Calmerry review: An affordable online therapy option?

Photo by Innerbody Research

There are so many teletherapy companies that it can be difficult to distinguish between them. You’ve probably seen ads for many of them, promising low prices, high-quality therapy, and real results. But each teletherapy service has its own distinct features that set it apart from the others.

Calmerry is no different. Its flexible, tiered subscription system makes it more affordable than many big-name companies. And your personalized Therapy Room gives you a private space to meet with your therapist and process your sessions.

Does Calmerry provide high-quality care? Do the positives that set it apart from other companies offset its drawbacks? Read our review to find out what makes Calmerry stand out and whether you should give it a try.

Calmerry offers high-quality teletherapy that includes unique features, helping the company distinguish itself from other online therapy providers. Its tiered subscription options are flexible and affordable. Your personal Therapy Room gives you a space to hold therapy sessions and reflect on your growth. Even though you don’t choose your therapist, you can switch therapists at no cost. The main drawback is that 30-minute video sessions are much shorter than what competitors allow.

Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions involving staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles.

Our team has spent hundreds of hours testing and researching your online therapy options, and we are constantly updating our reviews based on the latest developments. We try our best to provide readers with an unbiased analysis of the services we test. We base our analysis around adherence to quality, medical evidence, and health standards. We ask ourselves a simple question: would we recommend this product or service to our family and friends?

Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this review was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy.

Calmerry is an online therapy platform that supports asynchronous messaging and live video chat. Based on your answers to a short questionnaire, you’re matched with a licensed therapist who can help out with issues like:

A Calmerry subscription includes access to a personal Therapy Room, which serves as your mental health dashboard. You can message or video chat with your provider here as well as track your mood, compose journal entries, or access your Reflection Helper, a chatbot designed to help you reflect on your mental health journey.

Unlike some teletherapy platforms, you don’t have an option to choose your therapist. The system matches you, but you can switch to a different provider at no cost to you. Calmerry’s site also provides 24/7 tech support via live chat and an extensive FAQ page.

The 3-tiered subscription structure allows for price flexibility, making a Calmerry subscription cheaper than ones you’ll see with heavy hitters like BetterHelp or Talkspace.

Privacy considerations

Because online therapy is a private matter, Calmerry takes many steps to preserve privacy and confidentiality. All personal data is encrypted and safely stored on their servers. The platform is also HIPAA-certified.

Many teletherapy companies now offer a variety of ways to connect with your provider in addition to resources to help with your mental health journey. Here’s what Calmerry provides:

• Asynchronous messaging with your counselor
• Live video therapy sessions
• A personalized Therapy Room with helpful resources

Messaging

Once you are matched with a therapist, you can chat with them in your Therapy Room. Your plan includes unlimited messages with your therapist, and they will respond to your messages 1-2 times per day, 5 days per week. Messaging is asynchronous, meaning that it isn’t live chat. Instead, you leave a message for your therapist and wait for a response.

You can use messaging to chat with your therapist about various issues. For example, you can use it to check in between live sessions, or you can use it to reflect on mental health principles you’re learning about. You and your provider can discuss the best way to utilize messages to help with your treatment.

Live sessions

Some Calmerry subscriptions include live video therapy. Schedule your appointment and then video chat with your provider in your Therapy Room for 30 minutes per session. This is similar to in-person, one-on-one therapy sessions, except they occur via video. (If you prefer to have a voice-only live session, it’s perfectly fine to turn your camera off beforehand.) The amount of time – 30 minutes – is comparable to what is considered the default duration of a live session with BetterHelp, for instance.

Accomplishing a live messaging session has its pros and cons on Calmerry. On the negative side, Calmerry doesn’t make it as easy to have a live messaging session – by default, the “live session” in your plan is video or at least audio. To have a live messaging session, you have to request that your therapist log in at the same time as you and engage in a back-and-forth chat. But on the plus side, because it’s so different, live messaging doesn’t count toward your live session quota.

