I Tried the Alma Directory to Find a New Therapist Who Accepted My Insurance

After focusing on helping my kiddos get the support they needed for several years, I decided that it was time to address my own needs and prioritize finding a new therapist for myself. Over the last decade, I’ve found that therapy can be a good way to talk through any big changes or challenges I’m experiencing. I’ve also found that it can be pricey and that it can take quite a while to find a therapist who I feel really gets me. 

I wanted to explore what sort of insurance-covered options existed in my area, despite the fact that navigating the world of insurance has been a bit of a nightmare for my family. I’ve spent hundreds of hours searching for covered providers in insurance companies’ databases, talking through claims and reimbursements with doctors' offices and insurance representatives, and crying over the fact that so much of my family’s healthcare is not covered by insurance. 

This means I now mostly see healthcare providers without using insurance (since we personally have found that the providers who didn’t take insurance tended to take much more care with us as clients). Still, taking on the full cost of my family's healthcare needs in addition to paying monthly insurance premiums has been costly. 

That’s what led me to Alma, an online therapy directory that aims to make it fast and easy to find a therapist you click with who takes your insurance. By using Alma I was hoping to avoid many of the pitfalls of using my insurance company’s database to find a provider, like reaching out to a bunch of listed therapists who are not actually actively taking new clients, being unsure what I’ll end up paying for sessions, and feeling like I don’t connect with any of the providers on the list who are taking new clients. 

With a bit of anxiety, I dove into looking for a therapist using Alma and, while it turns out anything is better than nothing, I was bummed to find that this directory was not as helpful to me as I’d hoped.

After considering the way Alma functions in terms of filters, reach, availability and quality of therapists, and cost, I found both good things and bad—which was also reflected in our most recent testing.

Why I Was Interested in Using Alma to Find a Therapist

Compared to other therapist directories, Alma’s service is unique and incredibly streamlined: All sessions occur on Alma’s HIPAA-compliant Zoom account and all communication with therapists, as well as invoicing and billing, take place on the platform.

In this way, Alma can ease the frustration of dealing with insurance companies for both patients and providers.

Before perusing the Alma therapist directory, I spent a few minutes thinking about what has felt challenging about finding a therapist in the past and what my ideal therapy directory would look like. I’d love a directory that only shows therapists who take my insurance and who are currently taking on new clients. I’d like to see bios of those therapists, or even a short video message of them introducing themselves so I could get a feel for them before deciding if I want to reach out. I’d also love to be able to filter the available therapists by location, therapy modality, and areas of expertise or interest. Finally, I’d love to know exactly what each session would cost me. I’d want to see all this information on an attractive, easy-to-navigate website.

The Alma website is easy to navigate and well laid out. I had no trouble intuitively navigating to the different areas I wanted to access. I liked that each therapist had a photo and bio listed (though no video) and that Alma offered lots of filters to make it easier to search for exactly what I wanted. 

Looking for a Therapist

After navigating to the Alma landing page, I entered some basic information like what sort of therapy I was looking for (individual), my insurance carrier, my zip code, and whether I was interested in in-person or virtual therapy.

If I had been interested in another type of therapy I could have selected it from a list that included:

• Individual therapy
• Couples therapy
• Family therapy
• Child and adolescent therapy
• Medication management

As an interesting surprise, I noted that I could also search for providers that offered other health and wellness services, which included:

• Reiki
• Yoga
• Coaching 
• Acupuncture
• Nutrition

The drop-down that asked what type of insurance I had did trip me up a little bit; I have a type of insurance that is under the BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS) umbrella but, with 50+ BCBS subtypes listed, I was unsure which to choose. I assumed it must be the BCBS of the state I live in but, after grabbing my card and following the pop-up directions to search for letters, numbers, and specific icons on the card (like a little blue suitcase) I discovered that I had a totally different (but still Alma supported) type of BCBS insurance.

After this stumbling block, I was ready to spend a little while looking through all the therapists available to me, especially since I selected that I was comfortable with either in-person or virtual therapy sessions. I was then able to view all of my available options for therapists in less time than it took me to figure out what sort of insurance I had.

