The listings featured on this site are from companies from which this site receives compensation. This influences where, how and in what order such listings appear on this site.
- 5 million+ people helped
- Video, phone, live chat, messaging
- Message your therapist anytime
- 20% off your first month


- Counseling from a Biblical perspective
- Video, phone, live chat, messaging
- All counselors are practicing Christians


- Individual and couples counseling
- Video, phone, live chat, messaging
- 3-way call for couples in separate locations


- Supports equality and acceptance
- Video, phone, live chat, messaging
- Commitment-free service
.20210808104248.png)
.20210808104248.png)
- Get 20% off your first month
- Video, phone, live chat, messaging
- Flexible plans, cancel anytime


- Wide variety of therapy styles
- Video, phone, live chat, messaging
- Get matched with a therapist in 24 hours
- 20% off 1st month with code: TOP20OFF
- Expert sessions for partners & individuals
- Designed for busy schedules
- Couples & individual therapy available
- Text, voice, & live video plans
- $85 off your first month with code TOP85
- Accepts most major insurance plans
- Virtual or in-person therapy
- See a therapist within 2 days


- Free emotional assessment
- Discuss progress & learn new skills
- Video and phone appointments
- 5 million+ people helped
- Video, phone, live chat, messaging
- Message your therapist anytime
- 20% off your first month
Natural Intelligence does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor or your local emergency number immediately.
Like the name suggests, online therapy is a term used to describe mental health counseling that you can receive from the comfort of your own home in front of your PC or right at your fingertips on your smartphone. Looking for a therapist near you? Consider online therapy to eliminate the hassle of leaving home and to expand your options beyond looking strictly for a therapist near me or therapy near me.
Online therapy is a great way for people dealing with mental health issues to get easy, convenient, and reliable counseling that usually ends up being cheaper than in-person therapy. Please be aware that online therapy is not the right answer for urgent mental health emergencies. Anyone in need of urgent medical care should visit the nearest hospital to get the help they need.
Where Are People Most Lonely?
Feeling lonely is something everyone goes through now and then. It can be influenced by factors like relationships, your living situation, and how happy you are. With that in mind, we set out to determine which states have more people feeling lonely by conducting an in-depth survey.

