Obsessive compulsive disorder is no joke. Dealing with the intrusive thoughts and uncontrollable compulsive behaviors can be extremely difficult—in some cases, even debilitating. And with 1% to 3% of the worldwide population living with the condition, it’s more important than ever to find accessible, affordable OCD treatment. As a social worker and mental health professional who has been studying online therapy for the past three years, I am in a unique position to be able to recommend the best online therapy services that treat OCD. Here, I’ve compiled a comprehensive list of those services so that you can start or continue your healing journey and get the help you need to manage your OCD.
Compare Top Picks
Compare Top Picks
Best for Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy
NOCD
Best for Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy NOCD
treatmyocd
See Retailer
$120 for a 30-minute session, $180 for a 45-minute session, $240 for a 60-minute session; $95 per week payment plan also available
Yes, check to see if your plan is accepted
Individual therapy, teen therapy, child therapy
Video, messaging
Best for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Online-Therapy.com
Best for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Online-Therapy.com
Online-Therapy.com
See Retailer
$60-$120 per week, billed as a monthly subscription
No
Individual therapy, couples therapy
Video, phone, messaging
Best Subscription
Brightside
Best Subscription Brightside
brightside
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$95-$349 per month, billed as a monthly subscription
Yes, check to see if your plan is accepted
Individual therapy, teen therapy, psychiatry/medication management
Video, messaging
Best for OCD and ADHD
Wellnite
Best for OCD and ADHD Wellnite
wellnite
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$95 to $450 per month
Yes, check to see if your plan is accepted
Individual therapy, teen therapy, psychiatry/medication management
Video
Best for Psychiatry
Talkiatry
Best for Psychiatry Talkiatry
talkiatry
See Retailer
Varies depending on insurance
Yes, check to see if your plan is accepted
Psychiatry/medication management, individual therapy, teen therapy, child therapy
Video
Best with Insurance
Thriveworks
Best with Insurance Thriveworks
thriveworks
See Retailer
$200-$240 for intake sessions, $160-$195 for follow-up sessions
Yes, check to see if your plan is accepted
Individual therapy, couples therapy, teen therapy, child therapy, family therapy, psychiatry/medication management
Video, phone, in-person
Most Affordable
Open Path Collective
Most Affordable Open Path Collective
openpathcollective
See Retailer
$30-$80 per session, with a one-time membership fee of $65
No
Individual therapy, couples therapy, teen therapy, child therapy, family therapy
Video, in-person
Full Review
Paying for Online OCD Therapy
Many of the online therapy companies on this list, such as Online-Therapy.com, Wellnite, and Brightside, are subscription-based: this means that you will pay a set amount each month for services. But if the company is in-network with your insurance plan, you’ll only be responsible for your copay for each session—only one online therapy company on this list (Online-Therapy.com) does not accept insurance.
Things work a little differently for the online directory Open Path Collective, because that service is based on sliding scale fees, where the therapists listed offer sessions for between $30 and $80 per session; because these fees rival copay amounts, those therapists do not accept insurance.
Medication and OCD Therapy
Antidepressants (specifically SSRIs) are often prescribed to treat OCD, but it is also possible (and in many cases, just as effective) to treat OCD with talk therapy only. But if you are interested in trying medication to treat your OCD, Talkiatry, Brightside, Thriveworks, and Wellnite employ psychiatrists who can prescribe medication. Be aware, though, that it can take weeks for antidepressants to take effect, and there might be negative side effects. Keep this in mind when talking to your therapist or psychiatrist about medication for OCD.
How I Review Online Therapy Services
I’ve spent years testing and surveying real therapy users and reviewing their experiences to help rate and share the best online therapy services. You can see a full breakdown of our online therapy research and testing process on Verywell Mind. Here is an overview of how I capture and evaluate firsthand experience and survey data.
Firsthand Experience
I had 65 different people sign up for talk therapy with all 55 online therapy companies reviewed. Over the past three years, I’ve published 155 reviews (here are our reviews for BetterHelp and Talkspace, for instance). I had my testers try out each company’s therapy services, and if the company offered other services (like couples therapy and kid or teen therapy) we tested those too.
I asked each tester to try each service for at least a month, which usually meant between two and six sessions at each company. I also asked testers to switch therapists partway through, if possible, in order to get a holistic idea of the offerings and quality of each company. My testers were located all across the United States and abroad, meaning I gained extensive information about each company’s services in a variety of areas.
Evaluating OCD Treatment
To compile this list, I looked for online therapy companies that say they specialize in OCD or claim that they treat OCD. I then evaluated those companies based on the services they offer and any relevant reviews from testers living with OCD.
User Surveys
I surveyed more than 8,000 therapy clients who are currently using one of the 55 online therapy companies tested or who had used one in the recent past, as well as users of 27 different online therapy directories. I asked users to evaluate each company’s services, from their therapist’s qualifications to whether they found a therapist who met all their needs to how they’d rate the company overall—all told, I gathered 350 different data points.
Why Trust Verywell Mind
Hannah Owens is Verywell Mind’s Mental Health Editor. Hannah is a licensed social worker with a clinical background in community mental health. She’s worked at programs treating those with serious mental illness, providing both individual and group therapy. In her time at Verywell Mind, Hannah has designed and run years of online therapy testing, overseeing and editing reviews of the top online therapy companies out there and writing and editing roundups of the best online therapy services based on our extensive and thorough testing. Hannah brings her unique combination of both clinical and editorial expertise to her work for Verywell Mind.
- Licensed social worker since 2019
- Clinical background in community mental health
- Specializes in serious mental illness
- Believes in the mission of online therapy to make mental healthcare more accessible
