Among the questions people ask when considering therapy for the first time, one comes up very regularly: how do I know if this therapist is the right one for me? This is not a trivial question. Decades of clinical research have gradually established that the quality of the relationship between the client and their therapist is one of the most crucial factors in the effectiveness of psychological support, often more so than the techniques used. It is precisely this reality that BetterHelp's matching process aims to address from the very first step.
What research says about the therapeutic alliance
The concept of therapeutic alliance refers to the quality of the collaborative and emotional relationship that develops between a client and their therapist during treatment. Since Bordin's seminal work in the 1970s, it has been defined around three components: agreement on the objectives of the work, commitment to the means implemented to achieve them, and the quality of the emotional bond between the two parties.
This conceptual framework has since been the subject of considerable research. The meta-analysis by Flückiger, Del Re, Wampold, and Horvath, published in 2018 and encompassing 295 studies, established an average correlation of approximately r = 0,28 between the quality of the therapeutic alliance and therapeutic outcomes, a value considered robust in the mental health literature. According to researchers at Université Paris Cité, whose work is incorporated into French university training on the therapeutic alliance, this factor is now...
What this literature increasingly emphasizes is that it is the client's own perception of the therapeutic alliance, not the therapist's, that best predicts the success of the treatment. In other words, if the individual feels a bond of trust, mutual respect, and attentive listening with their therapist, the chances of the therapeutic work producing lasting effects increase significantly. If this bond is absent, even a highly skilled professional will not be able to compensate for this relational deficiency.
In the context of online therapy, this reality takes on an additional dimension. A 2024 study published in the journal Psychotherapy Research, conducted by Dr. Dina Zalaznik's team at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, examined interpersonal factors in online cognitive behavioral therapy. Its conclusions are clear: only the therapeutic alliance with the therapist, and not adherence to the digital program itself, is directly linked to symptom improvement. This finding confirms that the human factor remains central, even in a fully digital format.
The problem that no one mentions: finding the right therapist is difficult.
In the traditional model of in-office therapy, meeting a therapist often depends on chance or an informal recommendation. A person searches for an available psychologist in their area, makes an appointment based on a brief profile or word of mouth, and discovers during the first session whether a viable therapeutic relationship can be built. If not, restarting the process involves further searching, more delays, and sometimes hesitation to start over after having already taken the first step.
This reality is rarely mentioned in public discussions about access to psychological care. Much is said about waiting times and costs, but little about the fact that even when an appointment is obtained, a good fit between the client and the professional is never guaranteed. Yet, this fit directly influences adherence to treatment and, ultimately, its effectiveness.
For people who have never consulted a therapist before, this first meeting can be decisive, for better or for worse. A bad initial experience, even with a highly qualified professional, can be enough to permanently discourage someone from pursuing therapy. In France, according to BetterHelp's internal data, 40% of the platform's users are accessing therapy for the first time. For these users in particular, the quality of the initial connection is not a minor detail: it is a crucial factor in initiating the process.
How does BetterHelp's matching process work?
The BetterHelp platform This issue is addressed from the registration stage, through a detailed questionnaire that gathers the user's needs, objectives, preferences, and constraints before any contact is made. Based on this information, the platform identifies a qualified psychologist or psychotherapist, registered with the Regional Health Agency (ARS) and holding an RPPS number, whose profile matches the stated criteria, subject to availability.
The time it takes to connect with a therapist can vary from a few hours to a few days, depending on the professionals' availability. According to an internal BetterHelp report, 98% of French users were connected with a therapist matching their expressed preferences as of September 2025. In France, the network includes over 400 registered French-speaking therapists, whose qualifications, professional registrations, and backgrounds are verified before any collaboration. More than 70% of these professionals have over five years of experience, with all having at least three years of practice. This extensive network allows for matching based on multiple criteria: the therapist's specialties, therapeutic approach, available hours, preferred session format, and working language.
As detailed the dossier dedicated to BetterHelp by Psy EV, one of the distinctive aspects of this model is precisely the structuring of this initial step, which in the traditional system is often left to chance or to the resourcefulness of the user.
The freedom to change therapists, a concrete safety net
Even the most careful introduction does not guarantee that a strong therapeutic alliance will systematically emerge. Clinical literature is clear on this point: the therapeutic relationship is constantly evolving and unique to each client-therapist pair, and what fosters a connection with one client may not work with another, even for an experienced and well-intentioned professional. What researchers refer to as "alliance breakdowns" are a normal part of many treatment relationships, and their management is, in fact, a specialized area of clinical training in France.
In a traditional office-based therapy model, a breakdown or lack of therapeutic alliance requires the client to end the treatment, inform the therapist, and restart the entire process from the beginning. Many avoid this step, preferring to continue with an unsatisfactory treatment rather than confront this discontinuity.
BetterHelp's model includes the option to change therapists at any time, without additional fees, in accordance with the terms and conditions. This provision is not a commercial concession; it is a direct response to a well-documented clinical reality. By reducing the cost and complexity of changing professionals, the platform allows users to continue searching for the therapeutic partnership that will make their treatment truly effective, without being deterred by logistical or financial obstacles.
According to an internal BetterHelp report, 83% of French users continued working with their therapist beyond the first session in 2025. This figure, read in light of research on the therapeutic alliance, suggests that the initial matching process produces relationships that last for the vast majority of users.
In its analysis of the service for French speakers abroad, the magazine Le Petit Journal emphasizes that this combination, a structured questionnaire at the start and the freedom to reorient without additional cost, distinguishes this model from approaches where the user navigates alone in a poorly readable system.
What this actually changes for new users
For someone considering therapy for the first time, finding the right therapist is crucial. It can determine whether the experience will be positive enough to warrant continued treatment, or whether an initial disappointment will lead to abandoning an otherwise beneficial process.
BetterHelp's model aims to reduce this initial uncertainty without claiming to eliminate it entirely. The idea is not to promise a perfect match, which no one can guarantee, but to structure the onboarding process in such a way as to maximize the chances of a viable alliance forming quickly, and to maintain an accessible exit route if this does not occur.
In its evaluation of the service for French users, the website Vos Psychologues Note that this aspect of the system meets a real need, particularly for people who have hesitated for a long time before taking the plunge, and for whom a first bad experience could definitively close the process.
In France, therapy is often still perceived as a heavy commitment, difficult to adjust once begun. Whether due to a lack of information about the possibilities of changing therapists, or a certain resignation in the face of the scarcity of services in some areas, many users persist in unsatisfactory treatments because they are unaware that an alternative exists and is accessible without a complicated process.
The quality of the relationship, a shared responsibility
It would be inaccurate to suggest that the quality of the therapeutic alliance depends solely on the therapist selection process. Clinical research emphasizes that the client is also an active participant in this relationship: their commitment, their ability to express their expectations, and their willingness to invest in the proposed work directly influence the quality of the alliance that can be built.
What BetterHelp's matching process does is create the most favorable initial conditions possible for this building. It doesn't guarantee the alliance, but it reduces the obstacles that, in the traditional model, often prevent this building from starting. This is an important distinction, and the analysis published by NeozOne on digital tools in mental health The formula precisely: the value of these platforms lies less in what they do in place of therapy than in what they do to give access to it, under the best possible conditions, to the greatest number of people.
In France, where nearly one in two adults believes they would benefit from psychological support but where barriers to accessing care remain numerous, this first, often neglected step is crucial. It is often where everything begins, or where everything ends.
