Two Chairs Overview

Two Chairs was established with the belief that all forms of mental healthcare should be based on data and then on creating, maintaining, and improving the all-important relationship between the patient and mental health professionals, such as a therapist, counselor, or Psychiatrist. 

Two Chairs works with licensed therapists that boast diverse backgrounds. They believe this allows them to match each patient with the most suitable therapist based on your goals, preferences, and history. They believe that no two treatment plans are ever the same, so all of their services are individually tailored to their needs. Their use of hybrid therapy allows their user’s to select their location, therapist, and modality. 

Two Chairs is rooted in precision. They want to be able to provide the best therapist for you the first time. With Two Chairs, gone are the days of asking friends for therapist recommendations, Googling to see who’s accepting new patients, or working with your insurance provider to see if they take your plan and will supplement the cost of your session. Two Chairs uses Measurement-Based Care (MBC) as the standard for matching you with one of their highly trained and licensed therapists. MBC is the practice of basing clinical care on the client data that’s collected throughout treatment. You can think of this as a very detailed intake form that you’d fill out at your PCP’s office. Your therapist uses this tool to collect data to tailor the care they deliver (more about this later).

Two Chairs is currently only available to people throughout California on a virtual basis. They have brick-and-mortar offices in the Bay Area and Los Angeles for in-person therapy sessions. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they are only offering virtual appointments at this time.  

Is Two Chairs Right for You?

Two Chairs is for people currently living in California that are tired of the arduous process of searching for the right therapist. They will thoughtfully match you with a therapist tailored to your mental health needs and goals via virtual therapy sessions. If you’re looking for a therapy platform that cares about you as an individual and not just as another number, Two Chairs chairs could be what you’ve been searching for. Two Chairs aims to provide each patient with high-quality mental health care that’s personalized just for you. 

How Does Two Chairs Work?

Two Chairs is a platform that connects patients with mental health experts based on a variety of factors, including: 

• Preferred method of communication (Video, Text, or Phone)

• Coping mechanisms

• Symptoms you’re currently experiencing

• Past family history

• Lifestyle

• History of mental health

• Personality traits

• Goals you have for therapy

Personalized Approach to Care

As we mentioned before, Two Chairs prides itself on providing each of its patients with not only high-quality mental health care but with an expert that is explicitly selected for you. 

Expert, Caring Therapists

Two Chairs has a diverse team of over 60 therapists that were trained at some of the best programs in the U.S., including Stanford Medical School, UCLA, and the San Francisco VA. Each therapist understands that not one person is the same and that each patient requires a therapy approach that is suitable for them. Two Chairs employs therapists from diverse backgrounds, as they know sharing common life experiences is a powerful tool and want to provide you with a therapist that can actually meet you where you are. 

Matching to Find the Right Fit

Finding a therapist you connect with is challenging, to say the least. Two Chairs wants to take the guesswork and cumbersome process out of the equation. They consider dozens of factors to match you with a therapist that’s best suited for you. Through digital on-boarding, the team at Two Chairs digs deep into the nuances of who you are, where you’re from if you’ve done therapy in the past, etc. This way, you are set up with the right therapist the first time. For example, Two Chairs only uses evidence-based treatment approaches during their sessions. Their therapists are trained in acceptance therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior therapy (DBT), Emotionally focused therapy (EFT), and Psychodynamic therapy (PDT). If you’ve participated in treatment in the past and know that one of those approaches doesn’t work for you, telling your onboarding care team member is essential, as it will be one of the factors that are considered in the matching process. 

Insurance Support

Unlike many of its competitors, Two Chairs accepts and will work with you as you navigate using your health insurance plan to pay for your sessions. They have a dedicated Care Coordination Team available to answer any questions you might have as you get started and submit out-of-network claims on your behalf. Because let’s be real, no one enjoys dealing with their health insurance company if they don’t have to. 

Tracking your Progress in Care

Two Chairs MBC program works in tandem with research-based assessment and custom questionnaires to help you and your therapist better track your progress to ensure you’re receiving the best possible care. Research shows that your different emotional states are best reported right before or right after a session and that patients that incorporate MBC generally fare better than patients in ‘normal’ care. How each Two Chairs therapist uses MBC will determine the approach they use during therapy so that your sessions are as personal as possible. 

