I'm actually very appreciative of Better Help, Allbirds, Hello Fresh and Anthropic for supporting the podcasts I listen to in a format that I can fast-forward through. Thank you all for the unheard advertising!
Chumba Casino is one of the regular ads that iHeart or whoever owns the podcast runs at random, that's out of people's control. But every time I hear a host personally read out an ad for BetterHelp with a little anecdote about why it's good I just feel so goddamn disappointed.
BetterHelp is so dangerous. If I didn’t have the support network I have things could have gotten so much worse due to BetterHelp. I was very depressed and BetterHelp was AWFUL with many different therapists but I thought I was the problem. Turns out they were.
I’m getting loads of them on Pandora. It’s just like… we still doing this? Do we think gig economy therapy is actually helping anyone? Like damn. Hard enough to do it with a person who you have the full attention of.
Not Better Help but I have been seeing a remote therapist since 2020. It's working great for me. Not too say that everyone will have the same experience but some people might. That being said I have heard bad things about Better Help as a company.
Wonderful! Telehealth is a great tool for therapy.
The crux of the issue isn’t with the medium, but with BetterHelp’s specific practices, which are exploitative towards their workers and create conditions that aren’t conducive to good therapy so they can make a lot of money.
I agree that Betterhelp is a very suboptimal platform. Powered by Venture Capitalist money, they're trying to destroy counselling as a cottage industry. Seems whack.
Denigrating the therapists working there seems a bit harsh. We have to get paid and keep our skills and they have a Huge ad budget.
It wasn’t my intention to do so, and I’m sorry if it came out that way. Folks need to get paid, and anything is better than nothing. My critique is of the corporation, not the folks who are working on the lower levels of it.
Thanks. I was in my final year of training in 2020 and telehealth went from "very difficult, very hard to do, need a certificate" to
"Welp, self-cert and off you go!"
So yeah. I can absolutely believe that people aren't at their best.
But I feel, on balance, some help is better than none, yeah? 😀
Not a podcast but i hate that binging with babish does this, its not just that he's done ads for it before but he still does and even doubled down on them!
I tried BetterHelp at two different points in my life, both times were quite disappointing. The second time I was matched with a therapist who would constantly interrupt me and who recommended books written by T.D. Jakes (a megachurch owner and known manosphere grifter).
It's such a bummer. I understand sponsors are important and creators need money to create their content but...not one that has been proven time and again to do far more harm than good.
I dont think some podcasters have a choice in what gets advertised. theres online casino and gambling ads all over Behind the Bastards. at that poit it's clear the ad choices are out of Robert's hands.
To be clear, I don't judge Robert at all for this. Podcasting is not a high-paying job, and I do not begrudge him doing what he needs to do to survive.
I just think it's important to remember that he DOES have a choice where Better Help us concerned.
If you are listening to BTB I think you have the common sense to disregard the ad and let him get his bag. The work he does brings light to the horrors of powerful people . And that's enough for me to disregard it because I know the shit Robert stand for.
I really appreciate that point of view. You gotta do what you gotta do to stay afloat. and sometimes it's taking questionable sponsors to keep the word flowing
Comments
The crux of the issue isn’t with the medium, but with BetterHelp’s specific practices, which are exploitative towards their workers and create conditions that aren’t conducive to good therapy so they can make a lot of money.
Denigrating the therapists working there seems a bit harsh. We have to get paid and keep our skills and they have a Huge ad budget.
"Welp, self-cert and off you go!"
So yeah. I can absolutely believe that people aren't at their best.
But I feel, on balance, some help is better than none, yeah? 😀
There is a difference between random ads on your podcast and sponsored content that you actually give voice to. That requires consent.
I just think it's important to remember that he DOES have a choice where Better Help us concerned.
If the podcast isn’t profitable enough to support his needs without contributing to harm then arguably it shouldn’t exist.
So the judgment is perhaps not “they are the devil incarnate” but more like “that isn’t right.”
We make the best choices we can, given our circumstances.
Judge all you want, just understand that the magnifying glass works just as well on you.