8 Picks for Family-Friendly Online Psychiatry That Takes Insurance

Most Comprehensive: Talkiatry

Key Specs 

• Price: Based on insurance coverage
• Insurance Types Accepted: Accepts most insurance providers
• Types of Psychiatry: Child (ages 5 and up), teen, adult

Why We Chose It 

Not only can Talkiatry treat parents and guardians, but it’s also one of the few online psychiatry providers that can also treat kids as young as age 5. What’s more, the service can refer you or your child for talk therapy through the company if your psychiatrist deems it helpful. All services are covered by insurance.  

Pros & Cons 

Overview 

If you’re looking for an online psychiatry provider that will cater to your whole family (kids included), Talkiatry is our pick because it is the most comprehensive psychiatry service of any of the companies we evaluated. In fact, unlike the other online therapy services we researched and tested, it is the only platform that focuses almost entirely on providing online psychiatry to kids, teens, and adults—and all its services are covered by almost every major insurance provider, including Medicare and Medicaid. (You cannot pay out-of-pocket.)

What made Talkiatry stand out the most to us, though, is that its sessions are longer than at other providers: an initial visit lasts for 60 minutes, and follow-up visits last for 30 minutes. This ensures your provider can get all of the information they need to give you or your child an appropriate diagnosis and carefully evaluate any and all medication options that might be a good fit. It also allows Talkiatry to treat more conditions—such as ADHD—with the care and ethical prescribing practices you’d get at an in-person provider.

While Talkiatry focuses on psychiatry, if you or your child need talk therapy as part of your treatment, your Talkiatry provider will refer you to a therapist at the company. The service is available in every state except Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Talkiatry is one of the few online psychiatry companies that prescribes mental health medications that are considered controlled substances.

User Satisfaction 

In general, people are very happy with Talkiatry. Our survey found that 96% of users reported having a good overall experience and 97% reported that Talkiatry’s value was good, very good, or excellent. Eighty-seven percent of people said that they would recommend Talkiatry to a friend looking for similar services.

One of our testers, who was a dad, noted: “I felt like someone was actually taking the time to hear my concerns and listen to my needs.”

Best for Parents: Amwell

Key Specs  

• Price: Self-pay $279 initial psychiatry visit, $109 per follow-up; talk therapy appointments $109 for a therapist with a master’s degree, $129 for a therapist with a doctoral degree
• Insurance Types Accepted: 126 insurance plans including Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and UnitedHealthcare
• Types of Psychiatry: Adult psychiatry; couples, family, and individual therapy for ages 10 and up

Why We Chose It

While it doesn’t offer psychiatry to kids, Amwell still made our list as our pick for parents because it treats many conditions that affect parents (such as postpartum depression), accepts more insurance plans than any other online psychiatry service we assessed, and offers flexible scheduling that’s perfect for parents so you can easily access the treatment you need on your own terms. 

Pros & Cons 

Overview 

When a parent is dealing with an untreated mental health condition—including depression or anxiety—it can have an impact on the whole family. In fact, studies have shown that it can even impact your children well into adulthood. That's why we felt it was important to include Amwell on this list for families. As a telehealth provider that offers medical care and talk therapy to anyone 10 and up, as well as psychiatry (but only to adults, at least for now), we felt like it was a valuable resource for parents looking for psychiatric treatment for themselves.

If you're signing up for psychiatry specifically, you can find treatment for anxiety disorders, depression, PTSD, OCD, bipolar disorder, and insomnia, but Amwell providers cannot prescribe controlled substances including benzodiazepines, which are commonly used to treat anxiety, or Adderall, which is used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

It also offers night, weekend, and holiday appointments, making it easy to find time for your care even while balancing kids' busy schedules and/or work. It also accepts 126 insurance plans, which is the most insurance accepted of any other online psychiatry platform we looked at. (Plus the company says it plans to expand into child psychiatry in the future, so we think it is likely to stay a valuable resource to you as parents for a long time.)

User Satisfaction  

Overall, 88% of the users that we surveyed had a good, very good, or excellent experience with Amwell. Of people who chose Amwell for online psychiatry, 27% said that access to morning, evening, and weekend appointments was important to them, suggesting that Amwell is a good choice for parents who need flexible scheduling. Eighty-six percent of people said they found a provider that met all or most of their needs through the platform.

One of our testers called Amwell a great option for new parents thanks to its quick and easy sign-up process and usefulness as a one-stop shop for mental and physical health needs.

Best for Anxiety/Depression: Brightside Health

Key Specs 

• Price: Plans cost $99-$349 per month when paying out of pocket
• Insurance Types Accepted: Accepts Cigna, Aetna, Optum/UnitedHealthcare, Anthem CA, and Allegiance
• Types of Psychiatry: Adult psychiatry and therapy, crisis care

Why We Chose It 

Parents have reported a dramatic increase in anxiety and depression symptoms in recent years. If that's something you're experiencing too, Brightside Health might be able to help because the company specializes in treating just anxiety and depression. 