Expert Tips for Coping with Loneliness
Everyone feels lonely from time to time, but it’s important to learn how to cope with loneliness so it doesn’t affect your long-term mental and physical health. Here are some expert tips on how to cope with loneliness.
Recite Self Love Affirmations
Kelly Armatage, a trained counselor and CBT therapist, defines loneliness as an inner void caused by a disconnection from the heart or a rejection of oneself.
“In order to fill up this inner void, it is important to connect to our own heart, connect to our inner child, and open up to love,” says Armatage. One of the best techniques for connecting with your heart is reciting self-love affirmations such as, “There is love, fulfillment, peace, and joy from within.”
Armatage concludes, “As you connect with your heart, you will then know just how unlonely being alone can be.”
Try a New Hobby
Hobbies are an excellent approach to dealing with loneliness because they allow people to focus on activities they enjoy, contributing to a sense of purpose.
Whether it's painting, writing, gardening, or learning to play a musical instrument, a new hobby can bring a sense of fulfillment and self-expression, according to psychologist Dana Klisanin.
Go to Therapy
“The cure for loneliness is connection,” says Dr. Annie Zimmerman, a psychotherapist and author of Your Pocket Therapist. “The best way to be less lonely is to be vulnerable with a safe person.”
However, that’s not always easy. Sometimes, people need an unbiased third person to talk to about their vulnerability. “This is why therapy works — our hidden vulnerable parts finally feel seen and understood,” says Zimmerman.
Whether you live in one of the top loneliest states in America or not can affect how lonely you feel and can affect your levels of loneliness. Consider investing in an online therapy service as a supportive resource if you are experiencing loneliness.
Why Experts Are Pushing for a Huge Expansion of Online Therapy
One of the biggest benefits of online therapy is its ability to reach people who otherwise couldn’t make it to a therapist’s office in person. Although it may be tempting to want a therapist near you, searching for 'therapists near me' might not turn up the results you hoped for. David Kaplan, the chief professional officer of the American Counseling Association, told The Atlantic, “Online counseling can be especially useful with individuals in rural America, as a great many rural counties do not have a single licensed mental-health professional.” The magazine also mentions patients with agoraphobia, or those whose anxiety limits their mobility, as other potential benefactors of online therapy.
The web may just be catching on to this phenomenon, but the US military is no stranger to the benefits of distance therapy. For more than 20 years, the military has been using a form of teletherapy to help soldiers work through anxiety and PTSD who may not have had the luxury of “counseling near me.”
A recent study published in Behaviour Research and Therapy compared the effects of remote therapy compared and traditional face-to-face counseling. Researchers chose 132 military veterans with PTSD and provided each with 10-12 prolonged exposure therapy sessions. Half of the veterans were given face-to-face counseling at a VA center while the other half’s sessions were conducted by video conference from the comfort of the patients’ homes.
“Our effects with PTSD were just as good in person vs. home based telehealth,” psychologist Ron Acierno, who led the study, told the Huffington Post. While those who were given at-home treatments were less prone to completing the program than those who visited the VA center, Acierno and his colleagues were surprised and inspired by the lack of success between the two modes of therapy.
There’s been less pushback than you might expect from the psychology community, given that online therapy services could pose a real threat to traditionalists in the field. The American Psychological Association (APA) has covered the topic extensively, offering a hopeful, yet cautious endorsement of what it sees as a new avenue to helping those who need it find support.
“With some caveats, the Internet continues to be extremely useful for disseminating health and mental health information,” the APA said back in 2001. A more recent APA article, titled “A Growing Wave of Online Therapy,” celebrated online therapy’s potential and stated that “the onus is on psychologists to make sure they comply with federal and state laws.”
How Can You Connect With Your Online Therapist?
Most online therapy companies offer 3 main types of counseling: real-time chat, video chat, and phone chat.
Email and text message counseling is popular with people who want to be able to think out their questions and write them out before asking. These tend to not be free-flowing conversations like with phone or video chats, but being able to write out what you want to say can be preferable. Typically these chats are done through your personal email to a special, secure email provided through the site, which can help safeguard your anonymity.
Video chat will require a reliable internet connection and will allow you to speak with a counselor face-to-face, if not in the same room. It’s intimate, personal, and allows you to establish a rapport that can be more difficult with the written word.
Real time chat puts you into a secure line and allows you to chat back and forth with a counselor in real time. Think of it like having your own personal, private chat room with a counselor who’s there to listen to what ails you.
When you sign up for an online therapy service, you’ll typically be asked to take a short quiz to determine which sorts of issues you’re dealing with, which can be used to help the service match you with a counselor who may specialize in your concerns. If you’re seeking out online counseling for your child, the quiz will ask you a lot of questions about what you think the child needs help with, before sending the child an invitation on your behalf.
How Much Does Online Therapy Cost?
The prices vary by company, but typically online therapy services charge a monthly fee to use the service, and don't charge by minute or hour or text. For instance, BetterHelp , one of the bigger names in the industry, charges a flat fee of between $40-$70 per week, including all messaging, chats, phone, and video sessions.
These memberships tend to be quite flexible, and allow you to quit at any time.
Most online counseling is not covered by insurance, so while it’s cheaper than in-person therapists, you will typically have to pay out of pocket.
Choosing Your Therapist
There are several important things to ask your therapist when you are first introduced to each other. Some of these questions might include:
- When and how often do you typically respond?
