Talkspace

Last updated
Talkspace, Inc.
Company type Public
Nasdaq:  TALK
Industry Psychotherapy
Founded2012;12 years ago (2012)
FoundersOren Frank
Roni Frank
Headquarters New York City, New York, U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Douglas Braunstein (interim CEO) [1]
ServicesOnline therapy
Unlimited Messaging Therapy
Website www.talkspace.com OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Talkspace, Inc. is an online and mobile therapy company based in New York City. It was founded by Oren and Roni Frank in 2012. [2] Talkspace users have access to licensed therapists through the website or mobile app on iOS and Android. [3] [4] Talkspace has been criticized for making questionable claims about its effectiveness, [5] compromised user privacy, [6] posted fake reviews to improve its rating in an app store, [6] and uses freelance therapists of uncertain qualifications. [7]

Contents

History

Talkspace was founded in 2012 by Roni and Oren Frank. [8] The company was conceived after a transformative experience in couples therapy that saved their marriage. [9] The results of psychotherapy were so meaningful for Roni Frank that, wanting to share it with others, she chose to pursue a master's degree in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. [10]

Talkspace began as a group therapy platform, but has evolved to a company offering online psychotherapy from licensed therapists. [11] Talkspace introduced Unlimited Messaging Therapy in 2014, providing users text messaging with a therapist on the Talkspace website or mobile app. [12] Clients and therapists can also send audio and video messages on the platform or schedule live video sessions. [13] [14]

In February 2015, the therapy platform was expanded to include couples therapy. [15] As of July 2016, real-time voice and video calls are available during therapy sessions. [16]

In May 2015, Talkspace raised $9.5 million from Spark Capital and SoftBank. [17] In June 2016, the company raised $15 million from Norwest Venture Partners. [18]

In addition to reporting on a nationwide uptick in demand for psychotherapy, Talkspace saw requests for therapy appointments triple in the wake of the 2016 presidential election, with increases seen across demographic groups, but were particularly high for minorities. [19] According to a study conducted in partnership with HealthMap researchers at Boston Children's Hospital, a quarter of Talkspace users polled reported feeling “very stressed.” [20] In 2018, Talkspace hired Neil Leibowitz, MD, JD, as its Chief Medical Officer. [21]

In September 2017, the company raised $31 million from a Series C round led by Qumra Capital. [22] In August 2019, the company raised $50 million Series D funding and entered into a partnership with Optum. [23]

Talkspace saw a significant uptick in demand for psychotherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic, attributed to both the increased emotional toll of the pandemic and the restrictions put in place on people's physical movements. [24] [25] The company offered a free month of online therapy services to medical workers during the pandemic. [26]

In May 2020, Cigna added Talkspace virtual therapy services to the company's telehealth offerings. [27]

In November 2021, the Chief Operating Officer, CEO, and head of clinical services all resigned within a span of weeks. The company disclosed that some of the resignations were in connection to an offsite company event. Shareholder rights law firms announced investigations that the company's former leadership violated securities law. [1]

Product

Talkspace provides psychotherapy via smartphone, tablet, or desktop where users over the age of 13 can get help from a licensed therapist. [27] [28] Talkspace is a monthly subscriptions service with prices starting at US$260 per month. [24] The platform allows users to communicate with their therapist via video, audio, and text messaging. [29] Depending on the plan, users may also have access to a number of 30-minute video conference session per month. [30]

Based on initial information provided, clients are paired with a psychotherapist by an intake specialist or can select one from several suggested by a matching algorithm. [31] Therapeutic approaches offered by therapists include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and other evidence-based treatment options. [32] Talkspace has grown to include over 1.5 million clients and includes therapists in all 50 states. [33] [34] The company uses machine learning and artificial intelligence tools to analyze anonymized transcripts of therapy sessions in order to improve services. [35]

Talkspace is also HIPAA BAA compliant and uses encryption to maintain client confidentiality. [36] All therapists are licensed and screening involves background-checks, technical training, and clinical interviews. [37]

Lawsuit

Following the resignation of its senior leadership team in 2021, a class action lawsuit alleging securities fraud was filed. The suit claimed that the company failed to disclose its declining user base and overvalued its accounts. [38]

