Pride Counseling Review

It’s no secret that the LGBTQIA+ community has been stigmatized as having higher rates of mental health issues. What many people don’t understand is what it’s like to experience disapproving glances and contemptuous remarks (and that’s on a good day), oftentimes from strangers. It’s no wonder that LGBTQIA+ youth are four times as likely to commit suicide than heterosexuals. So if you’re part of the LGBTQIA+ community and are looking for mental health assistance, you’ve come to the right place. Pride Counseling understood the issues at hand, both from a psychological and financial standpoint. As such, they created a platform specifically for the LGBTQIA+ community – a place where you can receive professional therapy sessions at a very affordable rate.

Company Profile:

Even given the above information, people have a hard time understanding what LGBTQIA+ individuals experience daily, or that more than 70% of the transgender population experience depression or anxiety. While the staff at Pride Counseling may not be part of the LGBTQIA+ community themselves, they understand the horrifying statistics and the need for counseling those in this group. As such, every one of the Pride Counseling therapists works within the LGBTQIA+ community across a broad spectrum of mental health concerns. If you happen to be LGBTQIA+ but are looking to beat your depression, this is exactly what Pride Counseling does.

Signing Up:

Signing up for Pride Counseling looks a lot like other online therapy services. However, the initial survey is very different as you might imagine. General questions are part of it, such as what is your age, relationship status, or if you’ve ever been in therapy before, though they are more interested in getting more specific information to match you with the right therapist for your specific needs. Questions about your gender identity, pronouns, and sexual orientation are also questions you should expect to answer.

Pride Counseling Getting Started Survey

In collecting information, the platform is trying to get a full picture of your life. It’s not just about how you identify or what your orientation is, but also what the status of your physical and mental state is. After you complete the questionnaire, you will need to create your account. You can use an alias when signing up, but make sure to provide an email account you actually use. That’s because Pride Counseling will send you a 3-digit verification code to confirm your account. Once that’s complete, you can choose what type of counselor you’d prefer (male, female, type of experience, etc.).

Pride Counseling Counselor Preference

This entire sign-up process, from start to finish, will not take you more than 5 minutes. Thereafter, you are led to the payment page.

Pricing:

Pride Counseling charges between $60-$90 per week, billed monthly every 4 weeks and it is based on your location preferences. This includes unlimited messaging with your therapist and 1 live virtual session per week. They also offer financial aid for those that qualify. Lastly, if you sign up through one of the websites, podcasts, or YouTube channels they sponsor, you can receive an additional 10% off your first month.

Pride Counseling Payment Page

This is one of the most competitive offers on the market compared to other online therapy services. Also, keep in mind that in-office treatment can cost up to $300 per session! Even with a co-pay, I was looking at a fee of around $75 per session. Pride Counseling was offering me $65/week for unlimited therapy. For a service that specializes in the LGBTQIA+ community, I believe it’s well worth the price.

Usability (Desktop & Mobile):

Once you have completed the payment process, you are then led to your secured chat room. If you have any experience with chat-based services (WhatsApp, Skype, any instant messaging service, etc.), Pride Counseling will be very easy to use. Even if you have no experience with technology, your chat room is extremely intuitive as can be seen below.

Pride Counseling Private Chat Room

It’s a standard messaging system, with your therapist’s messages above and your personal chat box below. On mobile, it’s virtually the same, just simply projected on a smaller screen. You can scroll through previous messages if you’d like and even attach various files from your computer to communicate over chat more efficiently. If that doesn’t work, you can always schedule a live session – via phone or video – located at the bottom of the chat room. Simply pick a date and click on ‘Book.’ If that’s not a good time for your therapist, they will let you know and you’ll schedule for another time. Once a time is agreed upon, your therapist will prompt you to start the phone or video session, which will be through the Pride Counseling platform instead of a third-party service like Skype. In my opinion, this is great not only because it’s located in an all-in-one place but for security/privacy reasons as well.

Lastly, another thing that is great about Pride Counseling is that you don’t need to be connected to the platform at all times. As long as you have an internet connection, you will always be up to date on incoming messages. Pride Counseling sends email notifications straight to your email inbox informing you of a new message from your therapist. The overall ease of use of Pride Counseling is fantastic all-around.

Pride Counseling – Email Message from Karen

Counselor Support & Effectiveness:

Before I get into the effectiveness of this service, it should be noted that this is completely subjective. There will always be people who have varying results from any type of therapy – online or in-office. For me, using an online therapy platform was new. It was nerve-racking considering I always shied away from any kind of therapy. But, it also provided me with a level of comfort because I could use an alias and didn’t need to show my face/emotions to someone I wasn’t familiar with. At first, it was almost like being part of a community-based chat room (circa AOL 1996). Nevertheless, I still had many reservations.