- Do you work evenings and weekends?
- What is your therapeutic approach?
- What are your areas of expertise?
So what should you do if you get matched with a therapist that you don't like? If you don’t feel connected to your therapist, most sites give you the option to request a new one. While you shouldn’t necessarily play switcharoo each time you dislike or disagree with your counselor’s input, you should make sure you are working with someone you trust — and who you can relate to. It shouldn’t take too long to be comfortable, but it does take some time to build a working, reliable and dependable relationship with your therapist.
However, therapy takes work and commitment, so remember that it is your counselors’ job to challenge you sometimes and hold you accountable to yourself. The process can be uncomfortable, and that oftentimes means you are making progress. Be sure to distinguish the difference between someone who is inspiring you to confront what you need to work on while holding you accountable with someone who you are unable to connect with.
Choosing the Right Online Therapy Service for You
After deciding you want to expand your search for therapy near you or a therapist near you and look into online therapy, there are some things you need to consider. Before you sign up for an online therapy service, do a little research. Take a look at how the company screens its counselors and if their certification checks out. You can also look at online testimonials by customers to get an idea about the quality of service.
You’ll want to decide which types of counseling you want—chat, video, or email—and if they’re available through the service. If you’re interested in using the service on your smartphone, see if the company has an app and if you’re allowed to have sessions with your counselor by chat on your phone.
In addition, check what type of security they provide and if your chats will be encrypted, and if you’ll have the ability to remain anonymous to your counselor.
Look at the price also, and see if it fits your budget. In addition, see if you can quit the membership at any time, or if its binding.
Our Top 3 Picks
- 1World's largest network of licensed therapists
- Best for - Messaging your therapist anytime
- Pricing - Prices starting at $65/week
- Modes of communication - Text, live chat, video call, phone call
World's largest network of licensed therapistsDescriptionRead BetterHelp ReviewBetterHelp - Best online therapy site overall
BetterHelp is one of the largest providers of online therapy services, letting you get matched with a licensed professional therapist in less than 24 hours. You’ll be able to communicate with your therapist by phone, video call, live chat, or text messaging.
While the platform doesn’t take insurance, it does offer financial aid for patients with tighter budgets.
Why we chose BetterHelp: BetterHelp’s app and online platform are both user-friendly, giving you access to self-help worksheets on various topics, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and conflict resolution.
Our experience: BetterHelp reviews are positive and the service is reasonably priced. We like the fact that BetterHelp counselors each go through a rigorous vetting process.
Pros & ConsBetterHelp Pros & Cons
PROS
Message your therapist anytimeStudies show the platform is effectiveOperates in 200+ countries and 82 languagesCONS
Therapists can’t prescribe medicationHarder to find specialized therapists - 2A faith-based approach to clinical therapy
- Best for - Clinical therapy that includes biblical teachings
- Pricing - Prices starting at $65/week
- Modes of communication - Video, phone, message, live chat
A faith-based approach to clinical therapyDescriptionRead Faithful Counseling ReviewFaithful Counseling - Best for faith-based therapy for Christians
As of recent, Faithful Counseling merged with Betterhelp, which also delivers clinical therapy for Christians. Its therapists are all licensed and certified within their field and submit declarations as to their beliefs to ensure they conform to the statement of faith. When signing up for the service, you will be directed to fill out a questionnaire that will properly match you with a suitable Christian therapist.
A sophisticated matching process is employed to connect you with a therapist specializing in your mental health difficulties and your branch of Christianity. This means it’s a suitable platform if your faith is important and you wish to include biblical teachings in your therapy. Its easy sign-up process, clear and appealing display, and simple functionality in terms of booking appointments make it easy for Christians who want faith-based counseling.
Why we chose Faithful Counseling: Though Faithful Counseling merged with Betterhelp, Christian-centered therapy practices are still easy to access. The platform uniquely integrates clinical therapy with Christianity, ensuring a harmonious blend of faith and mental health support. Various Christian denominations are catered to, including Catholic, Protestant, Baptist, and others, allowing users to find counselors who resonate with their specific faith traditions. Spiritual practices like prayer, meditation, and scripture reading are also integrated. This online therapy provider is an ideal choice for believers who want to incorporate biblical principles into their counseling sessions.
Pros & ConsFaithful Counseling Pros & Cons
PROS
6,000+ therapists specializing in Christianity-based counseling24/7 messaging servicesAccessible via website or the free appCONS
Matching process can take 1-2 daysCan’t choose a specific therapist - 3Dedicated online relationship therapy
- Best for - Therapists that specialize in relationship therapy
- Pricing - $65-$100/week
- Modes of communication - Video, phone, message, live chat
Dedicated online relationship therapyDescriptionRead ReGain ReviewReGain - Best for online relationship therapy
ReGain offers convenient online relationship therapy for couples and individuals. Their service matches you with a licensed therapist specifically chosen to address your needs and goals. Its monthly subscription grants one live video or phone session per week, along with 24/7 access to an online therapist.
Why we chose ReGain: ReGain understands everyone’s situation is different and offers reduced fees to those with financial difficulties or disabilities.
Our experience: With ReGain, you can pick and choose your therapy appointments entirely around your schedule. This makes it a particularly convenient option if you are restricted in time.
Pros & ConsReGain Pros & Cons
PROS
Therapists specialize in a wide range of relationship issuesUser-friendly appDiscount available to those in needCONS
Not appropriate for crisis situationsDoes not work in-network with insurance providers