As a woman, you may prefer to seek female counseling if you’d feel more comfortable speaking to someone of the same gender.
A female therapist can also better understand issues related to motherhood, postnatal depression, and post-menstrual syndrome, among other issues.
In this guide, we’ve looked at the top therapy services for women, helping you find a great female therapist.
Want to skip right to the suggestions for female therapists? Here are our 3 recommended therapy solutions:
Female therapists near me
Several online platforms provide access to licensed female therapists who specialize in helping women improve their mental health.
Here are the top three therapy platforms offering counseling from female therapists.
1. BetterHelp
Betterhelp
- 100% online (chat, phone, video sessions)
- Individual, couples and teen therapy
- Pricing: starting at $60/week
- 30k+ licensed therapists
PROS
- The world's largest online therapy service.
- Quick and straightforward sign up process
- Affordable flat fee for unlimited therapy
- Option to apply for financial aid
CONS
- Does not work with any insurance providers
- Cannot diagnose or prescribe medication
BetterHelp is an online platform that helps you find the right female mental health professional for your specific needs. There are a massive number of female therapists to choose from on the platform, helping you find a counselor that knows how to help you overcome your specific issue.
Here’s why BetterHelp is worth looking at if you’re seeking a female therapist near me.
Fully-licensed female therapists
BetterHelp only hires licensed therapists to provide counseling services on their platform. You do not have to be worried about the education and training of the psychologists available on BetterHelp, and you can view each counselor’s qualifications to double-check their experience and credentials.
Easy to find the right female counselor
BetterHelp doesn’t blindly recommend a counselor for you, or force you to browse through a massive list of mental health professionals to get started.
Instead, the platform has a short matching process where you answer a few questions, and then BetterHelp matches you with a counselor based on your specific needs. In this way, BetterHelp ensures that you get help from the right professional.
Of course, if you’d prefer, you can also browse BetterHelp’s counselor directory and choose a therapist based on your personal preference.
After being matched with a therapist, you can easily change to a different counselor at any time. Simply log into BetterHelp, go to the counselor directory, and browse for a therapist you’d like to change to.
Personalized care for female psychosocial issues
Many of BetterHelp’s female therapists are specifically trained in resolving women’s mental health issues by providing online counseling and emotional support. Since there is such a large number of counselors on the platform with a massive amount of experience, the range of issues these therapists can help with is second-to-none.
Simply let BetterHelp know what you’re looking for during the onboarding process, and they’ll match you with the right female counselor.
Easy to get in contact in a way that works with you
BetterHelp has several different ways of getting in touch with your therapist, such as text messages, online chats, voice calls, and live video sessions.
If you have a busy life at home, you might like to schedule a video call late in the evening, when the kids are asleep, with a therapist in another time zone. Then, during the day, you can communicate via text message if you want to share your thoughts and feelings while they’re still fresh in your mind.
Moreover, you can use this therapy service on a laptop, smartphone, or tablet. It’s always easy to speak with your counselor, no matter which device you’d prefer to use.
2. Talkspace
Talkspace
- Online messaging, video therapy and workshops
- Individual, couples, teen therapy and psychiatry
- Pricing: starting at $69/week
- One of the first companies to provide online therapy
PROS
- Thrustworthy and professional online therapy provider
- $100 discount using a code SPACE
- Many health insurances cover their services
- Psychiatrists who can evaluate and prescribe medication
CONS
- Live sessions are available only with higher-priced plans
- If you cancel subscription within the month, you're still charged for the entire month.
Talkspace is a virtual therapy app that helps women overcome psychosocial issues such as depression, mood swings, relationship issues, anxiety, and depression. Talkspace is also renowned for its female career counseling, which can be helpful in tackling job-related stress.
Just like BetterHelp, Talkspace also allows its users to switch therapists at any time and with no extra cost. Plus, there are a massive number of therapists to choose from, including many specializing in women’s issues.
