PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Mental health apps advertise themselves to be widely accessible and more cost-effective than meeting a therapist in person. But some apps are misleading, giving some false hope about speaking with an actual licensed therapist and quality of help.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist Dr. Jamie Zuckerman says the whole experience of online therapy seems superficial.
“I think where it becomes an issue is when you are not necessarily dealing with something that's manageable by messaging right over a phone," she said. "People open up when they're comfortable. They start to talk about things and connect dots that maybe they normally wouldn't have."
Zuckerman adds that with many apps, the common feedback seems to be that it feels inconsistent, and like touching base talk therapy as if someone is checking in with a friend.
In this time, when more people than ever before want to seek therapy, Zuckerman and her staff have experienced being overwhelmed with calls. A 2021 study released by the American Psychological Association showed the number of psychologists who received more referrals nearly doubled to 62 percent from 37 percent in 2020.
Zuckerman says it’s upsetting not being able to cater to everyone’s therapeutic needs.
“I've had numerous people contact me saying, if you can't see me or someone in your office can't see me, can you refer me,” she said. “What ends up happening is I have people that I refer to, but then they're filled, and it becomes this cycle of just bouncing people around in a time where they need help.”
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An important thing to do when sorting through therapy apps in search of someone to talk to is looking for credentials. Make sure the site is credentialed not just in therapeutic services or mental health, but also in what your specific needs are.
But Zuckerman says the best way to weed out bad therapy apps and find the one that is best for you is simply through word of mouth.
“Ask therapists who are in the field, what they would recommend,” she says. “They're probably going to have a much better sense than somebody who hasn't been through this.”
But Zuckerman says there are other avenues someone can take to get help aside from speaking to a therapist face-to-face or even using an app.
“I think people forget that you could have somebody at work, or you could have somebody that you see every day while you're walking your dog, you know,” she said. “[Someone] that you feel a level of connection to that maybe you share similar situations or similar stories or similar upbringings.”
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