We’re so glad you’re here. Starting therapy can be one of the most rewarding things you do for yourself and we hope that this guide will help provide an overview of our services and the steps you can take to begin your mental health care journey.
- Understand Therapy Costs and Insurance Options
- Sign Up for an Account
- Choose a Provider and Begin Your Care
Understand Therapy Costs and Insurance Options
With Talkspace, you can meet virtually with providers for Individual Therapy, Couples Therapy, and/or Teen Therapy. We also have Psychiatry services where you can discuss medication and receive prescriptions from a licensed provider. For details on services and self-pay pricing, visit our article: Talkspace Services + Out-of-Pocket Pricing.
We encourage all members to review their costs before signing up so they know what to expect once they begin care. This also includes reviewing ways to reduce your costs – Talkspace accepts major US health insurance plans and partners with employers, schools, and cities to provide our services for free. If you think you may have these benefits:
- Check if your insurance covers Talkspace. The steps for checking your coverage and signing up are available in our guide: Using Health Insurance Benefits for Talkspace.
- Review your benefits from an employer, school, or organization. Reach out to your employer or organization’s benefits representative to ask if you have an Employee Assistance Program or Sponsored Benefit that includes free Talkspace services.
Sign Up for an Account
Once you’ve decided which service(s) you need and how you’ll pay or cover your costs, sign up from our homepage. Consider the following as you’re signing up:
- Create one account per person. If you and your dependent(s), partner, or other family members would like to use Talkspace, please create separate accounts. As a healthcare company, we follow strict requirements to keep accurate medical records for each member. If you need help updating your account, review our article: How do I change my nickname, email, password, and phone number?
- Use your personal email address, if possible. When using a company or work email address, your employer may implement filters that prevent incoming emails from external sources like Talkspace. This could cause you to miss important emails about your Talkspace account like password reset and account verification notifications. If you need to change your email address, follow the steps in this article: How do I change my nickname, email, password, and phone number?
- If you need to use multiple services, you can first sign up for an account and a single service. Once you have an account, you can easily add additional services from your settings. More on this process here: How do I add a new service?
Choose a Provider and Begin Your Care
During sign up, you’ll be asked a few questions so that we can understand your preferences for care and share provider matches with you (typically within 48 hours of completing sign up).
Once you choose a provider, a chat room will be created where you can send your provider messages to discuss your treatment options and schedule appointments. If you’re new to therapy or virtual care, here are our best tips for engaging with your provider and making the most of your Talkspace plan:
- Review our blog post on How to Talk to a Therapist. It provides a great starting point for understanding how to embrace your therapeutic journey.
- Understand your plan details. This includes whether your plan includes live sessions, the length of these sessions, and information around your billing period. While the duration of your live sessions cannot be changed, you may be able to book back-to-back sessions with your provider. Ask your provider if they can meet for longer back-to-back sessions on the same day.
- Schedule sessions in advance. Provider schedules are booked on a first come, first served basis. In order to have the most options for scheduling, we recommend booking your sessions as far in advance as you can. If you’re self-paying for a subscription, or paying for Talkspace with your insurance plan, you’ll be able to schedule up to 4 live sessions during each monthly billing period.
- Schedule appointments with your psychiatric provider before you need a refill. To ensure there are no delays in receiving your medication, schedule timely appointments with your provider before you need refills. If you have questions about your prescription or if you’re unsure of the best cadence for scheduling, ask your provider.