![By Tomasz G. Sienicki [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACell_phone_Sagem_my202X_ubt_vectorized.svg "By Tomasz G. Sienicki [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons")
Earlier this year, Talkspace raised eyebrows when it raised $2.5 million in venture-capital funding for its platform linking therapists with clients by video or simple text messaging. The site offers video therapy for $29 for 30 minutes, or unlimited text-messaging contact with a therapist (that is, therapy by text) for $25 a week.
This is good. Here’s why.
Some bar-napkin math on income and therapist density by county.
Originally posted June 2009; updated August 2014.
The most common question I hear these days from marriage and family therapists (MFTs) is simple: “Where can I find a job as an MFT?”
The more pessimistic ones ask the same question, they just leave out the word “Where.”
![By English: Pfc. Franklin E. Mercado [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i0.wp.com/www.psychotherapynotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/256px-USMC-110310-M-5396M-008.jpg)
As I often tell my students, a client can sue their psychotherapist for anything. It doesn’t mean the client will win, but they can sue. Even if you as the therapist have done everything right, staring down a lawsuit can be incredibly stressful and time-consuming. It’s little wonder that health care professionals would want to find any way possible to avoid that risk.
Whenever I get into conversations about the licensing process, a number of the same questions keep coming up. Many of these questions revolve around the value of having a license exam. It’s perhaps the most pesky, the-answer-should-be-obvious-but-isn’t question: Do licensure examinations make for better therapists?