Acknowledging the need for help with mental health can be a hard decision for those who have never sought treatment. Despite the progress that’s been made in recognizing the importance of mental health, there is still a stigma associated with seeking therapy, often rooted in fear of judgment. That’s why it’s so important to remove barriers to access, especially for those who do make the courageous decision to prioritize their mental well-being.
Virtual therapy platforms, like Grow Therapy and Talkspace, are removing some of the barriers that can prevent people from seeking treatment by enabling them to confidentially search for therapists and other licensed mental health care providers, then attend their therapy sessions from the privacy of their own home. However, there are differences in how the two online therapy services operate.
If you’re seeking mental health care and are interested in telehealth therapy options, it’s a good idea to do a comparison between these online therapy companies, so that you can make an informed decision about which platform will work best for you.
Luckily, we’ve got you covered. Let’s take a deep dive into the Grow Therapy vs. Talkspace features.
Overview of Grow Therapy
If you’re seeking online therapy for anxiety, depression, relationship issues, ADHD, or a host of other mental and behavioral health challenges and conditions, Grow Therapy is a great resource. The company can swiftly connect you with licensed therapists and other online therapy providers in your region and that are covered by your insurance plan. Grow Therapy has over 15,000 active providers in its network.
The unique needs of each individual client were prioritized when the Grow Therapy user experience was designed. While some people are eager to embrace virtual therapy, others prefer the more traditional face-to-face approach. Grow Therapy allows users to choose what works best for them. Grow Therapy’s platform includes the interface for virtual sessions, as well as a way to engage in messaging with your provider.
Users simply identify whether they would like to receive virtual or in-person therapy, and then input their location, their insurance provider or payment preference, and the reason they are seeking care. This will generate a list of licensed mental health professionals that match their needs. Clients can find different types of therapy including individual therapy, couples counseling, and family therapy. Clients can also filter through the different therapist options that are provided by their gender, language, availability, and treatment methods, like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or motivational interviewing.
But finding a provider is only the beginning of your therapy journey. Grow Therapy is committed to helping you at every stage of the process. Once you find the provider that works best for you, you’ll be prompted to fill out your profile information, including your insurance, billing info, and address to book your first session. The booking page includes an eligibility check to ensure the provider you’ve selected accepts your insurance plan. However, you may choose other payment options if you are not covered by insurance.
With everything set, you can begin your therapy work with the professional of your choice, and communicate with them through your convenient client portal.
Overview of Talkspace
Like Grow Therapy, Talkspace is designed to connect individuals seeking therapy with a mental health care provider. Compared to Grow Therapy’s 15,000+ active providers, Talkspace has 5,000+ licensed clinicians including therapists and psychiatric providers. The Talkspace user experience has other important differences from Grow Therapy that you’ll need to consider.
Before entering any information, you’ll be prompted to choose what type of care you are looking for: individual therapy, couples therapy, teen counseling, or prescription mental health support. Each of these different types of care can have slightly different processes as you begin your matching assessment.
For individual therapy, you will first input your insurance information to determine whether you are covered. You can also choose to pay out-of-pocket. The assessment will then ask you a series of questions about why you are specifically seeking care, what the state of your current health is, and what your preferences are for a licensed mental health provider, such as their gender and language.
Once you’ve finished creating your profile, you will be matched with a licensed therapist and can begin communicating with them through live sessions and messaging on the Talkspace platform, which you can access through their website or app. You also have the opportunity to rematch if the therapist provided does not meet your needs.
It is important to remember that Talkspace specializes in virtual therapy. Unlike Grow Therapy, you are not given the option to find in-person care, and you are matched to a specific provider rather than given a list of options to choose from.
Comparison of costs between Talkspace and Grow Therapy
When choosing an online therapist, the cost of treatment can be one of the most important factors to consider.
Talkspace pricing model
Talkspace takes insurance, but for those paying out of pocket, it offers a subscription-based platform with plans that are billed automatically on either a monthly, quarterly, or biannual basis. Plan options are $69/week, $99/week, or $109/week for therapy, depending on which features (messaging, video, and workshops) users want access to. Psychiatry sessions range from $299 for initial evaluations, $175 for follow-up sessions, and bundled pricing as well.
