I’ve Been Burned by Online Therapy Before, But MDLIVE Changed My Mind

Lately, I’ve been in a bit of a disappointed funk after some very underwhelming and (what I thought to be) overpriced online therapy I had recently tried for low-level anxiety and depression around my dad’s failing health. The last thing I needed in my life was to stress about unclear billing processes and costs that doubled unexpectedly. That’s why I turned to MDLIVE—it communicated clearly on its website that its talk therapy sessions cost $108 a session, which for me was a very reasonable price. 

On its homepage, the company advertises “MDLIVE is dedicated to helping you get better and stay well. No surprise costs. No hassle.”  That kind of simplicity sounded exactly like what I was looking for. I have done therapy before through companies that change their rates through a surge pricing structure that depends on where you live and the demand for their services. That pricing system never sat well with me. This time, I wanted upfront, direct information and a website and patient portal that was easy to navigate. I hoped to work with a company that had a responsive customer service department. A quick Google search online showed me that most clients were happy with the company, so I gave it a go.

My initial experience with MDLIVE was a bit rocky to start, but turned around eventually. After a couple of sessions, I now feel really good about working with and recommending the company. 

Pricing at MDLIVE

The clarity around pricing was one of the highlights of working with MDLIVE.

Talk therapy costs $108 out-of-pocket for a 45-60 minute session. Psychiatry appointments cost $284 for the initial psychiatric appointment then $108 for subsequent 15-30 minute appointments.

MDLIVE also accepts a handful of insurance plans, working with companies like Cigna, Humana, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Aetna, as well as some Medicare and Medicaid plans. If you are in-network, MDLIVE will even process the claims for you. If you’re out of network, you can submit your own bill to your insurance provider to be reimbursed.

How I Signed Up for MDLIVE

My first impression of the site was that it was very easy to navigate. I appreciated that it had imagery of male, female, and POC therapists - I hadn’t searched for a therapist yet to be able to speak about the actual diversity of its pool of therapists, but at least it showed an awareness of the importance of diversity.   MDLIVE also proudly states on its website that most of its therapists average about 10 years of experience in their profession.

I signed up online by going to the “I Need Care” tab at the top of the homepage, then choosing “Mental Health” from a dropdown list. I could not see a list of therapist options yet, only “Schedule an Appointment.” When I tried to do that it prompted me to make an account first, but that only took a minute, just wanting basic contact info like my email, birthdate and zip code, and the reason I was seeking care.  A few of the options were: “I am grieving the loss of a loved one,” “I’ve been experiencing mood swings,” “I have relationship issues,” or even “I am not sure.”

The MDLIVE site then listed conditions that are outside MDLIVE’s scope of practice, including emergency or crisis situations, substance use in active medical detox, active psychosis , moderate to severe autism spectrum disorders , and “any condition or combination of mental health conditions that prohibit the ability to perform normal day to day activities” (which might encompass things like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder ). Providers are also not able to fill out any disability applications, emotional support animal letters, leave from work notes, or legal documents. 

In my state (Michigan) I only came across mental health counselors and social workers —35 total therapist options popped up for the state. I could choose a therapist filtering by things like therapist gender, what I was looking to treat, and specialties (such as addiction, anxiety , adoption , and Borderline Personality Disorder ). I went with a friendly-looking woman with experience in working with cognitive behavioral therapy ( CBT ), which I am drawn to for managing my low-level anxiety , and I was able to get an appointment for a couple of days out.  I received an email and a phone call reminding me a day ahead of time of my upcoming session, which was helpful. But here is where the first glitch in the system arose. 

First Session Attempt

After receiving a confirmation email and call, I received another email from the company saying that my appointment was canceled on the provider’s end. There was no reason given. While it got me nothing more than annoyed and a bit curious, if a client had intense anxiety or abandonment issues or patterns around worthiness it could have created a situation that was more than just “annoying” when presented in such a vague way.

I figured that should’ve been something the website would’ve handled, since they’d already asked for my state and zip code prior to this. It was odd to me that MDLIVE would let me get to the point of booking a session if it wasn’t something that could actually happen. The therapist was warm and lovely and made me wish I could have worked with her, but I got back on the site to find someone else. 

Second Session Attempt

My second attempt at a session did not go much better than my first. I had a virtual video appointment set up, was waiting by my phone, and the therapist just never called. I waited for 30 minutes before calling into customer service to see if they could check on what was going on (I did not yet have the ability to contact my therapist directly—that only happened once they messaged me for the first time). Customer service must have gotten in contact with him, because soon after he messaged me saying that he had tried to call my number but had issues with it going through. 

