Posted on Monday, October 15th, 2018 by Will Hagle
Basis
connects you with trained specialists for a 45-minute mental wellness call.
The mental wellness space is growing online, and there are several different companies offering various forms of virtual talk therapy. Although these digital solutions likely cannot replicate the experience of speaking with a therapist in-person (or, when necessary, taking medication or undergoing other forms of intervention), they do offer a helpful service for those in need. Unfortunately, many of them are expensive like traditional in-person talk therapy. Basis is different, offering an affordable service of $35/session. Unlike other companies, Basis doesn’t require or even suggest repeated conversations. You can also book sessions and participate in them on the same day, offering an unparalleled level of convenience.
One of the limitations of Basis is that the conversations are not held with licensed therapists. Instead, the company openly hires “Specialists,” which they train in Motivational Interviewing and Structured Problem Solving. These training methods, however, are backed by research conducted by Stanford scientists. The company is also open about their decision to structure the company in this manner, and empathetic people with some extra time on their hands can easily apply to become specialists. Basis, then, serves as a middle ground between talk therapy apps and apps that just let you talk to other people. The specialists are trained in research-backed methods, but are less expensive than professionals. This allows you to work through whatever’s bothering you, while receiving educated feedback and guidance that should help you more so than if you were just talking to anyone else.
