I’m a Therapist Who Tried Wellnite Online Therapy for a Month — Here’s What Happened

Signing up with Wellnite is easier than with any other online therapy platform I’ve ever used — and it only took 15 minutes.

After clicking the “Get Started” button, I was asked whether or not I’d be using insurance. I have an insurance plan, but as I noted above, it’s not one that Wellnite accepts, so I went with the monthly therapy plan.

(Note: In-network insurance plan holders can take advantage of a monthly subscription plan too, but you should contact your insurance company to confirm eligible benefits and what the cost breakdown will be.)

I wanted to have the option to meet with my therapist multiple times throughout the month, so I opted for the plan with six 30-minute sessions. After I selected my plan, I was immediately asked to pay for the subscription before registering for an account. I wasn’t a huge fan of this. I felt uneasy about purchasing a service without seeing the client portal or anything beyond the public-facing website, and I would have preferred to be billed after my first session.

After submitting the payment, I was asked for my email, name, state, and phone number to create a password. There are also links to the platform’s policy and terms at the end of this part of the registration, which you must agree to before creating an account.

When registering, you are asked to enter your birthday as part of the demographic info. Wellnite offers therapy and medication management services for adults and kids (ages 6+). There’s not much detail on the website about children’s services, so you may have to contact customer service for more information.

Intake Process

Filing out the intake questionnaire was the next step after creating my account. This experience was interesting because while the questions covered basic health information like medical history, mental health history, and current and past medications, a large portion focused on how I felt in the present moment.

Wellnite describes this section as “Sharing Your Story,” but a few questions in, it started to feel more like a search for problematic behavior. For example, words like “immaturity” or “negative behaviors” were used instead of “impulsive.” In my professional practice, I always try to use positive, person-first language (or diagnosis-first, if that’s what a particular community identifies with more). Everything about this questionnaire felt like the opposite of that, pathologizing everything you might seek therapy for.

For someone new to completing mental health questionnaires, this rhetoric could be confusing; even further, it could be offensive to someone dealing with sensitive issues like a history of anger, difficulty trusting others, or other mental health struggles that carry a stigma.

The intake questionnaire also contains a screening for suicidal ideation, which I thought was important. Wellnite clearly states that their platform doesn’t support crisis care, so this is a smart move to help ensure that someone who needs a higher level of care doesn’t slip through the cracks.

Choosing a Therapist

One downside during the sign-up process with Wellnite was the absence of a therapist-matching service, which can be helpful, especially if you’re new to therapy. Since I was not automatically matched with a provider, I would have also appreciated a more user-friendly way to explore therapist options besides a standard directory.

Many Wellnite providers are also licensed in multiple states, which, in my experience with other online therapy platforms like Amwell, can make it challenging to get a quick appointment, simply because their clientele bases are larger.

Some providers had a detailed bio listing their qualifications, specialties, education, and other important background information, while others only included the provider’s name, credentials, and location. Providers can choose how much information they disclose, which explains the variability, but it wouldn’t surprise me if those sparse profiles lead to a lot of people not choosing those providers, since they don’t know much about them.

I ended up selecting my provider, a male LCSW (licensed clinical social worker) therapist, based on his availability, since there weren’t many therapists in my area who listed detailed information in their profiles.

Multiple Sign-Up Options

Something that stood out to me about the platform is that there are multiple ways to sign up. For example, instead of using the “Get Started” button like I did to set up my account, you can fill in your location (country and state), the type of therapist you’re looking for (therapist or prescriber), your mental health condition, and your insurance before ever registering.

Additionally, another option for finding a provider is to use the list of states at the bottom of the webpage. Here, you can look through available therapists without having to go through the registration process. Having multiple avenues to register tells me that Wellnite values accessibility and convenience, two things that I’m looking for in an online mental health therapy provider.

At first, I didn’t have high expectations for how well I would connect with my therapist, since he was a man. Plus, aside from a previous couples therapist, I haven’t worked with a male mental health provider. During my search, I was also disappointed to find a low number of Kentucky-licensed therapists. On top of that, there was a lack of racial and gender diversity — something I would have liked to have seen more of as a woman of color in a rural area.

