Our Online Therapy MethodologyCurious about the extensive work we did to research and evaluate online therapy companies? Take a look at ouronline therapy methodology.
Our Online Therapy Methodology
Curious about the extensive work we did to research and evaluate online therapy companies? Take a look at ouronline therapy methodology.
Deciding whether to end treatment with your therapist is a lot like trying to decide whether to break up with a partner. You ask yourself,Are things really that bad? Can we talk it out? Have I expressed my concerns? How will they take it?And, most importantly,Will I ever find a new one?
I started contemplating these questions a few months ago when it became clear that my long-term therapist and I were no longer making considerable progress. I still really liked them, but Iwondered whether someone elsemight be a better fit for me. However, going through the hassle of finding a new therapist seemed not worth the effort. That was when I discovered Wellnite. Wellnite is a platform that provides online therapy and psychiatry. I decided to try its talk therapy program for one month to see if I could find the perfect new therapist for me.
Unfortunately, none of the therapists I met through Wellnite turned out to be the right match. While this was in part due to bad luck, I felt like the platform’s lack of features and clunky operation made a poor outcome nearly inevitable.
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How I Signed Up for Wellnite
According to the website, Wellnite’s mission is to provide “accessible high quality mental health care to all regardless of insurance coverage or zip code”—but I was dubious of this from the start.Upon signing up, I filled out the strangest mental health questionnaire I’ve ever encountered. While some of the questions appeared to be your typical anxiety anddepression screening, others left me baffled. One such question was “Have you dealt with any of the following emotional/behavioral problems? Check all that apply:” The options included everything from “drug use” to “stealing” to “repeats words of others” to “immaturity.” I have a BA in psychology, but I have no idea whether or not I’m considered immature, and I wasn’t sure how the other list items would help inform my mental health treatment.
Wellnite
Wellnite says it can help with many mental health conditions, including (but not limited to),personality disorders,perinatal mental health disorders,substance use disorders,bipolar disorder,anxiety, andattention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder(ADHD). (However, it’s important to note that Wellnite does not prescribe controlled substances, so its psychiatry services can’t address ADHD in the typical way.) Wellnite also claims to be able to address “conditions” less commonly seen in online therapy, such as “homelessness.” So, it made some big promises right from the start that I wasn’t sure it could keep.
Once I signed up, the site gave me access to a dashboard that allowed me to schedule appointments.
There were options for both making therapist and psychiatrist appointments, despite the fact that I chose a plan that didn’t include access to a psychiatrist.
There was also a “messages” tab. While this was probably meant as a way for customer service to contact me, I never used it because they always contacted me via text message. (Wellnite doesn’t allow clients to message their providers.) There was a similarly useless notifications tab since appointment reminders were also delivered via text message.
Scheduling an appointment was an odd task. I went through each therapist the site offered me after I finished the questionnaire via a drop-down menu and saw what times they were available.
The dashboard didn’t give me any information at all about the therapists. As atransgenderand disabled person, this felt nerve-wracking.
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Pricing
Wellnite accepts PPO insurance plans. If you will be paying out of pocket, be prepared to be confused. The pricing page has four tabs: biweekly, monthly, annually, and biannually. On the biweekly tab, there’s a section stating that you can pay $95 per month, charged bi-weekly, for access to medical care (aka psychiatry) only. Straightforward enough. Then, when I clicked on the “monthly” tab, I was presented with two options: the first offered me access to both psychiatry and therapy for $245 a month, and the second offered access to therapy only, which cost $450 per month. Both plans offer the same number of talk therapy sessions.
In its own words, Wellnite offers “access to wholesale pricing on any mental health medication & free delivery (free shipping) for a 1 month period.” I find this alarming because this made it seem to me like Wellnite only makes money if the psychiatrist prescribes meds, which potentially creates incentives to overprescribe.
I chose the $450/month paid monthly therapy-only plan. Still, I felt like Wellnite’s confusing price plans only serve to make an already difficult-to-navigate mental health system even more inaccessible.
How Therapy Sessions Work
My time as a Wellnite member did not get any simpler. Throughout the month, I attempted to meet with a total of three different therapists. I had the option of choosing between three different appointment-length options per month: six 30-minute sessions, four 45-minute sessions, or three 60-minute sessions. Although I appreciated the flexibility, I could choose the length of every appointment when scheduling it, and the site had no way of showing me how many appointments of what length I had already attended.
After being reminded several times via text message about my upcoming appointment throughout the week, I clicked on the video chat link on my Wellnite patient portal dashboard two minutes before the appointment. I was then presented with a web page displaying my face on the webcam and inviting me to “knock” on the therapist’s digital door. I clicked the button and a message appeared telling me my therapist would be there shortly. I waited. And waited. And waited. They never showed up.
