Amwell Online Therapy Review

According to Verywell Mind’s 2022 Cost of Therapy survey, 71% of therapy seekers say their insurance covers at least some of their mental health treatment. Still, despite the support from their insurance, they are still left with an average of $178 out-of-pocket costs every month—and that is still too high for many Americans. Nearly a third of respondents said they have skipped a therapy session because they couldn’t afford it.

Amwell is a large telehealth platform that works to provide quality physical and mental health care on demand, while keeping these services more affordable. It works to accomplish this mission by accepting 126 different insurance plans, offering a quick sign-up process, and providing an easy scheduling system that allows therapy seekers to receive support as efficiently as possible. 

We admire Amwell’s intention to make therapy more accessible. However, sometimes organizations with the best intentions can fall short. For this reason, we chose to test out Amwell’s individual and couples therapy services to gain more clarity on the overall user experience for this platform. We also surveyed 105 current Amwell users to understand their experience and reached out to its customer service team to gain insight into company policies.

What Is Amwell?

Amwell is a telehealth company that provides a wide range of services, including both physical and mental healthcare. 

It was co-founded by brothers Ido Schoenberg, MD, and Roy Schoenberg, MD, MPH, in 2006 and today, it is considered one of the largest telehealth companies in the world. It has a leadership team of 12 people with a wide variety of backgrounds, ranging from the medical field to the corporate world. However, it is worth noting that the entirety of its leadership team is White, and there are no statements on diversity and inclusion efforts.

Amwell’s reputation is generally positive—if you give it a quick web search, you will notice reviews recommending its services. However, I also stumbled across an article from the health and medicine journalism website STAT that criticized its privacy practices. In particular, it focused on an aspect of Amwell’s privacy policy that allows some third-party services to access information about Amwell clients' activity. 

What Services Does Amwell Offer?

One of the things that sets Amwell apart from the other therapy companies we reviewed is its wide range of services, making the company a one-stop shop for many health needs.

Its physical health offerings include online urgent care visits, breastfeeding support, pediatric care, women’s health, nutritional counseling, pregnancy and postpartum care, and menopause care. It also provides medical second opinions and offers services in all 50 states. 

Amwell’s mental health services include individual online therapy, adolescent therapy (ages 10 to 17), pregnancy and postpartum therapy, couples therapy, family therapy sessions, menopause counseling, and online psychiatry. Sessions last 45 minutes, though the actual session time may vary since there is up to a 10-minute wait time in the virtual therapy room. 

All Amwell doctors, including psychiatrists, can prescribe medication. However, controlled substances like benzodiazepines cannot be prescribed through telehealth. If it was determined you needed a controlled substance, the Amwell psychiatrist would coordinate with your general practitioner to have them prescribe you the medication. 

Who Is Amwell For?

Amwell is for individuals, couples, and families who want to access teletherapy but need to use their health insurance to pay for it. While it isn’t guaranteed that your particular health insurance will cover your sessions with Amwell, the fact that it takes 126 plans gives you great odds. While Amwell doesn’t provide any information on therapy modalities or techniques, it offers a range of therapy specialties that can support anyone from a 10-year child to someone entering menopause. 

Amwell’s website states it provides therapy for the following conditions:

• Anxiety
• Bereavement/grief
  
• Depression
• Insomnia
• LGBTQ+ counseling
• Life tansitions
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Panic attacks
• PTSD/trauma
• Relationship issues
• Social anxiety
• Stress management

How Much Does Amwell Therapy Cost?

Amwell is not a subscription service; you pay per therapy session you book, just like you would at an in-person therapy practice.

The price you pay, if you’re paying out of pocket, depends on the level of expertise your therapist has. An online therapy session with a provider that has a master’s degree is $109. An online therapy session with a therapist with a PhD is $129. 

These prices are consistent across therapy services, meaning you won’t be charged more if you see a couples or family therapist. 

