Growing Self Counseling and Coaching Online Therapy Review

Growing Self hopes to help more people live their ideal life—especially when it comes to their relationships and careers—by making therapy and coaching more accessible via lower costs and virtual appointments. The company also hopes to help clients avoid the compounded pain of a therapist who doesn’t validate their feelings. Growing Self specializes in supporting individuals and couples throughout all stages of their romantic relationships. As its name implies, the company uses a growth-oriented approach.

In addition to providing individual counseling and coaching, Growing Self aims to make couples and relationship counseling—which is often not covered by insurance and therefore financially prohibitive for many couples—more accessible by bringing it online with sliding scale rates. It offers support in three areas: love, happiness, and success. We wanted to see whether Growing Self’s services live up to its promises, so we put it to the test. In order to evaluate Growing Self’s online counseling services, we surveyed 105 users of the company, spoke with subject matter experts, and I signed up for therapy myself. 

What Is Growing Self?

Growing Self is a boutique brick-and-mortar therapy practice founded in Colorado in 2005 by Lisa Marie Bobby. PhD, LMFT, a licensed psychologist, licensed marriage and family therapist, and board-certified coach. Dr. Bobby realized she wanted to establish a practice focused on relationships after she experienced a “soul-crushing” breakup and her therapist didn’t take her heartache seriously, which only deepened her pain and isolation. Studies show that the pain of break-ups is real, and that therapists can cause harm even when trying to help. Growing Self attempts to address these issues by acknowledging that relationship pain is real pain and by hiring highly qualified practitioners. 

In 2010, the company began offering virtual therapy and coaching options. In 2015, company founder Dr. Bobby published the book “Exaholics: Breaking Your Addiction to An Ex Love,” showcasing her expertise in recovering from breakups. Growing Self continues to offer in-person services at its three Colorado offices and online services nationally and internationally. 

Growing Self now has 51 practitioners. While online coaching services are available in any state and internationally, online therapy can only be received from a therapist licensed to practice in your state. Currently, licensed therapists are available to provide online treatment to clients residing in Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, as well as Australia, Canada, and Mexico. The continuing availability of a therapist in your state may depend on that therapist maintaining their employment relationship with Growing Self. 

Growing Self therapists and coaches use evidence-based practices to help support your personal growth, relationships, and career. The website sums up the practice as “a collective of highly effective therapists specializing in positive, productive counseling and coaching for love, happiness, and success.”

What Services Does Growing Self Offer?

Growing Self offers individual therapy for anxiety, depression, and and other mental health concerns, and individual life coaching for career concerns, personal growth, and emotional development. But where the company really shines is in therapy and coaching related to relationships. It offers couples or relationship counseling, premarital counseling, financial counseling, sex therapy, affair recovery counseling, pre-engagement counseling, blended family counseling, family building counseling, and even long-distance couples counseling. These services aren’t just for couples: Growing Self also offers a range of relationship and breakup counseling services for individuals, as well as dating coaching.

The difference between coaching and counseling can be confusing. The Growing Self site helps differentiate between the two: “Therapy is absolutely the best course of action if you’re dealing with more serious issues, or if you do simply want time and space to process difficult situations, deal with big feelings, or heal after living through grief, loss, or other hard life events,” writes founder Dr. Bobby, while coaching can offer practical advice for how to move forward. However, even certified coaches are not held to any licensure standards like licensed therapists are, making it more difficult to hold them accountable for the services they provide.

Because I live in Colorado, I like that Growing Self offers an in-person therapy option. If you are in another state, and having a licensed practitioner is important to you, be sure to ask or look at your recommended therapist’s bio to see if they are licensed in your state. Otherwise, you will receive coaching, not counseling services. The Growing Self website does not present the difference between therapists and coaches in an obvious way (you can find a link in the FAQ about the difference).

Growing Self does not offer psychiatry or medication management services.

You can meet with your counselor or coach in-person or you can schedule a phone or Zoom video session. There are no text, chat, or email therapy options.

Growing Self also offers lots of additional educational and inspirational content via a blog, a podcast with founder Dr. Bobby, and even a healthy relationship quiz.

Who Is Growing Self For?

As noted above, Growing Self is for adults seeking individual, relationship, and family counseling or coaching.

It is not for folks in crisis or for those who need to use insurance. While many of its licensed therapists can help individuals suffering from anxiety or depression, its website emphasizes its expertise in personal growth, offering support in three areas: love, happiness, and success. The majority of its therapists and coaches are trained in relationship and couples counseling, as well as career and life coaching and emotional intelligence.