Grow Therapy pricing model
Grow Therapy is not a subscription model, so you’ll either pay through your insurance or pay out-of-pocket. The price-per session varies based on your insurance coverage. Average co-pays are around $30 or less, and generally the costs fall between $0 to $125 per session based on your method of payment and insurance plan details.
Paying for Talkspace or Grow Therapy with health insurance
With Talkspace, some employers cover their services through an Employee Assistance Plan (EAP). If you are fortunate enough to have this as a benefit with an EAP, your therapy cost could be free. However, if you are seeking therapy through insurance coverage, there is a good chance that you will pay a copay, which can often cost about $30 or less, depending on your specific coverage. Talkspace accepts many different types of health insurance plans, including Aetna, Cigna, United HealthCare, Amerigroup, and Medicare.
Grow Therapy accepts a wide range of insurance companies with practitioners in 50 states. Accepted insurance plans vary by state, but can include:
- Aetna
- Ahead
- All Savers
- Ambetter
- AmeriHealth Administrators
- AmeriHealth New Jersey
- AmeriHealth Pennsylvania
- Anthem
- AvMed
- Blue Cross
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Blue Shield
- Blue Shield (MHSA)
- Buckeye Health Plan
- Carefirst
- Cash
- Cigna
- EAP: Cigna
- EAP: Evernorth
- EAP: Health Advocate
- EAP: United Health/Optum
- Evernorth
- Florida Blue
- Golden Rule
- Harvard Pilgrim
- HealthAdvocate
- Highmark
- Humana
- Humana Medicare
- Humana Dual (Medicare & Medicaid)
- Husky Health
- Independence Administrators
- Independence Blue Cross
- Magellan
- Managed Health Services
- Medicaid
- Medicaid – Superior HealthPlan
- Medicare
- Optum
- OptumHealth Complex Medical Conditions
- Oscar
- Oxford
- Point32
- Superior HealthPlan (Managed Medicaid)
- Surest (formerly Bind)
- Tufts Health
- United Healthcare/Optum
- United Medical Resources (UMR)
- UnitedHealthcare Life Insurance
- UnitedHealthcare Shared Services
- UnitedHealthcare Student Resources
- Wellcare Medicare
Grow Therapy vs. Talkspace: quality of therapy
Whether you choose to start your mental health care journey with Grow Therapy or Talkspace, you can gain access to an extensive network of quality mental health care providers, who can create tailored treatment plans to address a variety of mental health conditions or challenges.
| Grow Therapy | Talkspace | |
| Network | 15,000+ | 5000+ |
| Modes of Communication | Video chat, email, messaging, in-person | Video chat, messaging |
| Professional Accreditation Available | MD, DO, NP, PsyD, PhD, LMFT, LPC, LCSW | LICSW, LMFT, LMHC, LPC, MD, MS, NP, PhD |
| Areas of Expertise | Addiction, Anger Management, Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Coping Skills, Eating Disorders, Family Conflict, Grief, Post-Partum, LGBTQ+, and more | Anxiety, Addiction, Depression, Bipolar, Panic Disorder, PTSD, Abuse, Grief, Mood Disorders, Trauma, and more |
| Treatment Options | Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Child Parent Psychotherapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Trauma-informed Care, Play Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and more | Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Emotion-focused Therapy, Grief Counseling, Psychodynamic Therapy, Talk Therapy, and more |
In their Grow Therapy review, Forbes looked at ratings collected on TrustPilot, noting that most users had positive experiences connecting with mental health providers who could address their needs. In fact, more than 80% of the reviews collected gave the service five stars. Similarly, if you are looking for a Talkspace review, the company boasts more than 5,000 five star reviews.
Accessibility and convenience
For individuals choosing to seek out mental health services through telehealth platforms, accessibility and convenience can be the primary motivators. Therefore, it’s important that companies like Grow Therapy and Talkspace deliver on that promise.
Benefits of Grow Therapy
Grow Therapy hasn’t just streamlined the process of choosing a therapist; it’s also helping individuals get the care that they need faster. Once you have identified a therapist that you feel comfortable working with, the platform allows you to see their availability instantly and book within two days or less for many providers. The client portal also gives individuals the opportunity to contact their therapists if they need to rebook, discuss “homework,” or even end sessions. It can take time to find the right therapist, and there is no shame in switching to someone who can better help you achieve your goals.