And, while the website did allow me to filter by provider identity (such as gender, sexuality, and race), specialty (38 options including things like anxiety disorders, chronic illness, and parenting), language (35 options including ASL), degree type (psychiatrist, psychologist, licensed psychotherapist, social worker, and psychiatric nurse practitioner), and therapeutic style (integrative, psychodynamic, or cognitive and behavioral), I didn’t feel like I could apply any of those additional filters to my already-very-short list of options. 

I appreciated that on the list, each therapist preview had a headshot and a short paragraph about who they are and how they work. By clicking on any therapist, I could view a larger image and a longer paragraph about them. Provider options will vary depending on your location, therapy type, insurance, and other filters and preferences you choose.

These bios did not include any info about payment; for that, I had to toggle to another page that featured a cost estimator.

This was frustrating because my insurance is on the list of insurance options that Alma supports and was able to lead me to at least a few in-network therapists. 

Realizing that my final bill might end up being a surprise, I toggled back to the three therapists that were available for me. After reading bios, I decided that there was one who seemed like a better fit for me.  This made me excited to schedule my consultation. 

Contacting a Therapist Through Alma

The “request a consultation” button to the right of each therapist’s name on the list allows you to choose a date and time to request a free 15-minute introductory call so you can see if the provider is a good fit before beginning therapy with them. Unfortunately, this is not an option for all therapists. 

After I clicked on the “request a consultation” button on my first-choice therapist's page a new screen informed me that the provider did not allow potential clients to book a consultation call and would instead reach out to me after I submitted my information on the form provided. I entered the same basic info I had entered on the “Find a Therapist” page and completed one additional box that asked what brought me to therapy. I puzzled over exactly what to write and settled on a short message about wanting to focus on self-care and my own needs amongst the everyday challenges of life and work and relationships.

I never heard back from that therapist (which stung a bit) so, a week and a half later, I clicked on my second-choice provider and retyped everything I’d sent to my first choice since this therapist also did not allow potential clients to automatically book a consultation. This time the rejection was quicker at least; within a couple of days I received an email from Alma that said “The therapist you requested a consultation with could not accept your consultation request at this time because they don’t take your payment method.” Whelp. Perhaps the third time would be the charm.  I really hoped so since the third provider I requested a consultation with was the final choice I had left. 

The third therapist also did not allow me to book a consultation, so I filled in the request form for a third time. Thankfully, this therapist did reach out within a few days asking if I’d like to set up a consultation.I eagerly emailed her back to say yes and shared my availability for the upcoming week.

Scheduling a Session 

My free consultation with the therapist I’d selected took place a week after I requested it. We talked about the therapist's background and areas of expertise and about the goals I had for therapy. We also talked about how we would connect since this therapist offers both in-person and virtual sessions. I had indicated that I was interested in either virtual or in-person therapy during my search, so I was not surprised (but I was a bit disappointed) to learn that this therapist was located a few hours away from me and that our option would only be virtual sessions.

Because I didn’t have any diagnosable mental health conditions, she said she would likely use the code for adjustment disorder, which simply means that someone is struggling to adjust to life changes. She did note that this diagnosis code can only be used for six months. I did not have enough time left in our call to dig into whether insurance would still cover her services if I wanted to keep coming to therapy after six months but did not necessarily have any other diagnosable mental health issues such as depression or anxiety. 

The therapist had availability for a full appointment two weeks after our consultation, so I scheduled that slot. She sent me intake paperwork that asked lots of questions about my background and goals as well as the basics like my address and contact information. 

Although at the time of writing this, I haven’t yet had my appointment, based on my insurance plan (and the insurance representative I called to confirm my coverage) I will likely pay a $25 copay for therapy. 

How Alma Helps Providers

Though I would not normally explore the “for providers” section of Almas website, I was curious about the benefits of appearing on this directory vs. being listed with Psychology Today (one of the largest online therapy directories) or on local directories and referral lists. I don’t have experience as a therapist (obviously) or as someone trying to establish a private practice, but what Alma offers to providers does seem attractive. 