How Much Does Growing Self Cost?

Growing Self doesn’t offer subscription packages, but does offer varying rates based on the qualifications of your counselor or coach. There are four levels of specialists, each offering a range of rates. Therapy costs $65 to $160 per 45-minute session at Growing Self. However, pricing information can be hard to find on the website.

Your first 30-minute consultation is free and your therapist will share their rate with you during that initial session, if you haven’t already found it online. Growing Self’s levels of care are:

• Most experienced/doctoral level experts: There are five therapists who hold doctorates currently listed at Growing Self. They charge $160 per 45-minute session, but may have space for some sliding-scale clients, depending on the client’s financial need and the specialist’s availability.
• More experienced/advanced level experts: This is Growing Self’s largest category of therapists. There are currently 22 licensed, master's level therapists listed, at $135 per 45-minute session. There may be some sliding-scale spots starting at $95.
• More affordable/master’s level experts: There are 11 counselors and coaches in this category. They have advanced degrees, but may not yet be licensed. Rates for this level of care are generally $115 per 45-minute session, with sliding-scale rates starting at $75.
• Most affordable/early career experts: The three counselors and coaches listed in this category charge $105 per 45-minute session, with sliding-scale rates starting at $65. These are recent graduates of advanced-degree programs.

When it comes to cost, 19% of survey respondents said Growing Self is very affordable, 39% said it is affordable, and 32% said it is somewhat affordable. What’s more, 78% reported that the value for the money is excellent, very good, or good. 

Growing Self’s lowest sliding-scale rates are on par with weekly rates for bigger, online-only platforms like Talkspace and BetterHelp, but only a few of those slots are available. You will likely spend more for therapy sessions at Growing Self than at many other online therapy platforms, but you may also find it’s worth it for the more personal, boutique experience.

Does Growing Self Take Insurance?

Growing Self does not accept insurance. In some cases—such as when you are seeking treatment for anxiety or depression under an insurance plan that accepts out-of-network providers—Growing Self will submit the claim on your behalf.

In other cases, it can provide a superbill. You can also pay with flexible spending account (FSA) and health savings account (HSA) cards.

Does Growing Self Offer Discounts?

Growing Self does not offer discounts, but does provide a free, 30-minute consultation with potential therapists, similar to a brick-and-mortar therapy business. Once you’re matched with a therapist, ask about sliding-scale rates.

Navigating the Growing Self Website

The Growing Self website is welcoming and well designed, with images of diverse clients and easy-to-identify prompts for diving right into the consultation and sign-up process. Plus, the homepage clearly features more information on the company’s three practice pillars: love, happiness, and success. 

To sign up, simply click on the “Get Started” or “Schedule Your Free Consultation” buttons at the top right and bottom of the screen. 

If you keep scrolling down the homepage, you’ll find testimonials, a list of services, and a note from Dr. Bobby about Growing Self’s offerings and mission.

Across the top of the homepage, you have options to explore more about the company, its team of specialists, relationship counseling and coaching services, therapy and life coaching services, career coaching services, and additional resources, including the blog and podcast.

On Dr. Bobby’s podcast, “Love, Happiness and Success,” she invites experts on to discuss a new issue each week, such as “How to Stop a Divorce and Save Your Marriage,” “ADHD in Relationships,” and “Cultivating Contentment.” The blog houses a large cache of articles on a range of emotional wellness topics, separated into three collections: love, happiness, and success. The love collection has articles on topics including relationship repair and emotional and sexual Intimacy. In the happiness collection, you can read about factors affecting emotional wellness, and in the success collection, you’ll find articles on career clarity and cultivating self confidence. The blog posts aren’t dated and feel more like a library of articles that is occasionally added to than a regularly updated blog. Dr. Bobby appears to be the only author of these posts. 

The Growing Self website offers volumes of information on its services and when and why you may want to use them. Website pages are wordy, but full of helpful advice and guidance. The problem is that the important information, like rates, whether or not you can use insurance, or how the sign-up process works, gets buried.

How Do You Sign Up for Therapy at Growing Self?

The “get started,” “get recommendations,” and “free consultation” buttons on the homepage and throughout the site take you to a short, seven-slide screening form. 

This questionnaire asks which area you’d like to work on (love, happiness, or success), what services you’re interested in, what your goals are for therapy or coaching, your preference for online or in-person sessions, your location, and the level of therapist you’d like to work with (more experienced, more affordable, or best fit). The questionnaire concludes with your name, email address, and phone number.

