Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSign-UpHow Sessions WorkGroup TherapyOur Other Tester’s Experience with Mindful CarePros & ConsFinal Thoughts
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Sign-Up
How Sessions Work
Group Therapy
Our Other Tester’s Experience with Mindful Care
Pros & Cons
Final Thoughts
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.
When looking for online therapy, I don’t want to shuffle through a bunch of providers and consider my choices over a few weeks. I want to start right away. But I also have struggled to commit to therapy because I hate creating a profile only to find that the first available appointment is a month away or that it’s going to take a long time to get into my concerns.
So, I tested Mindful Care for about a month, and while I faced some obstacles getting up and running with the company, I was happy with the provider with whom I was eventually matched. However, I cannot attend longer sessions with them, which has left me feeling let down. Read on to find out more about my experience.
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The Best Online Group Therapy, Tried and Tested
How I Signed Up
Signing up on the Mindful Care website was pretty easy: First, it asked for my contact and insurance information. Then, it had me start to create my profile, which involved providing my gender identity (I was pleased to see there were options for non-binary, transgender, and other), and pronouns, which I appreciated.
Services AvailableNext, I was invited to select the service I was here for. The options are:Psychiatric Services (Medication Management) - Ages 12+Therapy Services (Individual and Group Therapy) - Ages 18+Substance Use Counseling - Ages 18+I’m Not Sure
Services Available
Next, I was invited to select the service I was here for. The options are:Psychiatric Services (Medication Management) - Ages 12+Therapy Services (Individual and Group Therapy) - Ages 18+Substance Use Counseling - Ages 18+I’m Not Sure
Next, I was invited to select the service I was here for. The options are:
I also chose my preferred days and times for appointments and selected virtual therapy services rather than in-person (in-person services are available in New York, New Jersey, and Illinois). I also had the option to choose between a female or male provider or “no preference” (there was nothing about LGBTQIA+-identifying options). There was also a space to write about the reason for my visit.
Despite being able to view every Mindful Care provider’s bio on the website, I was not allowed to choose my therapist from this list.
I would have liked the option to choose my own therapist, but instead, I was paired based on availability.
Mindful Care
Once I registered, I received texts that same day to schedule my first appointment. Over one to two hours, I received text questions about my availability and preferred appointment times. The company offers same-day care between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. for established patients.
I was then offered options for my initial 40-minute evaluation, which was scheduled for less than a week away, and was paired with a female clinician as I’d requested. This was the only individual session offered to me that was longer than 20 minutes.
The Mindful Care team is made up of a diverse group of qualified providers, including board-certified psychiatrists and licensedsocial workerswho are professionals in the mental health field.
Provider Page
How Mindful Care Worked With My Insurance
I feel like Mindful Care stands out from the crowd in another particular way—I really like that it not only accepted my insurance plan but it also made my copays and receipts easy to track. I received an email and a text prior to my appointment requesting the copay, I paid with the card on file and then received an emailed receipt.
Cost and InsuranceBecause Mindful Care accepts my insurance, I was only required to pay my usual copay for each appointment. This cost will be different for everyone based on their insurance provider, of course, but I was pleasantly surprised that there were no additional costs, like a registration fee or membership fee, like there are at some other online mental health companies.For users who do not have insurance, group therapy costs $35 per session, and MicroTherapy costs $50 per session. And while I did not test the following services, 40-minute therapy sessions are $100 each; for psychiatry, the initial evaluation is $175, and 20-minute follow-up sessions are $75.Mindful Care does not offer packages and plans; it is a pay-per-session service.
Cost and Insurance
Because Mindful Care accepts my insurance, I was only required to pay my usual copay for each appointment. This cost will be different for everyone based on their insurance provider, of course, but I was pleasantly surprised that there were no additional costs, like a registration fee or membership fee, like there are at some other online mental health companies.For users who do not have insurance, group therapy costs $35 per session, and MicroTherapy costs $50 per session. And while I did not test the following services, 40-minute therapy sessions are $100 each; for psychiatry, the initial evaluation is $175, and 20-minute follow-up sessions are $75.Mindful Care does not offer packages and plans; it is a pay-per-session service.
Because Mindful Care accepts my insurance, I was only required to pay my usual copay for each appointment. This cost will be different for everyone based on their insurance provider, of course, but I was pleasantly surprised that there were no additional costs, like a registration fee or membership fee, like there are at some other online mental health companies.
For users who do not have insurance, group therapy costs $35 per session, and MicroTherapy costs $50 per session. And while I did not test the following services, 40-minute therapy sessions are $100 each; for psychiatry, the initial evaluation is $175, and 20-minute follow-up sessions are $75.