To get started with Talkspace, you have to complete a live chat conversation with a matching agent, and then you can pick a counselor from the list provided by the app. This process is more personal, but can be a bit more effort than BetterHelp’s onboarding process.
The main therapy channels available on Talkspace are live chat and messaging, and you can also schedule video/phone calls with your counselor on certain subscription levels.
Where Talkspace does really well is its text messaging function – the platform is built around the mobile app, and specifically the live chat feature. This is especially helpful if you need to access mental health care discreetly, or you’re often very busy during the day.
If you are facing domestic violence or domestic abuse, seek in-person help immediately. Call 911 in an emergency situation, or visit your local domestic violence shelter. You can also call the National Domestic Violence Hotline on 1.800.787.3224 in the US, or text “START” to 887888.
3. Faithful Counseling (Christian counseling for women)
Faithful Counseling
- Online therapy with licensed therapists that share a Christian background
- Phone, video and messaging therapy
- Pricing: starting at $60/week
PROS
- All therapists are licensed and professing Christians
- Individually scheduled sessions and text-based therapy
- Owned and operated by BetterHelp - ensuring the high quality services
- Option to apply for financial aid and discounts
CONS
- Cannot provide mental health diagnoses or prescribe medication
- Does not work with any insurance providers
- Only available for users aged 18 and up
Faithful Counseling is also an online platform that shares many of the same advantages as BetterHelp. In fact, the two websites are owned by the same company.
However, the main difference is that on Faithful Counseling, their counselors are practicing Christians, which can be helpful for Christian women.
The Faithful Counseling platform has female therapists specializing in many different issues, such as addiction, parenting, stress, depression, eating disorders, family conflicts, low self-esteem, and many other psychological issues.
Faithful’s counselors use psychotherapies, metaphysical counseling, and spiritual healing techniques to analyze and treat women’s mental health. As a practicing Christian, it can help to get support from a female counselor who understands your religious and cultural background, and can provide a biblical perspective on the issues you are facing.
Like on BetterHelp, you can get in touch with a mental health professional at a time of your choosing, and over a channel that works for you – such as video calls, live chat, or text messaging.
Mental health issues treated by female therapists
No matter what type of issue you’re seeking help with, you may prefer to see a female therapist if this would make the process more comfortable for you.
Female therapists can help you deal with many mental health issues related to your family, marriage, or your own mental health. These issues include:
- Depression.
- Anxiety and stress.
- Social anxiety.
- Relationship difficulties such as establishing strong mother-daughter, husband-wife, mother-son, and other relationships.
- Personality problems.
- Bipolar disorder.
- Gender stereotyping and social constraints.
- Hormonal problems such as pre-menstrual syndrome, hirsutism, or post-menstrual syndrome.
- Body dysmorphic syndromes and eating disorders, which can be more prevalent in women.
- Trauma from domestic violence/abuse.
- Reduced self-esteem.
- Infertility counseling.
Should I choose online or in-person counseling with a female therapist?
Compared to in-person therapy, online counseling with a female therapist can be more convenient, and is sometimes easier to access. This is especially true if you’re a stay-at-home mom who can’t normally see a licensed therapist during regular business hours.
Moreover, with online counseling, it’s possible to change your therapist more easily, in case you’re not quite comfortable with a given counselor’s style of treatment. Rather than having to scour the web for counselors, view their individual websites, and make a booking, you can change counselor with just a few clicks using platforms such as BetterHelp. And to schedule your first session, you can book in immediately with an available counselor, rather than having to wait weeks for an appointment.
On the other hand, some women prefer in-person sessions because it feels better to speak with someone face to face. It’s best to get in-person help if you have symptoms of severe mental illnesses, such as severe depression/anxiety, or thoughts of suicide or self-harm. And if you are in need of immediate help, for example due to domestic violence, call 911 immediately in an emergency situation, or visit your local domestic violence shelter if it’s safe to do so.
Why look for a female counselor?
There are several reasons why you might consider seeking out a female counselor specifically.