After this portion of the sign-up process is finished, you get an email within a couple days from customer service with therapist or coach recommendations.

Of the 105 Growing Self users we surveyed, 95% reported that the process of looking for a therapist on Growing Self is very easy or easy, and 93% said the sign-up process is similarly simple.

Matching With a Therapist at Growing Self

A day after filling out Growing Self’s initial questionnaire, I got an email from a customer service representative with two therapist options. She sent links to their bios, as well as to their calendars.

One of the therapists was categorized on the website as a “more affordable master’s level expert” and one was a “most affordable early career expert.” The more experienced therapist didn’t have availability within the week, so I scheduled my consultation with the second recommendation.

The customer service note emphasized that if I had a consultation with one and it didn’t seem like a good fit, I could reach out to the second.

The consultation process was a great way to get to know the therapists I chose (I eventually met them both) before moving into paid sessions. During our free 30-minute consultations, the therapists shared more about their training and the modalities and methods they use with clients. The counselors also asked about why I was coming to therapy, then explained how we might work together to address those challenges. After 30 minutes I felt confident that their professionalism, knowledge base, and warm personalities would ensure effective therapy.

My initial consultation was with a professional clinical counselor (LPCC) who had recently finished graduate school. After the consultation, she sent me a few possible appointment dates and a secure link to a HIPAA-compliant website portal to fill out paperwork, including her disclosure statement, a demographic form, a notice of HIPAA privacy practices, a financial agreement, and credit card information. I now had a SimplePractice profile, which is the portal where you access account and scheduling information and can contact your therapist with administrative issues.

Then I switched therapists, working with someone with a PhD and a bit more experience, and repeated the same consultation and sign-up process.

How Do Therapy Sessions Work at Growing Self?

Customer care at Growing Self is thorough and helpful. You’ll get email reminders for your appointments 24 hours and two hours beforehand, with a Zoom link and detailed information about how to use Zoom if you’ve opted for video sessions. If you prefer phone sessions, you can call the Growing Self office and they will transfer you to your therapist or coach.

The first therapist I was assigned is highly trained and both a licensed professional counselor candidate and a marriage and family therapist candidate (meaning she was accruing hours to become fully licensed in both). The second therapist I saw is also a marriage and family therapy candidate, but with a few more years of academic training (through her PhD work) and with an emphasis on trauma as it relates to relationships.

The 30-minute consultations with my therapists provided time for them to share critical logistical information about confidentiality and mandatory reporting, for me to learn about their approach to therapy, and for me to share some details about my situation, which helped us jump right into the issues on our first 45-minute session.

During my first full therapy session, my therapist collected more background information about my journey, my relationships, and other topics relevant to the reasons I was there. She had a direct, positive, strengths-based, solutions-oriented approach, which felt supportive. She incorporated moments of psycho-education around neuroscience, trained responses, and rewiring the brain for regulation and change. (Some of this, while always helpful in some way, felt a little redundant given my history with therapy—which she knew about.) She gave me homework related to self-care and feeling grounded.

We scheduled my next appointment at the end of our session. Two days later I got a customer service email asking if my therapist was a good fit. The email offered three emojis to choose from: smiley face, neutral face, and frowny face.

My experience with the second therapist I saw was similar. The second therapist was a better match personality-wise—which emphasizes the fact that it can take some work to find the right match, even when everyone is qualified and professional. 

Growing Self therapists don’t engage in therapy content over email, text, or chat, but are responsive to logistical questions between sessions about the platform and scheduling, including cancellations.

Of the Growing Self users we surveyed, 90% said they would rate their overall experience as positive (excellent, very good, or good). The clients we interviewed said they had sought out Growing Self services for anxiety (43%), depression (41%), family issues (28%), stress (28%) and loneliness (19%), among other challenges. The number one reason clients identified for choosing Growing Self was cost, or affordability.

What Happens If I Miss a Session at Growing Self?

If you need to miss a session, Growing Self requires 24-hour notice. Anything less, with the exception of illness and emergencies, and you are charged for your full session.

Switching Therapists at Growing Self

If you want to change therapists or coaches at Growing Self, you can bring this up directly with your therapist. If that feels awkward, you can reach out to customer service via email, text, or phone to request new suggestions and another 30-minute consultation.

The directory of Growing Self therapists is also online, so you can request individuals that resonate with you. I had to use a modified email address to access the portal after I switched practitioners because I experienced a technical hiccup creating a second entry in SimplePractice. After I switched therapists, the payment and documentation information I’d filed the first time around simply disappeared, which was frustrating.