Pros & Cons 

Overview 

Unfortunately, depression and anxiety in parents can impact kids if it's left untreated. For example, research has found that depression in mothers can increase the risk of depression in their children, while depression in fathers has been linked to children’s poor school performance.

But treatment can make a big difference and Brightside Health, an online therapy and psychiatry provider, might be a good place to seek that treatment because it is highly specialized. It only treats people with depression and anxiety, which also happen to be some of the most common mental health diagnoses, especially among parents.

Brightside also works well for parents because it offers evening and weekend appointment slots, perfect for busy families. You can choose a medication management (psychiatry) plan, a therapy plan, or a medication and therapy plan. With therapy plans, you’ll have unlimited messaging with your provider, a great tool for parents who need to quickly ask questions or express concerns as they arise between appointments. 

Brightside is also in-network with these insurance providers in certain states:

• Cigna
• Aetna 
• Optum/UnitedHealthcare 
• Anthem CA
• Allegiance

If your plan is not accepted, its out-of-pocket rates are relatively reasonable compared to the other providers we evaluated, ranging from $95 a month (for a psychiatry-only plan) to $349 a month (for a psychiatry and talk therapy plan).

User Satisfaction 

People who use Brightside Health really like it: 90% of users we surveyed had a positive experience with the platform overall and 86% had a positive view about the qualifications of providers on the platform. Of the users we surveyed, 51% used Brightside primarily to treat depression. Many of them, 28%, were looking for night and weekend appointments, which Brightside offers, making it a great fit for parents’ schedules.

“The service displays a consistently high level of care, both in the sessions themselves and the additional resources provided through the user portal," said one of our testers. "Its prescription policy is conservative yet appropriate, and its therapy sessions are short yet effective. I felt as though its system is a well-designed, well-oiled machine.”

Best for Alcohol Use Disorder: Monument

Key Specs 

• Price: Plan starting at $10 a month (self-pay), plus $45 initial fee
• Insurance Accepted?: Accepts Aetna, Anthem, Optum/UnitedHealthcare, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Medicare, and Cigna
• Types of Psychiatry: Adult individual psychiatry and therapy, group therapy

Why We Chose It 

If you’re worried your alcohol use is impacting your family or your ability to parent, Monument can help, and you won’t even have to leave your home or kids. Monument treats alcohol use disorder with medications, online therapy, and community support, providing the wraparound care you need. 

Pros & Cons 

Overview 

If you are a parent and feel like your drinking has spiraled out of control or is impacting your parenting, there is help available—and not just through AA. Monument can provide comprehensive telehealth support for alcohol use disorder by offering talk therapy, medication, moderated video support groups, and an anonymous forum where you can discuss the ways alcohol use impacts your parenting and other areas of your life. All of this is meant to provide a model of care similar to what you’d get at a residential rehab program, without leaving the house. 

To us, Monument stands out for offering lots of different ways to fight alcohol use disorder. Providers can prescribe two different types of medications: naltrexone, which curbs the urge to drink, and disulfiram, which makes you physically ill if you consume alcohol. Both of these can be prescribed online and shipped right to your house in discreet packaging. While we don’t want to encourage any shame or secrecy around alcohol use disorder, we know this is an important privacy concern.

Plus, of special interest to parents is Monument’s free therapist-moderated peer support group focused on “navigating moderation or sobriety as a parent,” which meets biweekly.

Monument is also in-network with several insurance providers, including Aetna, Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Medicare, and Optum/UnitedHealthcare. The company offers a free community membership, which gives you access to video support groups and the community forum. If you decide to pay out-of-pocket, plans range from $10 to $249 per month depending on what services you sign up for.

User Satisfaction 

Overall, the Monument users we surveyed were very satisfied: 97% of users who had tried other therapy services in the past said Monument was better than other platforms. We didn’t ask the users we surveyed about substance use disorder, but 27% of users said family issues contributed to their decision to seek therapy. Depression, anxiety, and stress were also big concerns for Monument users. Seventy-three percent of users were able to find a provider that fit all or most of their needs. 

Best for BIPOC Communities: Mindful Care

Key Specs 

• Price: $175 initial visit; $75 follow-up appointments (self-pay)
• Insurance Types Accepted: Accepts most major insurance plans including Medicare
• Types of Psychiatry: Individual psychiatry for ages 12 and up; individual and group therapy

Why We Chose It 

Mindful Care provides affordable, accessible psychiatry and therapy services to people 12 and older, with an emphasis on diverse providers and representation. 