As for psychiatry, the pricing is a bit different. An initial online psychiatry visit costs $279. Follow-up psychiatry visits are $109. 

Does Amwell Take Insurance?

Yes. As noted above, it accepts 126 insurance plans, which is one of most extensive lists I’ve seen out of all teletherapy providers we evaluated. 

This appears to be a big draw for therapy seekers, too. According to our survey, 61% of Amwell clients are using their health insurance to fund their care, 66% of Amwell users stated they found their services affordable and 88% of users found their services to have a great value considering the money spent.

“Accepting insurance is critical in making mental health care accessible to those who cannot afford the standard high price of therapy,” explains our subject matter expert Hannah Owens, LMSW, “because many people cannot afford to pay out of pocket for therapy.”

Does Amwell Offer Discounts?

Amwell does provide discount codes through a social media campaign called #MindYourMind. In this campaign, a prominent influencer with a wide reach shares a post on their Instagram about the importance of mental health care and how Amwell can help individuals take care of their emotional well-being. The influencer shares a discount code that allows therapy seekers to get their first Amwell therapy session for just $10.

Its most recent partnership was in January 2022 with health and wellness influencer Hannah Bronfman, and her discount code is HANNAH10. Aside from this partnership, though, Amwell does not offer any other discount codes. 

Navigating the Amwell Website 

The Amwell website is a bit tricky to navigate. If you type Amwell.com in your web browser, you are taken to its business homepage. This page has a corporate feel, and I actually thought I had gotten the URL wrong since there was no call to action to learn more about its services. 

However, I quickly realized if I navigated to the upper right-hand corner, there was a menu option that read, “For Patients.” After clicking that, I was sent to a homepage with a headline that said, “Online doctor visits, 24/7.” 

Below the headline, the text reads, “See a doctor or therapist from home using your phone, tablet, or computer. If you’re having a medical emergency, call 911.” Though it seemed to emphasize medical care, thanks to a large image of a doctor examining a little girl, I was much more confident that I was in the right place. 

If you scroll down a bit, there is ample information about online therapy, providing the pricing for each service and all the insurance plans Amwell accepts. 

The font is quite small, and the webpage feels rather clinical due to its stark white, gray, and generic blue tones. Under each service offered, a button says, “Continue.”

When you click one of these buttons, you are immediately prompted to enter your health insurance, signaling the start of the sign-up process.

Does Amwell Have an App?

Amwell has an app available for iOS and Android. Head over to your app store and download it for free. Once you open the app, you will be asked to either log in or sign up for the service. The login and sign-up processes on the app are the same as those on a computer. 

Upon logging in or signing up, you are inside your private user portal, where you can begin scheduling appointments. You can also hold your sessions through the app.

How Do You Sign Up for Therapy at Amwell?

On the website landing page, there are various services listed. If you scroll down just a bit, you will see blocks that describe Amwell’s mental health services—online therapy and online psychiatry. Under each service offered, a button says, “Continue.” 

You are immediately prompted to enter your health insurance when you click it. I stated I didn't have insurance, and I was taken to a page where I was offered the option of either continuing with Amwell or a service provider listed as "Summit + City MD." 

Afterward, I was sent to a sign-up page where I entered my full name, email address, and an account password and agreed to the terms and conditions. 

Upon completing the sign-up page, I was asked to create a profile. This asked me to input my current state of residence, birthday, and gender. Once I completed this step, I was again asked to confirm my health insurance. The company noted that if my plan wasn’t listed or I chose to skip this step, I could still file a claim after my visit. It also has optional space to input your service key if your health plan provides you with one. After stating I didn’t have insurance again, I was sent to a screen that said, "Congratulations! Your account has been created." 

At this point, I was in a private user portal, and I had the option of signing up for a medical visit or a behavioral health visit. When I signed up for a behavioral health visit, I was taken to a page with icons listing each of the mental health services provided and a button that said “schedule appointment” under each one. From there, I could select which service I wanted to sign up for and see the available appointment times.