However, despite my initial hesitation, it ended up working out well.

All six of my 30-minute therapy sessions were video calls, since Wellnite doesn’t offer any other means of therapy, such as online chat, texting, or phone calls, as competitors like BetterHelp and Talkspace do, but video calls were fine with me.

During the first session with my therapist, I was worried that 30 minutes wouldn’t be long enough and that I’d feel rushed. Meeting with any therapist for the first time is always a little awkward, but I felt like he appropriately handled the shorter session length and gently redirected me when I was getting a little long-winded or tangential while answering questions. We reviewed all of my previous diagnoses, my current life situations, and my goals for seeking therapy. I appreciated his thoughtful questions about any previous negative experiences I’d had with providers, along with the respectful way he approached asking about past childhood trauma.

Another positive thing about my experience with this Wellnite therapist was that even after disclosing that I am also a therapist, he treated me like any other client. It’s common for providers to automatically assume that you know all the tips and tricks to improving your mental health, which can make therapy feel like a professional consult, not a personal visit to improve your own well-being. We had a natural discourse that allowed for healthy input from both of us. Overall, my 30-minute session was refreshing compared to other experiences I’ve had with receiving mental health care.

After the initial visit, the following sessions were equally as successful. I continued to build rapport with my therapist throughout each visit, and I found the 30-minute session length surprisingly accommodating. As a busy professional, I felt it didn’t take too much time up in my schedule but provided a long enough time frame to discuss all my concerns. It also made incorporating therapy into my week easier because I could pencil in time for myself in between my own clients.

Wellnite therapists don’t focus on one particular type of therapy, which I liked. During my search, I saw that the therapists offered a variety of specialties, including dialectical behavior therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, eye movement desensitization reprocessing, and more.

Rescheduling, Pausing, and Canceling Services at Wellnite

Rescheduling with my therapist was surprisingly easy, and I didn’t have any problem when I needed to cancel one of our standing sessions.

Outside of the single canceled session, I didn’t need to reschedule or pause services, but it is possible to do so. If you do need to do this, Wellnite recommends contacting customer service. It’s also worth noting that if you miss an appointment or forget to cancel within 24 hours, you will be charged a $65 no-show fee.

In the end, although I enjoyed working with my therapist and left him a great review, I didn’t feel it was a good enough match to continue working for another month or spend an additional $450.

Canceling my monthly subscription was quick and seamless. Like any service, Wellnite offered me several options before canceling my plan, such as switching to a less expensive or frequent option.

Additional Resources

Wellnite provides additional resources you can access anytime during your subscription.

The first resource is called Mood Flow, which is a “journal” where you report your daily mood and well-being and receive advice on how to improve based on your stats. This advice is preprogrammed, so it’s not directly from your therapist. Rather, it’s more of a reflective space. I typically journal on paper, so tracking mental health progress online was an adjustment, and I ultimately chose not to keep up with it throughout the month. However, I think this might be a great feature for someone new to journaling, or if it’s your first time seeing a therapist, or if you want to integrate more accountability into your self-care routine while attending therapy.

The second resource is called Progress, which is a tracker that asks you to answer a list of questions based on your thoughts and emotions around each session (if you choose). Over time, this would allow you to monitor your growth in therapy and overall mental health. I appreciate that this is a brief activity. It only takes a few seconds out of your day because the questions are short and sweet. It wasn’t clear to me whether your therapist has access to your responses in the tracker or not.

Finally, there was also a resource called Self-Awareness, which is a feature to help you learn about what’s causing your mental health problems by looking at your personal data and sending surveys to loved ones for an outside perspective. I found this feature a bit odd (therapy doesn’t usually involve collecting insights from family members) but I could see how this might be a way to hold yourself accountable, if you have trusted loved ones who can provide accurate insight into your mental health. Still, I wasn’t completely sold on the idea, since therapy should be focused more on your personal growth, not the opinions of others.