Signing up with Two Chairs

Two Chairs has made the entire process of getting high-quality mental health treatment as easy as possible. The entire process consists of just three easy steps.

Step 1:

Before the user is even in contact with a Two Chairs clinician, they are asked to complete a short questionnaire. This questionnaire aims to help ensure that the user is connected with the most suitable therapist. The questions asked are related to:

• User’s general health

• User’s mental history

• What treatment specialties they may require

• Any goals that they may hope to achieve using therapy

Step 2:

In the second step, Two Chairs will match the user with the therapist that most suits their needs. This therapist will then send the user a comprehensive and personalized treatment plan. 

Step 3:

Next, after the user has completed the questionnaire and been connected to the most suitable therapist on the Two Chairs book, they will meet their therapist. Unlike most online mental health platforms, Two Chairs requires the first meeting between user and therapist to be in-person. This is because it allows the parties to create a bond that is otherwise hard to replicate online. Note: This is all done virtually until further notice. 

Step 4:

Since the feelings of the users are ever-changing, it is only right that their treatment is ever-evolving. Users are encouraged to collaborate with their clinicians to ensure that they are always receiving top-notch mental healthcare by making necessary changes during treatment.

Credibility of Two Chairs

Two Chairs was founded by Alex Katz when he saw his partner struggle with finding a therapist as she was dealing with life's daily struggles. He found that more times than not, people don’t get the mental health they need because of the arduous process of finding the help they need. He already had experience in the tech field and wanted to learn more about the mental health world, so he set out to do just that to start what is now Two Chairs. 

Every therapist that is a part of the Two Chairs team is fully board-certified and can boast an active LMFT, LCSW, or LPCC license along with two years of clinical work experience and sufficient knowledge surrounding evidence-based psychotherapy.

The platform claims that they only work with clinicians who value the relationship with the user first and foremost and see their users as people and not just patients.

Data and Privacy

Two Chairs takes your security and personal information seriously. Anything you share with your therapist remains confidential following the rules of HIPAA. They also follow industry best practices to ensure your personal health information is kept private and secure. 

Matching Patients and Therapists

Before the user has any interaction with any of Two Chairs’ therapists, a therapy consultant will work with them to help them decide if the platform is a good fit for them. 

If it turns out that Two Chairs is a good fit for the user, they will work with the consultant to match them to the most suitable therapist, based on the user’s needs, wants, and goals. In most cases, users are matched to their ideal therapist in less than two weeks. Users are free to collaborate with Two Chairs’ customer care team in order to create the ideal treatment plan.

Conditions Treated by Two Chairs

In this section of our Two Chairs review, we will be looking at the different mental health conditions Two Chairs offer treatment for:

• Addiction

• Anxiety

• Panic Attack related issues

• Bipolar

• Depression

• Grief, including how to deal with the stages of grief

• Insomnia

• PTSD

• Stress

• Transitions in life

Conditions that Two Chairs Does NOT treat

Two Chairs does not treat conditions that are:

• Qualify as emergency care

• Need full, in-depth psychiatric care

• Causing the user to be a danger to themselves or others

Two Chairs is NOT Suitable for some  

• People residing outside of California

• Don’t have a stable internet connection

• Want to choose their therapist solely on their own

• Require services that fall outside the definition of mental health.

How Much Does Two Chairs Cost?

Two Chairs claims that their pricing is exceptionally transparent, with no hidden fees. They do insist that the cost of a session is paid before the session begins. Two Chairs is an out-of-network provider; however, they are more than happy to help you submit a claim to your insurance company for possible reimbursement. 

Virtual therapy sessions are available to clients throughout California only, and until further notice, all sessions will remain virtual until it’s safe to re-open their clinics in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. 

Two Chairs Pricing: 

• Matching Appointment - $169

• Individual therapy session - $195

What Do We Think of Two Chairs 

Two Chairs seems to be extremely committed to providing exceptional mental health care for all. We really appreciate that they use data-driven information to tailor each person’s therapy experience to fit them. This alone takes the pressure off of you to spend hours searching for the right therapist. We feel like more providers should start to employ a matching service so that regardless of the things you’re experiencing, you will always be able to receive high-quality mental health care. 

If you’re in California and have spent more than enough time looking for a therapist that will suit your needs, give Two Chairs a try! Their prices are a bit high for the average person, but the fact that they offer therapist matching services tells us that they genuinely care for each patient as an individual.