while remaining mindful of the limited amount of time in our 30-minute session. However, 30 minutes was simply too brief for a couples therapy session—once my husband and I finished sharing the story of how we met, the session was over.
This time around was a significantly better experience. My therapist was professional, prompt, validating, and warm. All of her attention was on me, and I felt connected to her. That all being said, Talkspace’s pricing, therapist matching, and platform logistics were the same this time around.
Final Thoughts
I was pleased that this experience with Talkspace was better by leaps and bounds than my past experience seeking out individual therapy with the platform. I was impressed with my therapist’s skills, training, and overall warm demeanor. Though our sessions were too short for my liking, I received tools and insights I am taking with me moving forward. Plus, the platform was pretty easy to navigate and I was able to get an appointment quickly.
Don’t get me wrong – Talkspace’s history of privacy concerns is off-putting. However, this is an issue that isn’t only relevant to Talkspace, or even online therapy. Digital privacy is an evolving concern in our culture. I strongly encourage folks to review the privacy policy before signing up to make sure you’re comfortable with the ways your information will be used.
Keep in mind that I am reviewing Talkspace not only from a client’s perspective, but also from a therapist’s. This means I will be more likely to scrutinize every detail, even if my therapist was wonderful (and she was).
Despite my concerns, 94% of the 100 Talkspace users we surveyed about their experiences with the company said they were either likely or very likely to recommend the platform to someone like them. Another 97% rated the platform as very good or excellent overall. So, consider yourself equipped with the key facts you need to know about Talkspace before making your decision to proceed with the platform. No online therapy company is perfect, but my experience alone is evidence there are some great therapists available with Talkspace.