Mindful Care does not offer packages and plans; it is a pay-per-session service.
How My Individual Therapy Sessions Went
Although Mindful Care boasts many qualified providers, after my initial assessment with an intake provider, I was told that most providers were unavailable for regular sessions with new patients as they were already completely booked. I didn’t mind that my provider was chosen for me as long as I’d see the same provider each week.
Scheduling IssuesThat’s when scheduling got tricky, as a customer service representative at Mindful Care explained to me that it is an urgent care therapy company, meaning that seeing the same provider for weekly sessions is not so simple.
Scheduling Issues
That’s when scheduling got tricky, as a customer service representative at Mindful Care explained to me that it is an urgent care therapy company, meaning that seeing the same provider for weekly sessions is not so simple.
I would have to wait a month before my first appointment to see the same provider each week.
Sessions are conducted via Zoom. During my first MicroTherapy appointment, my provider asked what kind of therapy I was looking for. This was disappointing because I’d gone over my needs during my initial evaluation appointment.
Micro-TherapyI felt that my first MicroTherapy session was a wasted appointment, as we spent most of the 20-minute session going through my schedule so that I could be paired with a provider who had weekly availability.
Micro-Therapy
I felt that my first MicroTherapy session was a wasted appointment, as we spent most of the 20-minute session going through my schedule so that I could be paired with a provider who had weekly availability.
The first available appointment with my new provider was three weeks away.
I also ran into one issue when prepaying for this initial micro-session. I paid my $20 copay but when my appointment time came the provider spent only 10 minutes with me; she asked me about my schedule, explained that she wouldn’t be regularly available to me, and ended the call. Considering that my appointment was only half the promised length, I requested a refund, but it was denied.
My next MicroTherapy session was with my new provider, whom I was now scheduled to see weekly. We started on time, and I dove into what was on my mind. She had no trouble keeping up as she specializes in 20-minute therapy sessions. I asked if she offered more traditional therapy options, like a 40-minute session, and she instructed me to reach out to customer support as she doesn’t do her own scheduling. She did warn me that she was unlikely to be available for anything beyond our current schedule.
My provider was warm but professional and offered immediate constructive feedback with each concern I brought up.
She did recommend that I look into a specific and very common disorder for women my age and suggested that I ask my general practitioner about it. She said we could talk more about it in our next session.
I’m going to continue to move forward with my MicroTherapy sessions, but 20-minute therapy sessions are not ideal for me. I think that MicroTherapy would better serve someone with a specific or urgent need that can suddenly arise.
I’m not sure that I’d ever be able to get to the root of any of my long-term issues, as I’ll be watching the clock the entire session.
I do, however, notice that I can narrow down my myriad concerns and choose one particular focus for the session. The time constraint forces me to do this, which then allows me to dive a little deeper into one particular issue, rather than rattle off a list of things that are stressing me out that week.
Because Mindful Care does advertise itself as a mental health urgent care service, I can see how MicroTherapy can meet the needs of someone who only needs therapy for occasional professional help.
My Experience With Group Therapy at Mindful Care
Rise is meant to give group members skills to learn to identify and shift behaviors so that new outcomes may become possible.
Group TherapiesThere are currently nine different therapy groups, specializing in addiction, LGBTQ+ support, depression, and other topics.
Group Therapies
There are currently nine different therapy groups, specializing in addiction, LGBTQ+ support, depression, and other topics.
I think I was placed in Rise because it fit my schedule, but it was also a group with a broader scope of goals.
I immediately realized that group therapy in this setting was not going to work for me.
For a group this size I would prefer more structure. I did not attend another group session after my first.
The Best Online Therapy for Anxiety, Tried and Tested
We also tested both Mindful Care’s individual MicroTherapy sessions and its group therapy from New York one other time, and we were actually more pleased with the group sessions than the MicroTherapy sessions. Although each of the two therapists we saw for MicroTherapy were personable, knowledgeable, and consistent in their delivery of services, we just didn’t feel like the 20-minute sessions even scratched the surface of what we wanted to delve into in our therapy sessions.
We were so focused on getting all of our thoughts and feelings out while still having time for our therapists to respond that we felt rushed, and were just nervous the whole time about our session ending abruptly.
In addition, even though one of our therapists assigned us some homework to do after our session that involved writing all of our feelings down, we didn’t feel compelled to do it because we knew no one would be following up on it.