Criticism

Psychologist Todd Essig has criticized Talkspace in four different articles for conflicting business and clinical interests, [5] making scientific claims about its effectiveness, [39] violating patient confidentiality, [40] and other issues. [41] In December, 2016, it was reported that Talkspace used faulty psychological practices, psychologists of uncertain qualifications, and a lack of regard for patient safety and confidentiality. [7]

In 2018, the Psychotherapy Action Network (a therapist's advocacy organization) wrote a letter to the American Psychological Association and Michael Phelps calling attention to alleged concerns with the product. In response to the letter, the APA updated their policies to bar Talkspace from exhibiting at their conferences. [42] Talkspace later filed a $40 million defamation lawsuit against the Psychotherapy Action Network. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2020. [43]

In April 2020, The New York Times published an article where they cited Talkspace employees had read transcripts from therapy sessions and that employees were instructed by the company to post fake app store reviews using burner phones. [6] The piece also detailed the experiences of Ricardo Lori, an employee that used the service, who was persuaded by a Talkspace executive to anonymously share his therapy chat logs for a company presentation but Lori soon discovered his identity was revealed. [42]

See also

Related Research Articles

Psychotherapy is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome problems. Psychotherapy aims to improve an individual's well-being and mental health, to resolve or mitigate troublesome behaviors, beliefs, compulsions, thoughts, or emotions, and to improve relationships and social skills. Numerous types of psychotherapy have been designed either for individual adults, families, or children and adolescents. Certain types of psychotherapy are considered evidence-based for treating some diagnosed mental disorders; other types have been criticized as pseudoscience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Instant messaging</span> Form of computer communication over the internet or locally

Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of synchronous computer-mediated communication involving the immediate (real-time) transmission of messages between two or more parties over the Internet or another computer network. Originally involving simple text message exchanges, modern IM applications and services tend to also feature the exchange of multimedia, emojis, file transfer, VoIP, and video chat capabilities.

Online counseling or online therapy is a form of professional mental health counseling that is generally performed through the internet. Computer aided technologies are used by the trained professional counselors and individuals seeking counseling services to communicate rather than conventional face-to-face interactions. Online counseling is also referred to as teletherapy, e-therapy, cyber therapy, or web counseling. Services are typically offered via email, real-time chat, and video conferencing. Some clients use online counseling in conjunction with traditional psychotherapy, or nutritional counseling. An increasing number of clients are using online counseling as a replacement for office visits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile social network</span> Social networking on mobile devices

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Kik Messenger, commonly called Kik, is a freeware instant messaging mobile app from the Canadian company Kik Interactive, available on iOS and Android operating systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WhatsApp</span> Messaging and VoIP service owned by Meta

WhatsApp is an instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other content. WhatsApp's client application runs on mobile devices, and can be accessed from computers. The service requires a cellular mobile telephone number to sign up. In January 2018, WhatsApp released a standalone business app called WhatsApp Business which can communicate with the standard WhatsApp client.

Twilio Inc. is an American cloud communications company based in San Francisco, California, which provides programmable communication tools for making and receiving phone calls, sending and receiving text messages, and performing other communication functions using its web service APIs.

GroupMe is a mobile group messaging app owned by Skype Technologies, a subsidiary of Microsoft. It was launched in May 2010 by the private company GroupMe. In August 2011, GroupMe delivered over 100 million messages each month and by June 2012, that number jumped to 550 million. In 2013, GroupMe had over 12 million registered users.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upptalk</span> Proprietary voice-over-IP service and software application

Upptalk was a proprietary voice-over-IP service and software application that provided mobile phone numbers in the cloud and allows users to call or text any phone for free whether or not the device receiving the calls and texts has the Yuilop application. The service was discontinued in 2017 and even its domain was abandoned. Upptalk, formerly known as Yuilop, is officially transitioning to an Edtech company.

