Guided Decision Support
Interactive flows to help you think through your options · By Paul Paradis · Last reviewed October 29, 2026
Handling telehealth options can feel overwhelming with many factors to consider. These guided flows help you organize your thoughts around common scenarios, surface relevant questions, and identify what information you might need. Select a scenario below to get started.
About These Guided Flows
These decision support flows are educational tools to help organize your thinking. They do not provide medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment recommendations. The suggestions generated are general in nature and may not apply to your specific situation. Always consult with licensed healthcare professionals for personalized guidance about your care needs.
Prefer a Conversation?
If you'd rather explore your questions through conversation, our AI guide is available to help you think through your options in a calm, supportive way.
Talk to the free AI guideHow this tool works
Guided Decision Support walks you through a short set of questions and, based on the pattern of your answers, points you to the parts of this site most likely to be useful for your situation. It does not diagnose anything, and it does not recommend a specific therapist or platform. It is a triage aid, not a care plan.
The questions reflect the filters that actually matter in practice: whether you have a working diagnosis or are trying to figure one out, whether you have insurance and what kind, whether you need a prescriber in addition to a therapist, and how much urgency is behind the search. Readers in a real crisis (thoughts of suicide, serious self-harm, danger to others) should contact 988 or 911 rather than use this tool.
What the output means
At the end of the walkthrough, you will see one to three scenario tiles that match your answers. Each tile includes:
- A description of what the scenario usually looks like. Not a diagnosis, but a short summary of the constraints you described in your answers.
- Next steps worth considering. Reading a specific guide, running the cost estimator with your plan inputs, calling an EAP, or asking a primary-care provider for a referral.
- Guides and platform comparisons to read first. These are ordered by what usually helps most, given the constraints you selected.
If the suggestions do not fit your situation, it is almost always because the questions missed an important detail. The AI guide can handle free-form follow-ups that this tool cannot, and the full site map lists every guide if you prefer to browse.
Honest limits
- This is editorial guidance, not clinical care. It cannot replace a conversation with a licensed provider.
- It cannot verify your insurance in real time or check a clinician's license status. Verify both before booking.
- It deliberately keeps the question set short; long questionnaires drive abandonment more than they improve outcomes. If you want depth, the condition guides and hub pages go deeper than any quiz would.
- It is updated when market conditions change (licensure rules, payer policies, platform availability), not every time a single platform tweaks its pricing. Always double-check time-sensitive details at the platform itself.
Three steps
- Answer the short questions about urgency, insurance, and whether you need a prescriber.
- Read the one to three scenario tiles. They describe constraints, not a diagnosis.
- Open the linked guide or the cost estimator, then confirm the price and the license on the provider's own site.
Questions people ask about this tool
Are my answers stored?
The walkthrough runs in your browser for the questions on this page. It is not a medical record and it is not a message to a clinician. Do not type a crisis plan or a full history into a tool that is not your provider's portal.
How do the scenarios map to platforms?
They do not assign you to BetterHelp, Talkspace, or any other company. A tile points at a guide on this site. The guide names companies. You still have to check insurance and licensure yourself.
What do the cost bands mean?
A "$60–$100 per session" band on a tile is a budget range for a private visit, not a platform's weekly price. Regular subscription prices checked on October 22, 2026 were about $57–$120 per week. Use the cost estimator for a copay-versus-cash comparison.
Will this tell me if my plan pays?
No. It can point you to the insurance finder. That tool also does not query your insurer. Call the number on your card.
What if I am in danger?
Stop. Call or text 988, or call 911. This page cannot send help to your location.
Who this tool is for
It is built for someone who knows they want help but not what kind: therapy or psychiatry, subscription or insurance, video or messaging. It is not a screening test and cannot tell you whether you have a condition. If you are thinking about harming yourself, skip the tool and call or text 988.
Risks of relying on the result
The scenarios use a few answers to point you toward a category of care, so two people with the same answers may need very different things. Prices in the output are ranges checked on October 22, 2026, and they change. Treat the result as a starting point for a first appointment, where a licensed clinician makes the actual recommendation.
Sources
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
- Affiliate disclosure for how company links on the guides work