Canceling Therapy at Growing Self

You can cancel a session by chatting with your therapist in the secure portal, emailing them directly, or calling customer service. You have to cancel within 24 hours to get a refund. Since Growing Self doesn’t have any subscription services, and appointments are scheduled one by one, the cancellation process is easy, and similar to canceling in-person sessions at a brick-and-mortar therapy office. 

Quality of Care and User Satisfaction

The extensive training of this service’s practitioners, particularly in the field of couples and relationship counseling, is its primary asset.

My own experience with Growing Self therapists was positive. Both of the therapists I worked with created a comfortable and safe environment for discussing relationship issues and developing therapeutic goals that felt achievable with their support. The therapists and customer service representative I communicated with were professional, accessible, and caring. I felt confident that the therapists that I was working with were going to honor my confidentiality, be non-judgmental and compassionate, and help me move through some of my challenges. 

Among platforms that offer couples and relationship counseling, Growing Self ranks near the top when it comes to therapist credentials. Of the 105 user survey respondents, 89% ranked Growing Self's therapists' qualifications as excellent, very good, or good, while 84% had positive feedback about the diversity of therapists.

Seventy-two percent of Growing Self users surveyed said they would recommend the service to friends and family. The same percentage said they were very satisfied or satisfied with the therapist options on the site, while 68% reported that Growing Self met all or most of their therapeutic needs. Of the Growing Self clients we surveyed, 39% said that if they were still in therapy six months out they would stick with Growing Self, and 33% said they would still be with the service a year out. 

Growing Self seems to revere the therapist-client and coach-client relationship. For example, the reason it doesn’t offer text, chat, or email therapy is to “provide real, meaningful, powerful, evidence-based counseling and coaching designed to help you create lasting change in yourself, your life, and your relationships.” It does not consider text therapy to be helpful or ethical, “nor anything like the kind of experience that you deserve to have.”

I appreciated this as I find text therapy unsatisfying, even though research shows it may be effective in some situations. It helped to build my confidence in the integrity of the company and its therapists and coaches. 

Customer service rankings from our survey were less robust, with 67% of those surveyed saying that Growing Self customer service is excellent or very good.

Regarding therapist diversity at Growing Self, the lack of practitioner diversity may be a limiting factor for some. While survey respondents reported satisfaction with the diversity of Growing Self practitioners, of more than 50 therapists, there are only a handful of male-presenting and non-white-presenting practitioners. Pronouns, sexual orientation, religious leanings, and race are left out of most therapist bios.  

Privacy Policies at Growing Self

Growing Self’s privacy policy explains when personally identifiable information is shared, and with whom, in easily understandable terms: “If you become a client or interact with our online products or services, our third party service vendors (such as credit card companies, clearinghouses and banks) who may provide such services as credit, client management, data reporting services may collect this information from our Visitors and Authorized Customers. … We may email Authorized Customers about research or purchase and selling opportunities on the Site or information related to the subject matter of the Site. We may also use Personally Identifiable Information to contact Authorized Customers in response to specific inquiries, or to provide requested information.”

Aggregated information about website visitors may be shared with Growing Self’s third party vendors, but you can opt out of being contacted by the company or any agency acting on its behalf. 

This level of information sharing is about average: more than some therapy companies, but less than others. If you have any concerns about how your information will be used, you can reach out to Growing Self customer service.

Growing Self emphasizes that SimplePractice and Zoom, the platforms it uses for documentation, scheduling appointments, and video sessions, are HIPAA-compliant and private, and that any notes from your therapy session are protected under HIPAA: “Personally Identifiable Information collected by Growing Self, LLC is securely stored and is not accessible to third parties or employees of Growing Self, LLC except for use as indicated above. The private information of our clients is securely stored in a HIPAA compliant electronic records management system that does not share information with any third parties.”

Growing Self vs. Its Competitors

Compared to bigger online-only therapy platforms, like BetterHelp and Talkspace, Growing Self feels more like a brick-and-mortar therapy business, offering free 30-minute consultations, personalized care, and incredibly conscientious and accessible customer service.

Seventy-nine percent of our survey respondents reported that Growing Self is better than other online therapy services they’d used in the past.

A comparison with BetterHelp and Talkspace reveals that Growing Self offers similar therapist quality to bigger sites. Ninety percent of both Growing Self and Talkspace clients we surveyed said that overall they would rank the service they used as excellent, very good, or good, while 86% of BetterHelp clients said the same. And while 89% of Growing Self clients said the qualifications of the therapist they worked with were excellent, very good, or good, this ranking was 92% at Talkspace and 87% at BetterHelp. When it came to getting therapeutic needs met, 78% of Talkspace clients reported that most or all of their needs were met, 76% of BetterHelp clients reported the same, compared to 68% of Growing Self clients.