The sign-up process was very quick, and I was shocked that there wasn’t any intake information requested. A virtual therapy service will typically ask questions about current symptoms and past mental health diagnoses. I was concerned that Amwell didn’t have a more thorough intake process because someone could be in crisis or have a severe mental health condition and may be allowed to sign up when these services may not be a great fit for them. 

Choosing a Therapist at Amwell

Immediately after selecting the service I’d like to receive, I could choose a therapist. At this point, I could see the therapists’ bios for the first time. This is important to note; up until this point, I was unable to see anything about the therapists available at Amwell. 

I clicked on the icon that said “Therapy,” and I saw 16 different therapists available for appointments. Availabilities varied—some were available the same week, and others weren’t available for multiple weeks. 

Five out of the 16 available therapists were BIPOC providers. Though I didn’t find a BIPOC provider that matched my availability, I appreciated the variety. Amwell’s website states that it treats LGBTQ+ issues, but I didn’t see that advertised anywhere when selecting a therapist. Despite this discrepancy, users felt satisfied with the diversity of providers; 87% of Amwell clients we surveyed were pleased with the level of therapist diversity. 

The therapists' qualifications varied from psychologists and licensed clinical social workers to  licensed professional counselors and licensed marriage and family therapists. The therapist bios were brief, including a few sentences from the therapist about their practice focus, languages spoken, years of experience, clinical interests, and credentials. 

There was also an option to message the therapist, which I found great. It was nice to know that I could message the therapist to ask some questions before moving forward with scheduling an appointment.

How Do Therapy Sessions Work at Amwell?

After selecting a therapist to hold a session with, you will be emailed a virtual link to click on when it is time to join your appointment. 

When it is time for your appointment, you will be taken to a virtual waiting room. This was an interesting experience. I expected to connect with my therapist pretty quickly. Instead, the waiting room had a chat function where I was asked various screening questions that assessed for various mental health symptoms. Some of these questions included, “Over the last two weeks, how often have you been bothered by feeling tired or having little energy?” and “Over the last two weeks, how often have you been bothered by poor appetite or overeating?”

Answering the questions took less than two minutes. After this, I sat and waited. For both my individual and couples therapy sessions, I waited between five and eight minutes after completing the questions. This meant my session didn’t start for seven to 10 minutes after my scheduled start time. While I waited, there was a small notice on the right-hand side of the screen that said the average wait time was less than 10 minutes. 

While I understand needing to wait a few moments for the therapist to sign on, anything over a couple of minutes feels gratuitous. 

I brought this to Owens’ attention, asking for her insight on this practice. She agreed that this was inappropriate, stating, “Clients paying for a full session should absolutely be granted that full session time.”

Individual Therapy Sessions

I found the process of finding an individual therapist quite easy through Amwell. I also liked how easy it was to schedule sessions. Our survey respondents agreed—68% felt that the process of looking for a therapist was easy or very easy. In addition, an impressive 87% of users found a therapist on Amwell who met all or most of their needs.

The therapist I held a session with wasn’t the right fit, but that isn’t a negative reflection of her. There wasn’t anything the therapist did that I found unethical. I just didn’t feel personally connected to her. It can take trying out a few therapists to find one where it feels like there is a strong rapport and a sense of comfort that allows for vulnerability. Despite my initial experience, I wasn’t discouraged and knew there were other therapists I could try next.

Individual therapy seems to be, at least from our user survey, a popular service at Amwell when it comes to mental health care. According to our survey, 76% were there for individual therapy sessions, while only 14% of clients use the platform for a form of couples counseling and 2% of clients utilize the platform for family therapy. Just 1% used it for child and teen therapy.

