More and more goods and services are making their way online. Online consumer services have reached every facet of society, even in mental health and mental well-being. Online counseling has seen a boom in customer base in recent years, and no wonder. Online counseling platforms are incredibly convenient for individuals who are too busy or otherwise reluctant to seek in-person counseling services. Online platforms like BetterHelp have become one of the more popular online counseling platform solutions to millions of people nationwide.
As the client base grows for online therapy, so does the need for qualified social workers, therapists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals. Online counseling appears to be a flexible option for earning money as a mental health clinician. But, how much money can you make on some of the largest online counseling service platforms like BetterHelp and similar platforms? Read on to find out.
Online vs. In-Person Therapy Cost vs. Pay
Online and in-person therapy have their advantages and disadvantages in terms of a counselor’s ability to make money. In-person counseling services typically pay more per client than online counseling does. However, in-person therapy also has much higher overhead costs associated with it.
In-person counselors have to deal with costs such as facility fees, rent/lease payments, utilities, technology costs, scheduling/administrative costs, paperwork and client record-keeping, plus other miscellaneous costs. Online services such as BetterHelp eradicate these costs. Online therapists do not have to worry about any of these overhead costs because BetterHelp automates every one of them. BetterHelp charges no fees to the counselor. The trade-off is that online counselors do not make as much money typically as they do provide in-person services.
For some counselors, the idea of never dealing with overhead costs and tasks again is enough to ditch their in-person practice altogether and operate entirely online through one or more of these platforms. Others prefer to mix them, providing a portion of their services online and reserving the other portion for their in-person clients. The flexibility online platforms provide counselors allows them to do just that if they prefer.
Receiving Payment Via BetterHelp
You won’t know precisely how much BetterHelp is willing to pay until you’ve begun the onboarding process. However, you can use their Earnings Estimator Calculator to get a rough idea of how counselors are compensated based on the hours per week they put into the platform, particularly how many live sessions per month. However, BetterHelp does not pay hourly.
Instead, BetterHelp uses an engagement-based model for compensating their counselors. They pay per meaningful engagement the counselor initiates with their clients. An engagement can be anything from live video sessions, live phone sessions, live chat sessions, asynchronous chat sessions, worksheet assignments, interactive journaling, audio messages, and more. The higher the level of engagement the counselor initiates, the more they are paid. The best counselors on BetterHelp are those who consistently check in on their clients and work with them to address concerns and reach specific goals.
BetterHelp Onboarding
You’ll find out how much you may make on BetterHelp after you’ve completed the initial application to join the platform and after you’ve passed their clinical case study assignment. Once you receive specifics on your pay, you can decide whether to continue with the onboarding process or leave it there. If you continue, you’ll need to complete a few more steps before gaining access to the platform. Once you’ve gained access, you can begin building your client base and earning money. You’ll track your earnings using your counselor dashboard on the BetterHelp platform.
Working on the Platform
How much you make on BetterHelp largely depends on the amount of effort you put into accepting new clients and engaging with existing ones. Once you gain access to the platform, you’ll need to spend some time getting used to it. After a while working with clients, you’ll soon learn what communication means best for you and each client. You may notice that you’re able to provide the same level of care as you do in-person but without all of the extra fuss associated with in-person overhead costs. This freedom through online platforms may give your clients the focus they require a lot easier, translating to higher profit for you and more rewarding outcomes for both client and clinician.
The more you engage with your clients and reach out to them to keep them on their mental wellness path, the more you can make. Whether you’re working online to augment your in-person practice or moving entirely online because of the flexibility and ease-of-use platforms like BetterHelp provide, your earning potential is entirely in your hands.
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