As a woman yourself, you may simply prefer to speak with someone of the same gender. This is perfectly normal – it’s important that you feel comfortable enough to open up to your therapist, and seeking out someone of the same gender can help with this.
You may also seek out a female therapist to help with women’s issues, such as prenatal depression. This can be especially effective if you find a female counselor who has experience helping other women overcome similar mental health issues.
How can psychotherapy from a female counselor help me?
Therapy can be very useful in helping to address the primary causes of psychosocial and emotional issues, especially if you find a counselor you feel comfortable talking to.
As a woman, here are some of the ways a female therapist can help you.
Increasing self-esteem
Low self-esteem is a very common issue among women who experience psychosocial challenges.
A female counselor can help you rebuild your self-confidence and develop greater resilience, which is essential in everyday life. These skills and increased confidence can help you to improve your independence and develop stronger responses to the challenges that life throws at you.
Establish stronger relationships
A female counselor can help you to establish stronger relationships with other people in family, social, and work settings.
For example, some women face relationship challenges due to minor personality issues, such as aggressiveness, or egoistic behavior. A counselor can help in letting go of these behaviors through a range of different therapy methods.
Identify and overcome stress, depression, and anxiety triggers
Often, negative emotional responses such as anxiety, depression, and excessive stress have underlying triggers, specific to each person.
Identification of primary triggers that can cause these issues is another important task achieved through psychotherapy. Once your therapist has helped to identify these triggers, she will work with you to develop strategies to manage your emotional response to each individual trigger.
Understand and achieve personal goals
Some women sometimes struggle to define and plan strategies for achieving personal goals. This is especially true for those with a more submissive personality type.
Counseling from a female mental health professional can help you to understand and achieve your goals in life. By working through your current emotional state and your ultimate goals, your counselor will help you to plan a way forward towards achieving these objectives and improving your overall well-being in life. This process could relate to career, financial, social, and relationship objectives that you would like to achieve.
Different approaches used by a female therapist
Depending upon the mental health condition being treated, a therapist may use different types of psychological methods as a part of their counseling program.
Here are some of the most common types of therapy, and what they each involve.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is a solution-based therapy focused on assessing and solving the root causes of mental health issues. Take an example of someone experiencing an eating disorder; in this case, CBT would involve modifying dysfunctional thoughts about your body shape and weight in order to address the root causes of the issue.
Similarly, CBT also helps you to channel and adapt inner thoughts from negative to positive, altering how you perceive yourself, other people, your relationships, and your external environment. This can be extremely helpful for many problems that women specifically face, such as postnatal depression.
Interpersonal therapy
Interpersonal therapy helps in developing new ways of communication and maintaining relationships. It involves a highly structured program, focused specifically on interpersonal problems, such as your relationships with friends and family, and how these interpersonal interactions affect your mood.
Family therapy
Family therapy fosters communication and conflict resolution among different members of a family. This type of therapy works by bringing out the root causes of the family’s issue(s), and working through them in a group setting to help mend the relationship.
There are a wide range of family therapy techniques, and the practice may involve bringing in non-blood-relatives, depending on your family’s situation. Family therapists also provide help online, which is helpful if your family lives in different locations.
Conclusion
Many women experience mild-to-moderate stress, anxiety, relationship difficulties, and/or hormonal imbalances at some point in their life, which can cause psychological issues.
To help you find the right counselor to address your specific problem, many online platforms have been established which provide high-quality counseling with female therapists. BetterHelp, Talkspace, and Faithful Counseling are some of the most prominent websites with licensed female therapists specializing in women’s issues.
If you’re still unsure about how best to seek help from a female psychologist, please feel free to leave a comment below and we’ll get back to you.
If you’re suffering from a severe mental health issue, it’s important to seek in-person help immediately from a local psychologist. If you are in a violent or abusive relationship, call 911 in an emergency situation, or phone the National Domestic Violence Hotline on 1.800.787.3224 in the US for advice. Similar hotlines also exist in many other countries to help support you in escaping an abusive relationship.