Couples Therapy Sessions

Finding a couples therapist was trickier than finding a therapist offering individual therapy. While Amwell advertises that it provides couples therapy on its website, there wasn’t a section to sign up for couples therapy in my private portal. Instead, I went to the general therapy section of my portal and checked each therapist’s bio to see if they provided couples therapy. Upon finding a therapist, I signed up for a session. I also sent her a message letting her know this would be a couples therapy session and gave a brief background on my partner and me. She responded quickly, letting me know she looked forward to meeting us. Though it was wonky figuring out how to schedule a couples therapy session, it felt great to have her respond so quickly. 

Our couples therapist was absolutely wonderful. We felt very heard and validated by her. She was solution-focused, providing us with ideas and tools we could use to enhance our communication. She was also talented at balancing her attention between both of us, an essential skill for a couples therapist to have.

Fourteen percent of users reported seeking couples, premarital, marriage, or divorce/discernment counseling through Amwell, which is far more than comparable telehealth companies like Teladoc, MDLIVE, and Doctor on Demand.

Messaging Your Therapist

Contacting your therapist is easy through the platform outside of session. Once you’re in your private portal, you head over to a tab at the top of the homepage that says “My Providers.” From there, you can see all the therapists you’ve scheduled with through the platform and choose to send them a private message. My therapist did not contact me before the session, though. However, unlike services like Talkspace, Amwell does not offer the option of text-based therapy.

What Happens If I Miss a Session at Amwell?

You must cancel your therapy session with at least 24 hours' notice. Otherwise, you will be charged a $40 cancellation fee if you miss your session. 

Switching Therapists at Amwell

It is straightforward to switch therapists at Amwell. At the end of my first appointment with my individual therapist, she asked me if I would like to schedule another appointment. I declined and, afterward, was able to schedule another appointment with a different provider. 

According to our user survey, it doesn’t seem like many users felt the need to switch providers. Sixty-four percent of our survey respondents didn’t switch therapists at all, 16% switched therapists once, 11% switched therapists two to three times, 4% switched four to five times, and 5% switched over five times while using Amwell. 

Pausing or Cancelling Therapy at Amwell

There isn’t a formal cancellation process at Amwell. Since you pay per session, you can simply avoid scheduling future sessions. I liked this—it was great that I didn’t have to worry about remembering to cancel a subscription and I didn’t feel pressured to decide when I would schedule my next appointment. 

Quality of Care and User Satisfaction

While I had a generally positive experience navigating the Amwell platform and using its services, I have concerns about its ability to provide mental health treatment for the conditions it says it can treat. 

For example, it lists that it treats PTSD/trauma, but does not offer a thorough screening process during the sign-up process. Clinical evidence states that those with a trauma history are more likely to engage in self-harm as a form of maladaptive coping with PTSD symptoms. This creates some cause for concern. 

Let’s say someone who is experiencing symptoms of PTSD and is coping through self-harm decides to seek out therapy through Amwell. Depending on the severity and frequency of their self-harm behavior, they may be in crisis, which means they are not a fit for telehealth services. However, since they aren’t asked questions that assess for PTSD and their current level of functioning, they could go without receiving the care they need. The therapists on Amwell’s platform have solid credentials, and I don’t doubt their ability to treat folks who need intensive care, but telehealth doesn’t offer the containment someone in distress may need. 

Despite this, 91% of survey respondents found their therapist’s qualifications to be good, very good, or excellent, and 24% of users reported that Amwell’s therapists had better qualifications, experience, and specialized training than services they’d used in the past. 

Amwell’s couples therapy services were excellent, though the process of finding which therapist offered couples sessions was arduous. Typically, couples therapy services are more expensive than individual therapy, so I was pleased to learn that both individual and couples therapy cost the same. As for finding a therapist who works with couples? A worthwhile update might be making couples therapy its separate category in the scheduling portal. 

According to an Amwell therapist, if a client cancels a session without proper notice, the company collects the $40 late cancellation fee, but the therapist isn’t compensated. This disadvantages the therapist, since they cannot fill the therapy slot and aren’t paid for their time. 