Whisper is a proprietary mobile app available without charge. It is a form of anonymous social media, allowing users to post and share photo and video messages anonymously, although this claim has been challenged with privacy concerns over Whisper's handling of user data. The postings, called "whispers", consist of text superimposed over an image, and the background imagery is either automatically retrieved from Whisper's search engine or uploaded by the user. The app, launched in March 2012, is the main product of the media company WhisperText LLC, which was co-founded by CEO Michael Heyward, the son of the entertainment executive Andy Heyward, and Brad Brooks, who is the CEO of mobile messaging service TigerText. Since 2015, the service has sought to become more of a brand advertising platform, with promotional partnerships with Netflix, NBCUniversal, Disney, HBO, and MTV. According to TechCrunch, as of March 2017, Whisper has a total of 17 billion monthly pageviews on its mobile and desktop websites, social channels and publisher network, with 250 million monthly users across 187 countries. It is owned by MediaLab. In October 2022, Whisper was removed from the Apple App Store, and was added to the App Store again but was removed in 2023 again temporarily, but was recently restored to iOS in March of 2024. Whisper was again removed from the IOS App store and as off October 2024 is still not listed as an app. In September 2024 the app was removed from the Google Play Store and no longer works on Android devices. Whisper never made a statement about the removal of support for Android.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hike Messenger</span> Instant messaging app

Hike Messenger, aka Hike Sticker Chat, was a multifunctional Indian adware application offering instant messaging (IM) and Voice over IP (VoIP) services that was launched on December 11, 2012, by Kavin Bharti Mittal. Hike functioned through SMS. The app registration used a standard, one-time password (OTP) based authentication process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fuze (company)</span> American communications and software company

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Wire Swiss GmbH is a software company with headquarters in Zug, Switzerland. Its development center is in Berlin, Germany. The company is best known for its messaging application called Wire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Signal (software)</span> Privacy-focused encrypted messaging app

Signal is an open-source, encrypted messaging service for instant messaging, voice calls, and video calls. The instant messaging function includes sending text, voice notes, images, videos, and other files. Communication may be one-to-one between users or may involve group messaging.

Social media therapy is a form of expressive therapy. It uses the act of creating and sharing user-generated content as a way of connecting with and understanding people. Social media therapy combines different expressive therapy aspects of talk therapy, art therapy, writing therapy, and drama therapy and applies them to the web domain. Within social media therapy, synchronous or asynchronous dialogue occurs through exchanges of audio, text or visual information. The digital content is published online to serve as a form of therapy.

Babylon Health was a digital-first health service provider that combined an artificial intelligence-powered platform with virtual clinical operations for patients. Patients are connected with health care professionals through their web and mobile application.

