Therapists in Tech, a Houston-based nonprofit organization, has published a new database, which allows behavioral health clinicians to review and rate digital mental health companies.
Called the “Company Transparency Project,” the site is meant to give clinicians and companies alike a resource to research the employment details and experiences of therapists working in the space. The site includes listings for 47 digital mental health providers.
“You could go on Glassdoor, you can go on Blind, but there was never a place where the therapist’s voice or the direct service provider’s voice was being elevated,” Jaclyn Satchel, executive director of Therapists in Tech, told Behavioral Health Business.
The information on the site is based on 64 clinician reviews covering 35 companies. Additionally, six companies have provided information about their wages, therapists’ duties and standards, benefits, training and culture, to name a few things.
The companies to engage with Therapists in Tech on the project include Antelope Recovery, AugMend, Manatee, mpathic, Meru Health, and Sesh.
Digital mental health has been a scorching hot investment sector recently and a point of vexation for therapists at times.
“We see [therapist exploitation] that happens a lot,” Satchel said. “Clinicians go and work at a company and they wish they would have known that they were going to see 40 people a week. Then they probably would not have applied no matter how cool the tech is.”
Many clinicians criticize the digital mental health segment’s heavy reliance on contractor therapists, raising questions about worker classification. Others take issue with low compensation and workloads much higher than typical in office-based settings. Many condemn the widespread use of patient information to track and market to patients. Still, others criticize the increasing chatter around generative AI and other AI-backed audio tools in mental health settings.
“We’re trying to make it as obvious as possible how to build a company that therapists want to work at,” Hannah Weisman, a psychologist and independent health care operations consultant and advisor, told BHB.
Weisman volunteers with Therapists in Tech. She developed the project in partnership with Dave Cooper, a psychologist and the director of global mental health at Teladoc Health (NYSE: TDOC).
The next steps for the project include adding more companies, clinician surveys and company information to the database. It also includes acknowledging high-performing companies and helping those that don’t, Weisman said.
This could include a badge system that identifies certain digital mental health at a glance that “create a great clinician experience” or “have some of the best pay and benefits,” Weisman added.
Therapists in Tech is eager to have companies supply specific information about expectations for therapists rather than simply allow them to respond to comments like other job or workplace rating websites, Satchel said.
“We want them to be upfront about what they have to offer,” Satchel said. “The goal here is to encourage the future builders of organizations to do the right thing.”