It seemed to me that if that was the case, he could have messaged me 40 minutes earlier at the time he was having problems, instead of leaving me waiting and wondering and having to put in the effort to track him down. We rescheduled for a few days out.

How Therapy Sessions Actually Work

For our next attempt, he called my phone promptly with no issues connecting and we had a 60-minute video session. I could choose what kind of session was most comfortable for me and he gave me the option to shut off video if I felt better that way. After our first meeting attempt I went in with my guard up a bit, but I soon softened and found him to be quite professional once we got chatting. 

My therapist was incredibly invested and focused in the two sessions I had with him, even taking the time to grab certain books to recommend when they applied to the themes of what we were talking about. He also took time to build connections, giving brief personal background when it felt relevant to the conversation.

He created trust from the start by thoroughly explaining the reasoning when it came to the more standard questions he was required to ask, so the intake felt purposeful instead of robotic. He was both academically and professionally qualified and had a lot of life experience under his belt. While I never had an expectation that my mental health would change dramatically in two sessions, I feel that he definitely helped me make progress in seeing my anxiety and depression around my dad’s declining health as common and reasonable. By teaching me some CBT basics, which helped me recognize unhealthy and negative thoughts and reactions, he gave me hope that I could apply those techniques daily to keep my thoughts more calm and positive. 

I felt like a human to him, not a test subject being examined.

It felt more like a connection was being formed, and less like some stranger listening to me and just validating me every few minutes.

Our Other Testers' Experiences with MDLIVE

We also tested MDLIVE three other times from Missouri, Florida, and Connecticut, and tried out both its individual and couples therapy services. Overall, we had great experiences with MDLIVE. 

We were especially impressed with the range of backgrounds and expertise that all of our therapists had; with years of talk therapy experience under their belts, we felt that the care we received was worth recommending MDLIVE to family and friends (which we did).  

Our couples therapy sessions stood out to us the most. We found that the care we received at MDLIVE was closer to our experiences with in-person therapy than any other online therapy company we’d ever tried. From getting a heads-up that our therapist would be a few minutes late (something we’d never gotten before) to taking the time to cover i mportant aspects of therapy like confidentiality (something only our in-person therapists had ever done), our provider went above and beyond.

Our therapist was attentive but also gave us the space to talk, and helped us use reflective listening to really understand what our partner was saying. We especially appreciated that, at the end of our first session, our provider asked us if we had been comfortable with him and if we’d like to continue to work with him, rather than assuming we wanted to schedule a second session. Our provider’s understanding and empathy really impressed us.

Our only problem with MDLIVE is that we did have some technical issues with some of our video sessions. In one case, although our video was clear, the audio wasn’t working, and our provider couldn’t hear us clearly. However, he quickly suggested that we circumvent this problem by speaking on the phone while still staying logged in to the video so that we could see each other, and this solved the problem. Despite this setback, our experiences with MDLIVE were exemplary.

Switching Providers at MDLIVE

Once your account is set up, changing therapists is as simple as getting on the website, selecting that you’re booking another therapy session, and finding someone new on the site and booking the appointment. You can also call into customer service—they’ll ask you for your full name and phone number and can find you a new provider in minutes. The only personal information that would be required is a brief summary of why you’re wanting to attend the session with a new provider.

Pros and Cons:

After getting through a couple of technological glitches, overall I was very satisfied with the transparent and reasonable pricing, responsive customer support, and quality of my therapist.

Final Thoughts

I feel that MDLIVE is one of the more straightforward and easy to use online therapy services I have encountered. Costs and billing are transparent, it’s easy to both choose and switch therapists, and the customer service team is top notch. Add this to the fact that I ended up paying less than half per session of what I was paying with my last online therapy company, and I was a happy customer.

Getting my first appointment canceled because I was allowed to choose a therapist that was not licensed in my state, even though the site took down my zip code and state before I chose a who to work with, was not ideal. I feel that could have been easily avoided. I also became frustrated at not being able to reach out directly to my therapist when he was a no-show for our appointment, or that he took 40 minutes to reach out to me after having technical difficulties. But I was comforted by knowing that if any difficulty arose, dealing with customer service was likely to be a pleasant experience.

My therapist did seem to embody the company mission of “dedicated to helping you get better and stay well”—I felt he cared about me as a unique human, not just one more client.  I tend to go into therapy with many walls up and it takes me quite a few sessions to decide whether I fully trust the therapist or not. My sessions with MLIVE had me trusting my therapist from the first video chat and I would happily recommend both him and the company to family and friends.