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References

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  2. ↑ Furhlinger, Josh. All-You-Can-Text Therapy Services Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  3. ↑ Brodwin, Erin. "I spent 7 amazing days with a therapist who only knew me via text message". Business Insider.
  4. ↑ Garun, Natt. "Talkspace now lets you send audio and video messages to your e-therapist". The Next Web.
  5. 1 2 Essig, Todd (June 29, 2015). "Talkspace Argues With Talkspace: Conflicting Messages And Clinical Risk". Forbes. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Hill, Kashmir; Krolik, Aaron (2020-08-07). "At Talkspace, Start-Up Culture Collides With Mental Health Concerns". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  7. 1 2 Ferguson, Cat (19 December 2016). "BREAKDOWN Inside the messy world of anonymous therapy app Talkspace". The Verge. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  8. ↑ O'Brien, Sara Ashley (2015-05-12). "Text therapy startup raises $9.5 million". CNNMoney. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  9. ↑ "Couples therapy — yeah, there's an app for that too". VentureBeat. 2015-02-12. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  10. ↑ "Texting Your Therapist and Other Anonymous and Easy Ways to Get Help". pastemagazine.com. Retrieved 2017-06-13.
  11. ↑ "Adweek's Digital Hot List: 2017's Buzziest Apps, Gadgets, Startups and More" . Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  12. ↑ Lawler, Ryan. "Unlimited Messaging Therapy Startup Talkspace Raises $2.5M From Spark Capital And Softbank | TechCrunch" . Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  13. ↑ Crook, Jordan (29 October 2015). "Talkspace Therapy-By-Text Service Launches Asynchronous Audio, Video Messaging | TechCrunch" . Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  14. ↑ "The Pros and Cons of Using Online Therapy App 'Talkspace'". The Mighty. 17 July 2022.
  15. ↑ "Now You and That Special Someone Can Get Couples' Therapy Straight Through Your iPhone" . Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  16. ↑ Lim, Jason. "Agora.io Is Poised To Dominate Real-Time Voice And Video Apps". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  17. ↑ Sara Ashley O'Brien (12 May 2015). "Text therapy startup raises $9.5 million". CNN. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  18. ↑ Brian Gormley. "Talkspace Collects $15M for Online Therapy Services". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  19. ↑ Jenny Gold (20 February 2017). "'Post-election stress disorder' strikes on both sides". CNN. Retrieved 2017-07-25.
  20. ↑ "In the Therapist's Office, Trump Becomes a Hot Topic". Bloomberg.com. 2017-02-09. Retrieved 2017-07-25.
  21. ↑ Farr, Christina (2018-04-11). "Online therapy start-up Talkspace hires a chief medical officer from UnitedHealth". CNBC. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  22. ↑ "Online therapy co Talkspace raises $31m". Globes. June 9, 2017.
  23. ↑ "Talkspace Review". Online Therapy. Retrieved 2019-09-06.
  24. 1 2 Rebecca Heilweil (20 March 2020). "Feeling anxious about coronavirus? There's an app for that". Vox. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  25. ↑ John D. Stoll (May 2020). "s Tele-Counseling During Coronavirus Booms, a Therapist Seeks Respite". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  26. ↑ Samantha Brodsky (23 April 2020). "Free Therapy and Mental Health Services You Can Access During the Coronavirus Outbreak". Pop Sugar. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  27. 1 2 Bruce Japsen. "Cigna Expands Mental Health Network With Talkspace's Virtual Therapy". Forbes. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  28. ↑ Brooke DiPalma (28 January 2020). "How a 'cultural shift' is making way for a therapy tool promoted by Michael Phelps". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  29. ↑ "I spent 7 amazing days with a therapist who only knew me via text message". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
  30. ↑ "How much does Talkspace cost?". Talkspace - FAQs. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  31. ↑ Chapin, Angelina (2016-07-09). "Text therapy: once my therapist sent me an emoji, I knew it was game over". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2017-06-19.
  32. ↑ "Dawn of the Text-Message Therapist". Motherboard. 31 May 2015. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  33. ↑ "The Power Of Purpose: TalkSpace Donates Over One Hundred Years Of Free Therapy To Medical Workers" . Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  34. ↑ Crook, Jordan (14 June 2016). "Talkspace online therapy platform raises $15 million Series B | TechCrunch" . Retrieved 2017-06-19.
  35. ↑ Cynthia Koons (12 May 2020). "Talkspace Wants to Build a Better Therapist With AI Listening In". Bloomberg. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  36. ↑ "TalkSpace Review | Online Therapy Reviews | E-counseling.com". E-Counseling.com. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
  37. ↑ "Dawn of the Text-Message Therapist". Motherboard. 31 May 2015. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
  38. ↑ Torrence, Rebecca (2022-01-13). "JPM 2022: Talkspace faces securities fraud class-action suit as consumer revenue declines". Fierce Healthcare. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  39. ↑ Essig, Todd (December 14, 2015). "Talkspace Tarnishes Promise Of Telehealth With Extravagant Claims". Forbes. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  40. ↑ Essig, Todd (August 18, 2016). "Talkspace Reveals Clients' Email, Violating Clinical Confidentiality". Forbes. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  41. ↑ Essig, Todd (June 29, 2015). "Should Buyers Beware? Hidden Risks In Talkspace's Text-Only Therapy". Forbes. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  42. 1 2 Hill, Kashmir; Krolik, Aaron (2020-08-07). "At Talkspace, Start-Up Culture Collides With Mental Health Concerns". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  43. ↑ "Groop Internet Platform Inc. v. Psychotherapy Action Network, Civil Action No. 19-1854 (BAH) | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
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