Therapy room features

In addition to being the place where you chat with your provider and schedule live sessions, your therapy room includes various other features geared toward improving your mental health. In this room, you can:

• Contact your Mental Health Assistant, who can help with any technical questions.
• Utilize your Reflection Helper, a chatbot that can help you reflect on your mental health journey.
• Use the Therapy Journey section to monitor your therapy progress, track your mood, and keep a journal.
• Read the Helpful Tips section to learn more about online therapy and various topics.
• Access Calmerry’s FAQ, adjust your account settings, and manage your subscription.

Calmerry offers 3 subscription tiers, each providing different features and prices. All 3 tiers share some of the same features:

• Unlimited text messaging with a licensed counselor
• 1-2 messaging responses 5 days per week
• A personalized therapy plan
• The ability to switch counselors at no cost to you
• Reflection tools in your Therapy Room

The main difference between the tiers is price and number of live video sessions:

Calmerry is priced very competitively with major competitors and, in some cases, is more affordable. So, if you find your ideal therapist here, you might have found your ideal online therapy setup.

Each subscription is billed monthly. You can cancel your subscription at any time.

HSA, FSA, and health insurance

Calmerry is an out-of-network service that doesn’t bill insurance directly. If your insurance provider covers online therapy, you can provide your receipt to your insurance company for a complete or partial reimbursement. Calmerry does not take HSA or FSA funds at this time.

Getting started with Calmerry includes many of the same steps as other teletherapy companies. But Calmerry uses the Therapy Room to personalize the experience and give it a human touch that our testers appreciated.

Here are the steps to get started with Calmerry:

1. Set up an account with an email address and password.
2. Answer a short questionnaire that asks you about lifestyle, mental well-being, and reasons for pursuing therapy.
3. Receive your Survey Summary, which provides you with an Emotional Well-Being Score, Projected Progress Score, and Calmerry Success Rate. The Emotional Well-Being Score is a percentage that shows your current mental health rating. Your Projected Progress Score gives you a percent success rate for 2-3 months of therapy. The Calmerry Success Rate shows how others with similar issues felt after one month of therapy. For example, one of our testers received an Emotional Well-Being Score of 47% and a Projected Progress Score of 88%. The Summary Survey stated that 8 out of 10 Calmerry users with similar issues showed improvement within one month of therapy.
4. Chat with your Mental Health Assistant, who helps match you with a therapist. You can also ask your assistant any questions you have about the platform.
5. Pick your subscription. Calmerry offers three subscription tiers: Messaging, Messaging + 1 Live Video, and Messaging + 4 Live Videos. Each tier increases in price, and the number of live sessions advertised is the number you can use per month. Select your subscription to move on to the review page.
6. Review your order and check out. The review page lets you know how long it will take to match with a therapist and estimates when you can start therapy. Calmerry only takes payment through credit or debit card at this time. Our testers experienced a matching time of 1 hour and a therapy start time within 1-2 days.
7. Wait to be matched and start therapy. Calmerry matches you with a therapist that best fits your needs. You can begin messaging your therapist right away in your secure online Therapy Room. If you selected a subscription that includes live sessions, you’ll schedule those with your therapist.

At Innerbody Research, we customize our evaluation criteria depending on the type and nature of the health service or product. For Calmerry and other health services, we have five areas that we use for our evaluations, including:

Quality: How well does the company deliver its core service(s) to the customer? Is the quality of the service high enough that we would recommend it to loved ones without hesitation? Does the company have a high-quality review board with oversight? How experienced are the professionals providing care?

Value: Are you getting your money’s worth? Are there any hidden costs or charges? Does the company offer discounts or free services to our readers?

Customer Support: How well does the company provide information about its product or service? How clearly are options presented?

Privacy: Will your data be stored securely? Could your data ever be shared without your permission?

Speed: How quickly will you be able to access care from the moment you sign up? Are the waiting times stated by the company accurate and consistent?

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