Pros & Cons 

Overview

It can be tough to find a psychiatrist that looks like you or shares the same cultural background as your family. For example, only 2% of psychiatrists in the U.S. are Black. That's why we recommend Mindful Care: it is more diverse than most of the other 79 services we evaluated, which makes it so much easier for people to find providers that they can truly connect with. In fact, of the users we surveyed, 86% were satisfied with the diversity of providers at Mindful Care. 

That’s also not all Mindful Care has going for it. Parents who need to access care with little notice will appreciate that the company’s mission is to make psychiatric care accessible, with same-day appointments available any day except Saturday. And almost all patients are seen within 48 hours. Plus, the service can also be used to find your children treatment too: its psychiatrists treat anyone 12 or older.

The major downside to Mindful Care is that it’s currently only available to patients in six states: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, and Michigan. Another small wrinkle is that evening appointment slots are limited, with the service closing at 6 p.m. However, Sunday appointments will work well for parents and kids whose weekdays are already full. 

Mindful Care also does take many insurance plans, including Medicare, though which plans are accepted varies by state. Among the plans accepted are Aetna, Beacon Options, Beacon Strategies, Cigna, Empire BCBS, GHI, HealthFirst, Humana, Humana Military, Medicare, Metroplus, Molina Affinity, Optum, Oscar, Railroad Medicare, UnitedHealthcare, UHC Oxford, UHC Student Resources, and UMR UHC. Out-of-pocket, initial psychiatric evaluations cost $175 and follow-ups cost $75.

If you are paying for services out-of-pocket, this is what Mindful Care costs:

• $175 for a 40-minute initial psychiatric evaluation
• $75 for a 20-minute psychiatric follow-up
• $100 for a 40-minute individual therapy session
• $50 for a 20-minute individual therapy session
• $35 for a 60-minute group therapy session

User Satisfaction 

Mindful Care has a very high satisfaction rate, with 92% of users we surveyed reporting a positive experience. Diversity was well reflected, with 86% of users saying they were satisfied with the diversity of therapists and 61% saying the number of therapists who spoke a language other than English was good, very good, or excellent. Twenty-one percent of users said that, compared with other online providers, Mindful Care had more therapists from a similar background or culture to them. Our testers agree, with one noting that “Mindful Care is a great service for those who need same-day appointments to discuss particular issues and challenges.”

Best Directory: Alma

Key Specs 

• Price: Varies by provider
• Insurance Types Accepted: Some insurance is accepted, but the specifics are set by each therapist
• Types of Psychiatry: Child, teen, adult; most forms of therapy

Why We Chose It 

Alma is an online mental health directory, not a service like most of the other companies on our list, but we appreciate that it will handle all the billing through insurance for your once you find a psychiatrist you like for your family. Plus, it makes it super easy for you to find a provider that matches your needs. For example, you can filter providers by specialties such as “Infertility,” “Pregnancy/Postpartum,” “Parenting,” or "Pediatrics."

Pros & Cons 

Overview 

If you want to do your research and find the best psychiatrist for your child (or yourself) by reading through bios, Alma makes that pretty easy to do. Unlike most other services on our list, Alma is a mental health directory, which means that it is a listing service of providers. When you go to its website, you can search through that list with the help of several filters, such as by degree (psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse practitioner, psychologist, etc) and by specialty (including several related to parenting and learning/developmental disorders). You can also search for a psychiatrist that specializes in treating kids or teens by selecting “Pediatrics” under the specialty list.

There are other filters too, including insurance providers, therapist identity (such as their gender identity, sexual orientation, race, or ethnicity), languages spoken, and in-person or virtual care. You can also sort by providers with the soonest consultation availability.

What made Alma worthy of our list, though, was that in many ways it is more than just a directory. It also helps you with the most annoying part of seeking treatment: billing. It will help take care of some of the insurance paperwork, estimate your copay for you, and allow you to know exactly what you're going to pay before you even schedule your first session (which can also be done right through the site itself too).

The pricing at Alma is set by individual therapists, so you’ll need to look at the prices listed on the profiles of providers you’re interested in working with.

User Satisfaction 

In our survey, 84% of Alma users rated their experience with the service as good or very good overall, and 81% rated Alma’s therapist diversity as good or very good. In addition, 72% of users said they were able to find a provider who met all their needs on Alma, and 71% said they were still seeing that provider at the time of the survey. Finally, 75% of users surveyed reported they were satisfied or very satisfied with the provider options on Alma.

“Because most psychiatrists in this country do not accept insurance, finding an in-network provider is usually extremely difficult,” explains Hannah Owens, LMSW and subject matter expert. “The fact that Alma provides access to a long list of psychiatrists who accept insurance stands it apart from most online therapy companies and directories, and makes the search for an in-network psychiatrist exponentially easier and more reliable.”