The most insightful exercise she gave me was one where I had to list what I am now, what I want to be, and what I used to be. It allowed me to see how I’ve grown throughout my life while also encouraging me to envision who I want to be in the future. It was a way to channel agrowth mindsetwhile loving myself as I am.
After my second appointment with her, I decided to test out a third therapist to see if she would be a better fit. From the get-go, I loved her friendly disposition and her southern accent. She similarly discussed CBT with me but also showed me strategies during our session that could be used to improve my mood at a moment’s notice. My favorite was one where I had to stare at an object and list the positive qualities of the object in my head without stating what the object was.
Although she and I could have gotten along, it was clear that she didn’t have much (if any) experience with transgender clients. After saying “hello,” the first words out of her mouth were, “So you like to be called ‘El’?’’ It wouldn’t have worked out in the long run.
In addition, before I could finally cancel my subscription, Wellnite offered me the chance to choose a different plan or pause my subscription for one month instead.
Unfortunately, I forgot to cancel the last appointment with my therapist before ending my subscription. I assumed the appointment would be automatically canceled since I lost access to my account the moment the subscription concluded. However, at the time of that appointment, I received several texts from customer service reminding me to attend. I began to worry about the $65 no-show fee, so I responded explaining that I had already canceled my subscription. My time at Wellnite ended as oddly as it had begun.
Pros and Cons
My experience with Wellnite wasn’t ideal due to a disorganized service and lack of LGBTQ-friendly providers. Here are the benefits and drawbacks I found of using the service so that you can evaluate whether it’s right for you.
ProsTherapists use researched-backed treatment techniques like CBTAccepts insuranceMany subscription plans availableOffers psychiatry and talk therapyPsychiatry-only plans very low priced compared to most competitorsCan choose length and frequency of sessionsChoose your own therapistAnnual plans that include psychiatry are very cost-effectiveConsNo information about therapists available on dashboardPrice plans confusingInconsistent customer serviceUnscientific intake form asks weird questionsTherapy-only plans cost much more than those that include psychiatryNo resolution to therapist no-showNo way to discern LGBTQIA-friendly providers
ProsTherapists use researched-backed treatment techniques like CBTAccepts insuranceMany subscription plans availableOffers psychiatry and talk therapyPsychiatry-only plans very low priced compared to most competitorsCan choose length and frequency of sessionsChoose your own therapistAnnual plans that include psychiatry are very cost-effective
Therapists use researched-backed treatment techniques like CBT
Accepts insurance
Many subscription plans available
Offers psychiatry and talk therapy
Psychiatry-only plans very low priced compared to most competitors
Can choose length and frequency of sessions
Choose your own therapist
Annual plans that include psychiatry are very cost-effective
ConsNo information about therapists available on dashboardPrice plans confusingInconsistent customer serviceUnscientific intake form asks weird questionsTherapy-only plans cost much more than those that include psychiatryNo resolution to therapist no-showNo way to discern LGBTQIA-friendly providers
No information about therapists available on dashboard
Price plans confusing
Inconsistent customer service
Unscientific intake form asks weird questions
Therapy-only plans cost much more than those that include psychiatry
No resolution to therapist no-show
No way to discern LGBTQIA-friendly providers
Final Thoughts
Wellnite User Survey ResultsAlthough my experience with Wellnite was generally negative, other users had mixed opinions. In 2024, we surveyed 102 Wellnite users to get their opinions on the service. This is what they said:99% rated the service overall as “good,” “very good,” or “excellent”90% said navigating the website was “easy” or “very easy”97% found a provider who met all or most of their needs91% thought it was “likely” or “very likely” that they would still be seeing their current Wellnite therapist six months from now98% reported that it was “likely” or “very likely” that they would recommend the service to a friend
Wellnite User Survey Results
Although my experience with Wellnite was generally negative, other users had mixed opinions. In 2024, we surveyed 102 Wellnite users to get their opinions on the service. This is what they said:99% rated the service overall as “good,” “very good,” or “excellent”90% said navigating the website was “easy” or “very easy”97% found a provider who met all or most of their needs91% thought it was “likely” or “very likely” that they would still be seeing their current Wellnite therapist six months from now98% reported that it was “likely” or “very likely” that they would recommend the service to a friend
Although my experience with Wellnite was generally negative, other users had mixed opinions. In 2024, we surveyed 102 Wellnite users to get their opinions on the service. This is what they said:
As I continue my quest to find the ideal therapist for me, I will use some of the lessons that Wellnite taught me. Practice gratitude. Reflect on my past needs while considering my future ones. And the only way to take care of your mental health is to show up.
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Hannah Owens, LMSW
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