I'm a Therapist Who Tried Headspace to Help Conquer My Stress

As a therapist, my clients frequently ask me what meditation apps I recommend. But the truth is, there are so many to choose from, it gets overwhelming. 

There’s no question that apps, like the Breethe App, that offer mindfulness, meditation, and self-guided resources can help people who struggle with their focus or their sleep, or who need help calming themselves down when things get stressful. For example, during the pandemic in 2020, I tried Headspace, an app that provides research-based, self-guided tools for improving your mental health, with a wide variety of topics covered, from “meditation for beginners” to “how to sleep better” to “how to form a habit.” And it did help me cope with the stress that came with transitioning to working from home and showing up for my clients while we went through unprecedented event after unprecedented event together. 

But admittedly, it has been a while since I last tried the app and I was curious to see if it would be as helpful to me today as it was back then. So I signed up again and tried it for three more weeks, and found that its wide selection of meditations worked just as well for me now as they did before. Here’s how that trial went for me.

How I Signed Up at Headspace

The sign-up process took me less than five minutes, which is pretty standard for an app sign-up. I simply clicked “Sign up for free” on the homepage and input my full name, email address, and a password. I got the option to sign up with Apple, Facebook, or Gmail for even faster sign-up so I chose to use my Gmail address and had my account within minutes. The app is available on both the Apple App Store and on Google Play, and I downloaded it to my phone.

Then I decided what plan I wanted to sign up for.

I selected the monthly plan. 

My Experience With Headspace

As soon as I signed up, I had access to unlimited guided video and visual meditations. I could access Headspace from a web browser or through an app, which I downloaded onto my phone and tablet.

I could choose from exercises in four main categories: Meditation, Sleep, Stress, or Mindfulness. There was also a symptom tracker, which I completed right away after logging into the app to get baseline information about my current stress and anxiety levels. The app indicated that I would be prompted to re-assess my anxiety levels after two weeks and my stress levels after four weeks. (At the two-week mark, I was prompted to take it again and learned my anxiety had gone down slightly.)

While the app recommends a “featured meditation” every day, as well as some recommended meditations that are similar to ones I had chosen in the past, I liked that I always could decide what meditation I wanted to use rather than being directed or forced into a particular exercise. If I didn’t like what was recommended, I could just use the search feature that let me filter the full library by topic. It’s unclear how many meditations total are available in the app, but from my search, it appears that there are hundreds and there is no limit to how many exercises you can complete in a day, though Headspace recommends meditating at least twice per day.

The meditation options include guided (where a pre-recorded voice talks you through an exercise) and unguided (where music or visuals allow your mind to settle and flow on its own), as well as calming (bringing down physiological arousal and creating a sense of restfulness) and insight (bringing self-awareness), plus meditations aimed at building specific coping or mindfulness skills.

The exercises I tried varied in length, with the shortest one I found lasting about four minutes and some up to 30 minutes. Some exercises prompted me to breathe or stretch in certain ways, but overall very little was required of me beyond listening.

Some meditation scripts are fully auditory, though the app showed a pulsing circle that prompted me to breathe slowly while listening. Others included gorgeous imagery, like national park scenes. Meditations varied in length, with most lasting less than 10 minutes, which is great for my schedule. It can be difficult to make time for a 30-minute meditation, but I can set aside five minutes multiple times per day to take a deep breath and relax.

Some meditations focused on helping me slow down or become in tune with what is happening in my body. Others included guided sleep meditations, which helped me relax as I went to bed. The variety of options available kept the app interesting over time, as I did not run out of content or have to repeat any meditations.

I additionally preferred meditations that reminded me to check in with my body, where I was holding tension, and what unmet needs I might have in the moment. I found that I had less muscle tension using the app than before I started.

My personal favorite was a series of visual meditations with imagery from national parks around the United States. I didn’t have to think or focus on anything, just take in the calming music and beautiful sights. According to the description, it was intended to help with instilling a sense of calm and relaxation. While I wasn’t particularly escalated before the session, I noticed my body was more relaxed afterwards. Overall, I think it was beneficial in the long run to take time out of my day for these exercises.

There weren’t any exercises that I strongly disliked. However, due to my own attention span, I had trouble maintaining focus on meditations lasting longer than 10 minutes. This is personal preference, and I assume Headspace makes longer meditations because some people prefer them.

Pros and Cons

Overall, I feel that I benefited greatly from Headspace's variety of evidence-based meditations. Here are some of my pros and cons.

Final Thoughts

Headspace’s variety of meditations, affordability, and evidence backing it make it a fantastic resource for someone who does not need ongoing therapy. While it is not a replacement for treatment, it could benefit those who do not have access to therapy services or who want to supplement their treatment with mindfulness training.

During my trial of the app, I feel like it met my expectations based on what I already knew and how the company advertised the platform. I appreciated that there were longer and shorter meditations available, as this seems like it would offer an experience that fit most people’s needs and preferences. I also appreciated that, while the app made suggestions to make choosing exercises easier, it did not try to force me to follow a specific program and let me curate my own experience.

Its library of meditations is extensive, and it offers different types of meditations for different times of day or preferences. I would recommend Headspace for those who find mindfulness beneficial as a supplement to therapy services, or those who want to work on their mental health through mindfulness without traditional therapy.