Best for Postpartum Issues: Doctor on Demand

Key Specs 

• Price: $299 initial visit, $129 follow up for psychiatry (self-pay)
• Insurance Types Accepted: Accepts insurance, including Medicare and commercial plans
• Types of Psychiatry: Teen and adult psychiatry; child psychiatry available in some states; individual therapy

Why We Chose It 

Doctor on Demand provides treatment specific to postpartum depression and anxiety. It also offers teen psychiatry and therapy, and in some states, child psychiatry. Plus, it's also a general telehealth provider, which means it’s also a great resource for physical health concerns that can pop up after giving birth or while raising an infant.

Pros & Cons 

Overview 

If you think you're struggling with postpartum depression (PPD), anxiety, or another mental health concern, Doctor on Demand is a great virtual resource. Not only are all its services entirely online—which means no dragging yourself and your newborn to an office—but many of its providers also specialize in treating a variety of postpartum conditions, including postpartum depression and pregnancy loss grief.

But Doctor on Demand didn't just make our list because it can help parents cope with postpartum mental health conditions. It's also a great resource for families. It offers psychiatry to teens in most states and, in some states, it offers psychiatry to younger kids as well.

We also love that Doctor on Demand provides physical health assessments. Recovering from birth and raising a newborn both bring up frequent health concerns. Doctor on Demand can help whether you’re dealing with ongoing postpartum mental health, coping with the onset of mastitis, or worrying about your infant’s fever. Once you have created an account with Doctor on Demand, you can access care at any time, thanks to the platform’s 24/7 urgent care system. Having a one-stop shop for health concerns is a lifesaver for tired new parents. 

Doctor on Demand reports it “works with many employers and health insurance plans,” but a list of accepted plans is not provided. You can only find out if your insurance is one of the companies it accepts during the sign-up process. 

Without insurance, Doctor on Demand can get pricey, especially if you’re looking to access psychiatry and therapy appointments; costs range from $79-$299 per session. Psychiatry visits at Doctor on Demand cost $299 for an initial 45-minute consultation and $129 for 15-minute follow-up visits. Therapy sessions cost $179 for 50 minutes or $129 for 25 minutes. Physical health visits cost $79 for a 15-minute visit. 

User Satisfaction 

Users that we surveyed really liked Doctor on Demand, with 94% reporting a positive overall experience and 92% saying that it was better than other telehealth providers they had used in the past. Most people felt the pricing at Doctor on Demand was fair, with 86% saying it provided good, very good, or excellent value for the money.

One of our testers noted: “Overall, I would recommend Doctor on Demand because of the quality of the services I received, its national reach, and the fact that it accepts insurance.”

Best for Kids: LifeStance Health

Key Specs 

• Price: $75-$300 per session (self-pay)
• Insurance Types Accepted: Accepts most commercial insurance
• Types of Psychiatry: Child, teen, adult psychiatry; individual, group, and family therapy

Why We Chose It 

LifeStance Health provides online psychiatric services for kids, teens, and adults, giving the whole family access to care online. 

Pros & Cons 

Overview 

LifeStance Health is one of the only online providers we evaluated that can serve the whole family. It can actually accept patients as young as age 2, although finding providers for younger children is often tricky in some states. This is a service that many other online psychiatry providers don’t offer. 

LifeStance Health also stands out for treating some conditions that other online psychiatry services won’t, including schizophrenia, substance use disorder, and eating disorders. It can be a good fit for people with serious conditions, as long as your mental health (or your child’s) is relatively stable. If you’re in crisis, in-person care is often a better fit. 

In addition to psychiatry services, LifeStance Health offers therapy that can benefit your whole family. The platform has family therapy sessions, as well as parent-child relationship therapy to build a stronger connection with your kids. Couples therapy is available too. 

LifeStance works with most commercial insurers, and there are many insurers listed on its site. The specifics vary by state, but these are some of the plans that Lifestance accepts: Aetna, Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Humana, Kaiser, Optum, and United Behavioral Health. If you pay out-of-pocket, the prices vary widely by provider, from $75-$300 per session.

One drawback to LifeStance Health is that its pricing is not clearly listed. We’ve found that sessions generally cost between $75 and $300, and LifeStance does not offer any discounted packages or subscriptions. To get more precise pricing information, you have to create an account, which includes inputting payment information. 

User Satisfaction 

Of the users we surveyed, 88% reported they had an overall positive experience with LifeStance Health, and 90% had a positive view of their therapist’s qualifications. LifeStance Health may be a good option for BIPOC folks and other marginalized groups, since 28% of users reported that the diversity of therapists on the platform was excellent. Eighty-eight percent of people said that their experience with LifeStance Health was better than their experiences with other, similar platforms they had tried in the past.

One of our testers concluded that: “There were some initial hiccups with trying to find the right provider and make an appointment, but LifeStance can be a great mental health tool for individuals, adolescents, and couples.”