Thankfully, I was paired with Karen Armstrong who completely dispelled my fears from day one. Apparently, most therapists understand that technology is disrupting their industry and thus many have moved to online platforms like Pride Counseling. So, it turned out I’m not just a guinea pig! This certainly contributed to my willingness to open up to Karen, as it was made clear that thousands of people are treated online.

Being Paired with Karen

Lastly and most importantly, Karen is a true professional. She has primarily worked with the LGBTQIA+ community for many years already (25 years). She’s exceptionally good at listening, being non-judgmental, insightful, and supportive. Most of the issues I was experiencing were with my family and this turned out to be a good thing because aside from helping the LGBTQIA+ community, Karen has extensive knowledge and experience in helping families overcome their emotional and behavioral problems. Even though my immediate family wasn’t part of my therapy sessions, I was able to change most of my behavioral patterns which made an instant impact on my overall quality of life. It turned out that simple communication barriers were responsible for most of my issues. By empowering me with the necessary knowledge and providing me with simple tasks to change my conduct, Karen truly saved my family relationship. And, this also extended to other relationships outside of my family. Overall, not only was I surprised by the effectiveness but also by the level of intimacy provided by Karen.

Confidentiality & Privacy:

The thing I initially loved most about Pride Counseling is the ‘alias’ feature. With all of the security issues online, it’s hard for me to do pretty much anything online – shopping, banking, etc. Therapy is supposed to be one of the most confidential parts of someone’s life. In my opinion, there is no comparison between online shopping to therapy. I don’t want my name to be potentially exposed in the future. Why take that risk? Unless there is a safe option. In comes Pride Counseling. You don’t need to use your real name or even a real email address. I set up a fake email address and name, which I still use to this day (although by now Karen knows my real name – it took a few weeks for me to fully open up to her). This was a massive confidence booster for me and is what ultimately led me to use this service.

Creating a Private Account

As for privacy concerns: like any therapist, Pride Counseling is subject to strict local and federal laws – HIPAA to name one. Also, their site and chat are encrypted by 256-bit encryption, which is the same level of security as any financial institution. And, even in the unlikely event of a hack, the Pride Counseling databases are also SSL encrypted and scrambled which renders the data completely useless to hackers. No one at Pride Counseling has access to the secured chat room – this is only accessible to you and your therapist. Your therapist is also subject to these local and federal laws so there is no concern there either. Essentially speaking, I have found there to be no concern regarding privacy, confidentiality, or security which is saying a lot given my reservations about online security as a whole.

Pride Counseling’s Counselor Qualifications:

As per the Pride Counseling website, every one of their therapists is licensed, trained, experienced, and accredited. They range from PhDs/PsyDs to LMFTs, LCSWs, LMSWs, or LPCs. Every one of them holds either a Masters’s Degree or a Doctorate in their field of training. They have all been qualified by their state board and they hold at least 3 years and 2,000 hours of hands-on experience (not just theory and intern-level certification). Most importantly, every one of the Pride Counseling therapists specializes in providing counseling to the LGBTQIA+ community. In fact, if you go through their therapist’s profiles, you will see that many of them state ‘LGBTQIA+’ as one of their first areas of experience.

Specialties & Areas of Expertise:

If you are part of the LGBTQIA+ community and are looking for an online therapy solution, look no further than Pride Counseling. Yes, other platforms such as Talkspace and Calmerry also serve the LGBTQIA+ community. However, it’s not the focal point of their service. Pride Counseling was specifically built to help our community. But what’s truly great about this platform is that they help in many other areas, such as the ones listed below:

• All Addictions
• Anger
• Anxiety
• Bipolar
• Career
• Chronic Impulsivity
• Conflict
• Depression
• Eating
• Educational Assessments
• Family
• Grief
• Health
• Intimacy
• Life Transitions
• Parenting
• Relationships
• Religion
• Self-Esteem
• Sleeping
• Social Behavior
• Stress
• Substance Abuse
• Trauma & Abuse

For many people, there are likely several issues that they are dealing with. As I identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community, this was the driving force behind my decision to use Pride Counseling. However, I was also dealing with family issues while battling moderate depression and anxiety – three areas that the counselors help with.

Bottom Line:

The level of professionalism and intimate support was truly a pleasant surprise. The usability was well above average and allowed me to correspond with a therapist at my own pace and wherever I was. And, the level of security and privacy offered by Pride Counseling put my fears to rest. After all, the ability to stay completely anonymous was what pushed me to sign up for this service (in addition to the price drop after 3 months of use which was a nice added benefit). If you are on the fence about joining this program, give it a shot. There is nothing to lose and everything, including your happiness, to gain.