I was unable to find insight into therapist turnover at the company. However, I did reach out to customer service to learn about what happens to a client should a therapist quit. There is no formal process in place. You wouldn’t be able to schedule with that provider since they would no longer be on the platform. However, you could choose to schedule a session with a new provider. If I no longer wanted to use Amwell’s services, I could connect with the quality care team to have them look into the experience and provide feedback.

Users are generally satisfied with their experience using Amwell. Sixty-five percent say they found the platform easier to use than other therapy services, and 88% rate their overall Amwell experience as better than services they’ve used in the past. In addition, 70% of users said they would continue their search through Amwell if they needed a new therapist. 

Additionally, an impressive 88% of users rated Amwell overall as good, very good, or excellent, and 78% of users said they were likely or very likely to recommend Amwell to a friend or someone like them.

Privacy Policies at Amwell

The privacy disclosures state that information is shared with third-party entities for marketing purposes, corporate affiliates, and research partners. In the case of research, it may request a separate written authorization. I found this privacy policy to be quite unsettling. Telehealth companies should not use private medical data for marketing purposes. Furthermore, the company does not expand further on what it means to share information with corporate affiliates. Finally, it doesn't promise to request a separate written authorization for data sharing with research partners. 

Amwell vs. Its Competitors

As a large telehealth platform, two of Amwell’s most prominent competitors are Talkspace and Teladoc. 

Talkspace is one of the largest online therapy platforms, while Teladoc is similar because it also provides medical services. Amwell's key advantage over these two platforms is the wide range of health insurance plans it accepts. Amwell is also more flexible with scheduling than Talkspace. Talkspace requires a monthly subscription, while Amwell offers the ability to pay per session. Amwell has a broader range of services available when compared to Teladoc. Teladoc does have psychiatry services but does not offer any couples or family therapy. While Talkspace offers couples and teens therapy, it does not provide family therapy. Additionally, Talkspace charges more for these services, while Amwell charges the same rate regardless of the type of therapy you receive. 

Regarding affordability, these platforms scored about the same in our user surveys. Most Amwell clients view the platform as financially accessible, with 66% rating it as affordable. This is the same percentage of Teladoc users who find the platform affordable. Talkspace users generally found the platform financially accessible, with 58% of clients referring to it as affordable. 

Despite these differences, fewer folks are inclined to recommend Amwell to someone. Eighty-six percent of Teladoc users would recommend the service, 82% of Talkspace users would likely recommend the platform, and 78% of Amwell clients would recommend its services. 

If you’re seeking flexibility in the frequency of sessions each month and are interested in couples therapy, Amwell may be the best fit for you. 

Final Verdict

Amwell could improve its general user experience by increasing the font size on the website, clearly identifying how to schedule couples therapy sessions, and decreasing time spent in the session waiting room.

Amwell’s individual therapy services aren’t a fit for everyone. Its screening process leaves something to be desired, which concerns me regarding the quality of care for those who may have a higher need for support. That being said, I would confidently recommend my particular couples therapist and Amwell’s couples therapy services in general to users. Additionally, the wide range of health insurance it’s paneled with and general price points are excellent. 

Methodology

To fairly and accurately review the best online therapy programs, we sent questionnaires to 55 companies and surveyed 105 current users of each. This allowed us to directly compare services offered by gathering qualitative and quantitative data about each company and its users’ experiences.

Specifically, we evaluated each company on the following factors: website usability, the sign-up and therapist matching processes, therapist qualifications, types of therapy offered, the service's quality of care, client-therapist communication options, session length, subscription offerings, client privacy protections, average cost and value for money, whether it accepts insurance, how easy it is to change therapists, overall user satisfaction, and the likelihood that clients would recommend them.

We also signed up for the companies to get a sense of how this process worked, how easy to use the platform is, and how therapy takes place at the company. Then, we reached out to their customer care team to ask general questions about the company’s policies and worked with a subject matter expert to get their expert analysis on how suited this company is to provide quality care to therapy seekers.