Talkspace
COVID & Anxiety
At the beginning of this COVID quarantine, I was nervous about the virus, just like everyone else. But, I won’t lie, I also kind of enjoyed staying home. Especially since almost everyone else was staying home as well.
I did have a feeling that things wouldn’t get back to “normal” easily. I knew that once things started to shift back to normalcy, I would likely have some anxiety issues. Due to change, if nothing else.
You know, back when we were “all in this together”...
And I was right. Now that some people have gone back to their jobs and out to bars and restaurants, it feels a little weirder to be staying home.
Counseling
Because I knew I would start feeling weird and probably have some anxiety, I called to schedule an appointment with my counselor. I hadn’t been to see her since early March.
The earliest I could get in to see her is November 6th.
That’s a ways away.
I knew I wanted to talk to someone before that.
Therapy Apps
I had heard of Therapy apps like Talkspace and Betterhelp. I had heard advertisements while listening to podcasts.
I did a little research and it seemed like Talkspace would work best for me. It also has the bonus of being partially covered by insurance.
Talkspace
I signed up to find a therapist and downloaded the Talkspace app on my phone. When you sign up, you have to go through a questionnaire of what you are looking into therapy for. For me, that’s anxiety.
I was given a handful of therapists from my state, Wisconsin, to choose from. Once you choose a therapist, a “room” is created for you and the therapist to communicate through.
There are multiple ways to communicate in the “room”. You can text, send audio, and do video sessions.
Waiting
I texted my chosen therapist a simple “hello, I’m new to this.” I was told that my therapist would respond to me by a certain time. Then I waited.
And waited.
Since I had looked into all of my therapist choices, I knew this woman was real, as she had a website, as well as other evidence of her existence on the internet.
She never responded.
Confusion
Then I got a message from a Matching Agent. She asked me a bunch of questions, which I had already answered in questionnaires. I let her know I had already filled out questionnaires and the consent form and had already picked out a therapist.
Apparently, the Matching Agent is supposed to walk you through all of the steps of choosing a therapy plan (there are 3 plans), matching with a therapist, and setting up a “room”. I’m not sure how I was able to go through all of that stuff before I was contacted by the Matching Agent. It seems I should have been contacted by the Matching Agent as soon as I signed up.
Once we figured out that I had already completed all of the steps she was going to walk me through, I let her know my therapist had yet to respond. She said the therapist would likely respond by that night.
She didn’t.
Therapist
I was not impressed. However, this time I was given the option to switch therapists. So, I chose the therapist I had considered before and had not chosen because she lacked a profile picture.
When I sent a message in our “room”, she actually responded later that day!
After a couple of text messages, she started sending me audio responses. Despite being a little nervous to do the audio, I gave it a shot.
I found that I actually prefer doing the audio messages!
With texting, I have too much time to edit my thoughts and overthink things. When I record my audio, it’s much more like being in an actual session.
So far, I have been communicating with my therapist for about 2 weeks. We exchange messages nearly every day. There were a couple of days when I didn’t send a message and she actually sent me one just to check-in.
Pros & Cons
The pros are that I can send a quick message to my therapist anytime something is bugging me. I don’t have to wait for an appointment. I don’t have to drive anywhere to sit in a room with her for an allotted amount of time.
Though it is slightly anxiety-inducing to do the audio messages (I hate even leaving voicemails or talking to people on the phone in general), I am getting used to it pretty quickly.
Cons. It is a bit annoying that there is a 5 minute limit on each message. You can record as many messages as you want, but I do have to keep track of how long my message is going (there is a clock). I didn’t realize there was a limit the first time I did it and when I looked again to hit STOP, it was already stopped.
Overall, I am liking my Talkspace app. The only real negatives of it are the cost (it’s a bit pricey) and the time limit on the audio messages. Luckily, I am able to handle both.