Therapists pay a monthly membership fee to appear in the Alma directory. Their membership fee includes some pretty significant benefits beyond just appearing in their search; mainly in how it limits providers' need to interact with insurance companies.

Becoming an Alma member relieves a lot of that frustration by serving as an insurance intermediary; it handles the insurance paperwork like eligibility confirmation and claims submission and guarantees that providers will get paid for sessions within two weeks. This quick payment turnaround is pretty significant as it can often take many months for providers to receive payment directly from an insurance company. A professional membership also includes administrative tools, caseload support, and opportunities for community and professional development. 

Thinking about the client experience, this means that using insurance for therapy is (or should be) less of a headache since the Alma team is working behind the scenes to get claims approved. It also means that the client experience should be somewhat streamlined since sessions will take place on Alma’s HIPAA-compliant Zoom and communication with the therapist and invoicing and billing will all take place on the platform.

Our Most Recent Testing

We returned to Alma in May 2024 to see if our experience with the directory might change, and overall, we found both good and bad things—similar to our initial testing.

We specified that we were looking for a therapist whom we could pay out-of-pocket at a rate of $80-$140 per session, and we were very happy with the number of therapists available meeting the needs we described; 103 therapists, to be exact. This convinced us that we’d be able to find an appropriate therapist through Alma, and that we might indeed be spoilt for choice.

However, the other side of this coin was the fact that there is nothing on any therapist bio indicating whether they are accepting new clients.

In addition, while we were happy to see that there was an option to schedule a consultation with any provider on Alma (a feature not always available on online therapy directories), nowhere is it indicated whether these consultations are free or not. While we know from our previous testing that these consultations are indeed free, this lack of clarity might discourage someone unfamiliar with this directory and using it for the first time; thinking that they might have to pay for each consultation with each therapist might deter them from reaching out, therefore hindering their ability to keep searching for a provider until they find the absolute right one for them.

Pros and Cons

The Alma therapist directory can be a great option for people who want to choose their own therapist and are looking for a streamlined way to deal with insurance without signing up for a big online therapy company. Here are some aspects to consider about its services.

Final Thoughts

Using the Alma therapy directory can be a great option for finding a therapist who meets your needs and accepts your insurance. While it’s not as simple as I’d originally hoped that it would be, it is likely still better than many ways of trying to find a therapist. With Alma you might not have access to as many therapists as you’d like, be able to book a consultation with a therapist your first-choice therapist, or know exactly how much you’ll actually end up spending out-of-pocket, but it’s still a better option than many of the ways I’ve used to find providers in the past.

Even if the difference is just less time on the phone, that’s something most people would likely consider worth it. 

While I was hoping for a seamless experience, my hopes were probably a little too high for any sort of service that is related to insurance. I think that because insurance is connected to healthcare it can sometimes be easy to forget that it is a for-profit business model that prioritizes profits over people.

I was also disappointed by the length of time that passed between my starting the process of looking for a therapist and actually being able to conduct a consultation and schedule an appointment.

I’ve been on the fence about keeping insurance for a while and this experience definitely pushed me toward letting go of insurance in favor of an HSA or Healthshare program. In general, I’ve found it much easier to reach out to and schedule appointments with self-pay providers of all types even when an intermediary like Alma is designed to smooth out this process. I’ve also found that paying for services out of pocket often comes out costing less than the co-pays, deductibles, and monthly premiums that come with insurance. 

If I had a friend who was interested in therapy, had private insurance, and was fine with a limited list of providers and doing some legwork to find one who responds, I’d recommend Alma. If I had friends who did not have or want to use insurance, I would likely not recommend Alma. Instead, I would recommend they find a therapist they truly love rather than choosing from a list that has nothing more in common than the insurance company they accept.

Alma is not perfect, but it beats having to create your own directory or rely on insurance companies to share information about available providers. So, for now, it may be your best bet for finding a therapist who is in-network with your insurance carrier and who is taking on new clients.