Therapy apps didn’t work for me

When the TalkSpace therapist couldn’t promise confidentiality, I knew I was barking up the wrong tree.

I’ve been on a journey of navigating the maze of my inner world for years — to figure out my recurring anxiety and depression. As with all mazes, I found a number of blind ends; for me, one of them was one of the app-based therapy services that started popping up a few years ago. I tried to do a bit of research — but, let’s be honest, have you tried to do research while you are in need of some mental health support? It’s hard. In the end, I caved and signed up for the only noticeably different service: The one that was marketing to me the most aggressively. “If they can afford to spend this kind of coin on ads,” my logic went, “they can afford the best therapists, right?”

Well, it turns out that correlation on that front ain’t perfect.

No promise of confidentiality

At the time, I was in an extraordinarily high-pressure job (feel free to look at my resume I don’t think that statement actually narrows things down much. Incidentally, I’m looking for something new), and in the middle of some crisis or other. I sought out some help because I was stressed out, and unsure how to diffuse some of the burn-out I felt spreading its icy tendrils just underneath my skin.

In theory, having a therapist at your fingertips in an app is great — you can send messages or voice memos to…