Frequently asked questions by parents

Teen Counseling is an online therapy platform where teens from ages 13-19 can get help from a licensed therapist online. We change the way teens approach their mental health and help them tackle life's challenges by providing accessible and affordable care.

After you sign up to the site, you will be matched with a licensed therapist. You can then invite your teen and they will receive an invite code to login via email and text message.

The cost of therapy through Teen Counseling ranges from $70 to $100 per week, and it is based on your location, source, preferences, and therapist availability. You can cancel your membership at any time, for any reason.

Teen Counseling accepts HSA/FSA cards and is recognized as an eligible expense by most HSA/FSA providers.

If your teen is between the ages of 13-19, and you would like them to be able to talk to a therapist about their issues, such as anxiety or depression, Teen Counseling may be right for them.

Teen Counseling is not the right solution for you if any of the following is true:

• Your teen is in an urgent crisis or emergency situation.
• Your teen was required to undergo therapy either by a court order or by any other authority.
• Your teen doesn't have a device that can connect to the internet or you do not have a reliable internet connection.

We require every Therapist providing Therapist Services on the Platform to be trained and experienced licensed U.S. Psychologist (PhD / PsyD), Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) or similar applicable recognized professional license based on their state and/or jurisdiction. Therapists must have a relevant academic degree in their field, at least 3 years of experience, at least 1,000 hours of hands-on experience, and have to be qualified and licensed by their respective state board after successfully completing the necessary education, exams, training and practice requirements as applicable.

Therapists on Teen Counseling are licensed and certified by their state's board to provide therapy. However, while Teen Counseling may provide many of the same benefits as face-to-face therapy, it isn't a substitute for face-to-face therapy in every case. Most notably, your therapist isn't able to make official diagnoses, prescribe medication, or fulfill any court order.

The process can take a few hours or a few days, depending on therapist availability. On average, about 90% of our clients are matched with a therapist within 48 hours.

Your teen will be assigned one therapist to work with for as long as they decide to use Teen Counseling. However, if you wish, you can always switch to another therapist at anytime.

Teen Counseling strives to deliver a web experience aligned with the most recent Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) at the AA level, published by World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

• If you're on a desktop browser, you can enable accessibility preferences here.
• For mobile users, we recommend using your device's native accessibility features. Instructions for iPhone can be found here, and for Android can be found here.
  

When you're matched to a therapist, you and your teen can communicate with the therapist in four ways:

• Exchanging messages with your therapist
• Live chat (real-time therapy via messaging)
• Phone session
• Video session

For live sessions, we encourage you and your teen to try what works best for you, based on your needs, availability, and convenience.

Once you and your teen are matched to a therapist you can start messaging with the therapist. Please note that you and your teen's messages are separate, meaning that you can't read each other's messages to the therapist. You can message about yourself, the things going on in your life, ask questions and discuss the issues that trouble you. Your therapist will then read your messages, and respond with questions, feedback, insights, and guidance.

You can send messages to your therapist at any time, from any location, using any Internet-connected device. You can log in at any time and since messaging is not in real-time it doesn't require scheduling. Instead, you can choose whenever you want to write or respond to your therapist. You will get a notification by email when the therapist has sent you a message.

Live sessions are scheduled therapy sessions between your teen and the therapist, ranging typically from 30 to 45 minutes. Parents aren't able to join sessions between the teen and therapist, however they can choose to meet with the therapist separately. You can choose between video, phone, and live chat sessions.

Video session - have a face-to-face chat with your therapist.
Phone session - conveniently speak with your therapist on the phone.
Live chat - get therapy through real-time text chat with your therapist.

To attend a live session, you must first select a timeslot and schedule a live session with your therapist. After selecting a time and session type, log in to your account at the scheduled time. If joining a video session, you can select "Join Video Room" and wait in the video room until your therapist joins. For phone and live chat sessions, log in at the scheduled time and your therapist will prompt you to join the session.

Neither Teen Counseling nor Therapists on the Teen Counseling Platform submit claims to Medicare, Medicaid or health insurers. Services offered using this site are generally not covered by health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid.

Coverage and benefits for traditional therapy and therapy services change from one health insurance company to another and from plan to plan, but generally the following rules apply:

• With many health insurance plans, coverage can be partial or very limited.
• Even if your plan covers all your costs, the co-pay that you would be required to contribute may be higher than the entire cost of Teen Counseling.
• In many cases, before you can get reimbursed by your insurance company, your therapist would have to diagnose you with a mental disorder or issue. This diagnosis would be sent to the insurance company and recorded in your medical file. In some cases the therapist would also have to provide additional clinical information to the insurance company, such as treatment plans, summaries or copies of the entire record.

Please note that Teen Counseling offers very affordable pricing options which are typically comparable with the co-pays of most insurance plans. Teen Counseling accepts HSA/FSA cards and is recognized as an eligible expense by most HSA/FSA providers.

When using a smartphone, you can reset your pin code by selecting the "More" tab and scrolling to the bottom, and then selecting "Logout." You'll be prompted to create a new pin code the next time you login.