BetterHelp is a

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

platform that provides online mental health services directly to consumers. The

online counseling Online counseling is a form of professional mental health counseling that is generally performed through the internet. Computer aided technologies are used by the trained professional counsellors and individuals seeking counselling services to comm ...

and therapy services are provided through web-based interaction as well as phone and text communication. BetterHelp was founded in 2013 by Alon Matas and Danny Bragonier, and acquired by Teladoc, Inc. in 2015. BetterHelp maintained its brand name post acquisition and continues to provide online counseling services to consumers.

History

BetterHelp was founded by Alon Matas in 2013, after he faced personal challenges finding professional counseling services that accommodated his schedule. With the mission of helping all those facing similar challenges in gaining access to professional counseling, Matas partnered with co-founder Danny Bragonier to develop BetterHelp's web-based counseling portal and therapist directory. Revenue had reached a projected $60 million by 2018.

Services

BetterHelp is a web-based platform that allows patients to interact with counselors and therapists via a private online message board, live chat, phone and video conferencing and is the world's largest counseling service. The "room" is open 24/7 and can be accessed from any Internet-connected device from any physical location.

Acquisition

In 2015, BetterHelp was acquired by Teladoc, Inc., a

telehealth Telehealth is the distribution of health-related services and information via electronic information and telecommunication technologies. It allows long-distance patient and clinician contact, care, advice, reminders, education, intervention, mon ...

company that uses telephone and videoconferencing technology to provide on-demand remote therapy. Teladoc acquired BetterHelp for $3.5 million in cash and a $1.0 million

promissory note A promissory note, sometimes referred to as a note payable, is a legal instrument (more particularly, a financing instrument and a debt instrument), in which one party (the ''maker'' or ''issuer'') promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of ...

, with an agreement to make annual payments to the sellers equal to 15% of the total net revenue generated by the BetterHelp business for each of the next three years.

Controversy

In October 2018, BetterHelp gained attention from media personalities after concerns were raised about alleged use of unfair pricing, bad experiences with the app, paid reviews from actors, and terms of service that allegedly did not correspond with ads promoted by professional YouTubers.YouTube’s BetterHelp mental health controversy, explained
, ''Polygon'' CEO Alon Matas issued a statement responding to the allegations.

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

content creators such as

PewDiePie Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg ( , ; born 24 October 1989), better known as PewDiePie ( ), is a Swedes, Swedish YouTuber known for his Let's Play videos and comedic formatted videos and shows. Kjellberg's popularity on YouTube and extensive media co ...

and

Boogie2988 Steven Jay Williams (born July 24, 1974), better known by his online alias Boogie2988 or just Boogie, is an American YouTuber best known for his video rants about video games and nerd culture as a character named "Francis". Early life and edu ...

have spoken out on this issue. BetterHelp has received backlash for supposedly sharing its customers' personal data with

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

. In its latest privacy policy update, BetterHelp stated: "We may share your information in connection with an asset sale, merger, bankruptcy, or other business transaction." The company has responded to these complaints by saying that law requires BetterHelp to hold on to health data and that they are not subject to HIPAA guidelines.

References

{{reflist Internet properties established in 2013 2013 establishments in California 2015 mergers and acquisitions Behavior therapy Telehealth Internet culture Internet-related controversies

History

Services

Acquisition

Controversy

See also

References