For those that can get exasperated working with their insurance providers, Grow Therapy also handles billing and navigating insurance claims for you.
Benefits of Talkspace
Meanwhile, Talkspace has leaned heavily into the virtual aspect of teletherapy and created a service that allows clients to engage in their mental health care from anywhere in a variety of modalities. Individuals have the option of using either a web browser or their app to securely connect with their therapist through message-based therapy, video-based therapy, and live chat.
Let’s face it — even with the option to conduct sessions in a virtual video meeting, sometimes people are too busy or have too much chaos going on around them to focus on a call. With live chat therapy, clients can book a session and easily engage in real-time conversation with their therapists through the messaging feature in the platform, similar to text therapy. And when you are ready to hop back on camera, you can always choose to return to live video sessions in your subsequent appointments.
Unique features and innovations
Sometimes therapy alone can’t address every mental health challenge. In those cases, medication management can be an important part of a client’s treatment plan.
One of the unique features of Grow Therapy and Talkspace is that they both include psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners within their network of providers. These professionals are licensed to diagnose mental health disorders and prescribe medication if necessary.
Having licensed professionals who can guide clients through their medication decisions so that they better understand the full spectrum of treatment options provides more comprehensive care that many individuals are searching for. While some of Grow Therapy’s psychiatry providers may also offer therapy, providers at Talkspace are specifically focused on psychiatry treatment. However, clients can simultaneously engage in therapy and psychiatry services.
And if you’re wondering whether it is time to seek professional help, Talkspace also offers online mental health screening tests that can help you determine if therapy or psychiatry is something you should start looking into.
Ways therapy may help
When considering whether virtual therapy is right for you, it’s also important to reflect on the general benefits of therapy. Therapy can be a powerful tool to help you improve your mental health and address specific conditions like depression. But it can offer a safe space where you can openly discuss and explore your feelings, anxieties, and concerns without fear of judgment.
This can have a positive impact on many aspects of your life. It can help you build healthy romantic and family relationships and sort through conflict constructively. It can prepare you for and propel you toward major life changes like living alone for the first time or switching careers. And, it can allow you to build a sense of self-awareness that enables you to identify harmful behaviors, understand their root causes, and make better choices in the future.
But is online therapy as effective as in-person therapy? Different modalities will work differently depending on the individual. But for many people, virtual therapy will be just as effective as in-person sessions.
According to research comparing teletherapy and in-person therapy, online therapy can have the same post-treatment benefits, long-term benefits, and consistency with client follow-through as in-person therapy, all of which are important indicators of treatment success.
Other benefits of online therapy with Grow Therapy or Talkspace
Virtual therapy can also be especially helpful for individuals who might otherwise be unable to attend in-person sessions.
More than 120 million people in the United States live in a location that is designated as a Health Workforce Shortage Area for mental health. Traveling hours to meet a therapist in-person may not be practical for people living in areas that are more rural or remote. And many individuals may also have limited mobility, due to physical health challenges or age. Virtual options can make sure that they’re not shut out of therapy simply because of where they live or who they are.
Additionally, finding a therapist that you feel can understand your specific experiences can be difficult for members of some communities. Many clients may feel more comfortable and connected to individuals that share characteristics like race or gender, or who have expertise treating certain populations like the LGBTQ+ community. Online therapy platforms like Grow Therapy can facilitate the process of identifying a professional who meets your criteria, so that you don’t have to worry about feeling unseen or unheard in your therapy sessions.
Making the right choice for you
Regardless of whether you are turning to online therapy for depression, grief, addiction, or any other challenge that you are encountering, taking this first step is a sign of strength. You have already overcome a major hurdle, and it’s important to acknowledge that.
Online therapy platforms like Grow Therapy and Talkspace are ready to make the next step in your mental health care journey easier. Through these platforms, you can conveniently find a therapist with the qualifications to help you manage the mental and behavioral health conditions that may be weighing you down.
But your outcomes can depend on finding the service that works best for you. Think about what will make you feel most comfortable and what will most easily fit into your life. Does face-to-face interaction make you feel more connected to the experience? Do you have the time to commit to in-person sessions every week?
If Grow Therapy is the right choice for you, start your journey and join the thousands of people who are prioritizing their mental health. Book your first appointment through us today.