Mindful Care’s group therapy, for us, was much more successful. We opted for the Wednesday morning “Rise” group about everyday challenges, which we attended a few times and consistently had a great experience. The hour-long sessions gave everyone in the group ample time to share and connect, and the facilitator managed the group with a deft hand. To start our first session, she took the time to introduce us to the rest of the group (which consisted of nine to 15 people, depending on the week), at which point we explained why we had joined and what we hoped to get out of our group therapy experience.
The facilitator then allowed each member to “check in” and explain how they were feeling at that moment—this is how we started each session.
We found our group to be supportive and non-judgmental, making it easy for us to share (and through the Zoom format, we could also offer a “heart” or a “thumbs up” without having to speak). We also noted that some members joined with only audio, making it a great option for people with social anxiety or who would like to remain a bit more anonymous during the group therapy experience. Ultimately, we felt that the hour-long sessions were the ideal amount of time to be able to broach important topics and allow each group member to share. We would have gladly continued with this group indefinitely if it fit in our usual schedule (which, unfortunately, it did not).
Pros and Cons
Finding a mental healthcare company that accepts most insurance plans can make receiving care difficult for some people, but for me, that was one of the company’s best features. These are my pros and cons.
ProsTherapy any time, including same-day appointmentsPsychiatric and medication management services availableInsurance acceptedLow cost for users paying out-of-pocket ($50 or less per session)Individual micro-therapy appointments for users who need care quicklyGroup therapy availableTracking payment is easyConsDifficult to schedule regular therapy sessions with the same providerMay need to wait a few weeks before your first appointmentLimited options for traditional individual therapy appointmentsLittle or no choice as to who your provider is
ProsTherapy any time, including same-day appointmentsPsychiatric and medication management services availableInsurance acceptedLow cost for users paying out-of-pocket ($50 or less per session)Individual micro-therapy appointments for users who need care quicklyGroup therapy availableTracking payment is easy
Therapy any time, including same-day appointments
Psychiatric and medication management services available
Insurance accepted
Low cost for users paying out-of-pocket ($50 or less per session)
Individual micro-therapy appointments for users who need care quickly
Group therapy available
Tracking payment is easy
ConsDifficult to schedule regular therapy sessions with the same providerMay need to wait a few weeks before your first appointmentLimited options for traditional individual therapy appointmentsLittle or no choice as to who your provider is
Difficult to schedule regular therapy sessions with the same provider
May need to wait a few weeks before your first appointment
Limited options for traditional individual therapy appointments
Little or no choice as to who your provider is
It was quick and easy to sign up for Mindful Care but became more complicated once I tried to schedule weekly sessions at the same time and with the same provider. Mindful Care prides itself on being an “urgent care” mental healthcare option, which means that users can sign on any time they feel they need an appointment.
It’s great that there are appointments available every day, but I was more concerned with consistency and wanted to see the same provider regularly. It took a few phone calls and emails to work this out. I was disheartened during this time and thought about giving up on trying to schedule an individual therapy appointment with Mindful Care, but after a few weeks, I was able to begin with a provider regularly.
Though I opted to try group therapy with Mindful Care, it only took one session for me to realize that it wasn’t right for me at this time.
I was initially disappointed in the individual 20-minute micro-therapy appointments. I didn’t think 20 minutes would be enough time to get anywhere in talk therapy. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to find that the time frame fit my needs better than I thought it would.
I found that in 20 minutes I was forced to choose a single topic to focus on, which kept me focused on my goals for each session.
Mindful Care User Survey ResultsWe also surveyed 100 other Mindful Care users about their experiences with the company.90% said they found a therapist who was able to meet most of their needs97% rated the company as good, very good, or excellent overall96% said they were likely or very likely to recommend Mindful Care to a friend or someone like them96% rated their therapist’s qualifications as good, very good, or excellent87% would start their search at Mindful Care again if they needed a new therapist
Mindful Care User Survey Results
We also surveyed 100 other Mindful Care users about their experiences with the company.90% said they found a therapist who was able to meet most of their needs97% rated the company as good, very good, or excellent overall96% said they were likely or very likely to recommend Mindful Care to a friend or someone like them96% rated their therapist’s qualifications as good, very good, or excellent87% would start their search at Mindful Care again if they needed a new therapist
We also surveyed 100 other Mindful Care users about their experiences with the company.
Even though I am finding that micro-therapy is currently working for me, I don’t think the Mindful Care website is clear that this is effectively the only option available for individual therapy.
I would recommend Mindful Care to anyone with a busy schedule looking for therapy in small doses.
Although group therapy was not a good fit for me, I believe it can benefit individuals seeking that kind of support. Although I didn’t initially find what I was looking for, I’m happy with the care I am receiving and will likely continue, at least for short-term or periodic care.
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Hannah Owens, LMSW
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