Customer Service

To reach a customer service representative, you can text Wellnite’s customer service numbers (there are two) at any time, but it may take them a few hours to get back to you. When I tested this, I did find that they will answer you — you just may not know when. There are no specified hours for speaking to an agent on the phone outside of an emergency.

Live chatting with a representative is also listed as an option for customer service, but even after scouring the website, I couldn’t find a way to do this or any information on chat hours.

Throughout the month, it seemed like I was in constant contact with a customer service agent, whether through appointment reminders or general questions. While the autogenerated email and text appointment reminders were helpful, I received so many that it sometimes felt like I was being bombarded.

Other Services: Medication Management (“Medical Care”)

Wellnite also offers medication management (which Wellnite labels as “medical care services”). This service is similar to the psychiatric services you might find at other online therapy companies, but unlike some of those services, you may meet with a psychiatrist or a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. After doing an assessment with this provider, you may be prescribed medication, such as an SSRI (antidepressant medication) to help manage your mental health symptoms, if they think you are a good candidate.

While I didn’t test Wellnite’s medical care services, I would be open to trying them in the future because the monthly plans are less expensive than what I would pay with insurance.

Before trying out Wellnite’s services, I hadn’t heard of the company. It is a smaller online mental health platform, so there aren’t as many therapists available as there are with larger companies like Brightside (which also accepts insurance). It also means that insurance coverage varies a bit more by state — and I couldn’t use my benefits to lower my out-of-pocket costs. However, price-wise, the monthly subscription costs were similar to most companies, ranging between $95 and $450.

Searching for providers at Wellnite is less complex than what you might find on ZocDoc, which has a directory that suggests providers based on a questionnaire. But unlike Talkspace or BetterHelp, you will not be matched to a therapist provider based on your intake questionnaire. This might be a real downside for some people, especially if you’re not sure what kind of therapist might be best for you and your needs.

Wellnite’s medication management providers also have different backgrounds than those you’d find on Talkiatry, where you are guaranteed to meet with and have regular sessions with board-certified psychiatrists. Wellnite advertises different types of clinicians, such as psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners and advanced practice registered nurses.

Wellnite also only offers virtual therapy sessions via video call, whereas Talkspace and BetterHelp both offer other therapy formats, such as audio calls, asynchronous messaging, and live chat. However, the quality of the video platform was 10 times better than what I experienced with Amwell, another platform I have tried in the past.

Wellnite’s customer service stood out from any other company I’ve ever worked with. Compared to Amwell, which had some of the worst customer service I’ve ever dealt with, the support agents at Wellnite are courteous, prompt, and tenacious — everything you could dream of when trying to troubleshoot problems with an online platform. Best of all, you can always talk to a real person if you want (not an automated service).

While I won’t re-up my monthly therapy subscription with Wellnite, since $450 is outside of my regular budget, I would recommend it to those who are new to getting mental health services or want strong customer support. It’s also a great option for anyone who is able to use their insurance benefits or might be interested in medication management.

We are conducting an exhaustive review of over 65 online therapy companies, including Wellnite, to provide you with the most accurate and comprehensive information. Our evaluation process is rigorous and standardized, ensuring that we assess each platform equitably and uniformly. We’re digging deep into each company’s business practices, credentials, and industry certifications by using qualified journalists and licensed mental health professionals to test the online services, as well as by surveying actual online participants.

Here’s what we’re looking at during our reviews:

• Signing up on the platform
• Therapist qualifications
• Intake questionnaires and processes
• The overall experience of navigating the platform
• Technical issues
• Customer service
• Types of mental health services offered
• Rescheduling, pausing, and canceling services
• Pricing and paying for services

I trust Everyday Health’s process and believe it’s the most effective way to evaluate an online mental health platform. Without looking at all the evidence, you can’t provide an accurate review of a service, which is something I’ve learned both as a journalist (since 2020) and a therapist (since 2022). In both industries, I research and fact-check my sources, ensuring that what I’m reporting and recommending to clients is credible and of high quality — something I did while testing out Wellnite’s services too.