However, your experience will depend on what you’re looking for in a therapy service.

In terms of cost, Growing Self, at $65 to $160 for a 45-minute session, is priced slightly more than most large virtual-only services and smaller businesses that offer online services. For example, BetterHelp plans start at $60 a week for one 30-minute session, including text, audio, and video messaging in between sessions, while other more homegrown services, like E-Therapy Cafe, offer 30-minute sessions for $55, with the same between-session communication options.

But when you consider the difference in session length (and the fact that 30-minute sessions are often considered less effective), Growing Self’s sliding scale, and the possibility of working with one of its lower-priced therapists, the company is actually a good deal. My therapy cost $105 a session with the first counselor and $135 a session with the second. 

Licensed master social worker and Verywell Mind mental health editor Hannah Owens says that, in general, 30 minutes is not enough time for a talk therapy session. “There might not be enough time in the session to really delve into issues that are complicated or emotionally taxing,” Owens says, “and if the session ends before some kind of emotional resolution can be reached, it might leave the client feeling abandoned by their therapist in a time of need or crisis.”

Some larger platforms, like BetterHelp, also use surge pricing, meaning the cost goes up when therapy is in high demand in your area. With Growing Self, you know the rate of your sessions will not fluctuate—which can help make therapy feel more consistent and less stressful.

Among all platforms, Growing Self is below average when it comes to the process of finding a therapist: Only 44% of survey respondents said it was very easy or easy. Regarding how satisfied users were with customer service, 80% of Growing Self clients reported that the service was excellent, very good, or good at connecting them to a therapist and 67% said customer service was excellent, very good, or good. In the same vein, 88% of Talkspace clients and 82% of BetterHelp clients said customer service was excellent, very good, or good at connecting them with a therapist. Seventy-four percent of Talkspace clients gave similar rankings about customer service, while 67% of BetterHelp clients thought customer service was excellent, very good, or good.

But among platforms that offer couples and relationship counseling, Growing Self ranks near the top. Eighty-nine percent had positive feedback on the quality of therapist qualifications at Growing Self, ranking those qualifications as excellent, very good, or good, while 84% had the same positive feedback and rankings for the diversity of therapists available.

In general, while larger online therapy companies may be more accessible in more places and cover a wider variety of issues, smaller services that specialize in the specific type of therapy you’re looking for (like couples or relational counseling or coaching), may be a better match for you, Owens explains. “This way, you can be sure that, no matter which provider you end up seeing, they are guaranteed to be an expert on the issues you’re seeking to address,” she adds. “Going with a therapist on a larger service who claims to treat a multitude of conditions might be a ‘master of none’ situation.”

Final Verdict

I felt confident going to Growing Self for relationship therapy. The company has some unique strengths in the field of relationship counseling and coaching, with doctoral-level practitioners and at least 20 different relationship-related services.

I did find the sign-up process a little skimpy, with only a few questions (none about my sexual orientation, age, counselor preferences, counseling experience, suicidal ideation, and more). I was surprised that I was matched with a decent fit, given how little Growing Self knew about me. I also found the labor involved in locating basic pricing and insurance information overwhelming. It should have been easier to find rates and coverage details.

I appreciated the 45-minute online session, compared to the 30-minute session that many other services offer. Thirty minutes does not feel long enough for a deep or transformational session.

I would definitely use Growing Self again for relationship or couples counseling, simply because of the volume of qualified therapists the company has on its roster in this area of specialization.

Methodology

To fairly and accurately review the best online therapy programs, we sent questionnaires to 55 companies and surveyed 105 current users of each. This allowed us to directly compare services offered by gathering qualitative and quantitative data about each company and its users’ experiences.

Specifically, we evaluated each company on the following factors: website usability, the sign-up and therapist matching processes, therapist qualifications, types of therapy offered, the service's quality of care, client-therapist communication options, session length, subscription offerings, client privacy protections, average cost and value for money, whether it accepts insurance, how easy it is to change therapists, overall user satisfaction, and the likelihood that clients would recommend them.

We also signed up for the companies in order to get a sense of how this process worked, how easy to use the platform is, and how therapy takes place at the company. Then, we interviewed subject matter experts to get their expert analysis on how suited this company is to provide quality care to therapy seekers.