10 best culturally sensitive online therapy providers

Cost: $170-$275 per session | Insurance accepted: Yes | States available: CA, CT, FL, NJ, NY, TX, and the District of Columbia | Types of therapy offered: Individual, couples and families

Octave is a rare gem in the online therapy world, thanks to its wide variety of therapists, various languages available and providers that specialize in racial trauma. Racial trauma, which refers to the emotional marks racial discrimination leaves on its survivors, often isn’t included as a service you can search for within online therapy services. The fact that Octave includes this, as well as the option to receive care in various languages, makes it our pick for the most inclusive online therapy provider.

Getting started with Octave is easy: Simply follow the website's invitation and fill out an intake form. After that, the company’s intake coordinators will match you with a therapist. You can also view its providers and if you find a therapist you like, you can check their availability to get started.

Cost: Varies based on therapist | Insurance accepted: Varies based on provider | States available: All 50 states and Washington D.C. | Types of therapy offered: Individual, couples, teens, children, family, groups and medication management

A huge benefit of using therapy directories is the ability to narrow down your search and connect with the right provider for you, without any need to sign up for an online therapy company. Inclusive Therapists is the most comprehensive therapist directory we found, with dozens of search filters that allow you to find the best care possible. You can expect to see BIPOC to trans-identifying providers and everyone in-between. You can even search for vegan therapists.

Something that many therapist directories overlook is the varying levels of oppression that keep therapy-seekers locked out from finding the right fit. For example, some folks with physical disabilities would like to attend therapy in person but have to do the extra labor of reaching out to therapists to see if their office is ADA accessible. With Inclusive Therapists, the simple click of a search filter can make things much easier. To make your experience with this directory as simple as possible, take a few moments to jot down what you’re looking for in a therapist. That way, you can scroll through the search filter easily. Otherwise, all the options can feel a bit overwhelming. That said, it is better to have many options than none.

Cost: Varies based on insurance | Insurance accepted: Yes | States available: 42 states and Washington, D.C. (Not available in Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming)| Types of therapy offered: Medication management

Finding the right psychiatrist is hard work. This type of therapy is expensive, there are limits to what some providers can prescribe. and when you need your medication, you need it fast. Talkiatry accepts insurance, can prescribe all medications (including ADHD medication) and has psychiatrists with various identities on board. For these reasons, it is our top pick as the best culturally sensitive online psychiatry service. The fact that it accepts insurance makes it much more affordable for many.

Something to keep in mind is that Talkiatry is only available for folks who have insurance coverage. While this is a major downside for the uninsured, it can be hugely helpful for those with insurance. Getting started is easy. You’ll fill out a brief assessment, and from there you’ll have the option to choose from a range of providers. Keep in mind that there aren’t a lot of questions about cultural sensitivities on the intake sheet. While they do have a range of providers available, remember you can always request a new provider. You’ll have to contact customer service to do so, but affordable care with a provider that fits your needs is worth the extra step.

Cost: $30-$80 per session, one-time membership fee of $65 | Insurance accepted: No | States available: All 50 states, Canada | Types of therapy offered: Individual, couples, children, families, group and teen therapy

A huge barrier to therapy is the price tag. If you don’t have insurance, or have insurance with minimal coverage, you may be stumped as to how you’ll find a way to make therapy work. Open Path Collective offers care from pre-licensed and licensed therapists for the same price as most insurance co-pays, making them our pick as the best culturally sensitive therapy provider for the underinsured.

We especially appreciate that Open Path Collective makes sure they onboard therapists in the directory who are diverse by way of racial and gender identity, sexual orientation, age, modalities and specialties. You can expect to receive care from both pre-licensed and licensed therapists. We especially appreciate this — sometimes affordable care means only having the opportunity to work with less experienced practitioners. It is a welcomed change to see that individuals with more complex needs can receive care from providers with plenty of experience. Just a heads up — this is a directory, not an online therapy company. This means you will have to contact your top picks directly, and some therapists may not have their availability updated.

Cost: Free | Insurance accepted: Depends on provider | States available: All 50 states | Types of therapy offered: Individual, children, teens, couples and group

Research (and plenty of personal and professional experience) shows that Black people feel more comfortable receiving therapy from a Black clinician. Yet in 2021, just 5% of all of the psychology workforce in the United States identified as Black. Therapy for Black Girls is a directory that focuses solely on Black femme-identifying clinicians, making it our top pick as the best culturally sensitive online therapy provider for the Black community.

While it is a directory and not an online platform in which you can receive direct service, we appreciate that you can explore various clinician options. We wish its search filters were more comprehensive. For example, you can search for providers based on insurance plans (which we love), but you can’t filter your search based on fee. Furthermore, there are no male-identified clinicians in the directory, and from our research, we didn’t see any nonbinary clinicians either. If that is important to you, keep scrolling and check out the National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network.

Cost: Free | Insurance accepted: Depends on provider | States available: All 50 states | Types of therapy offered: Individual, couples, teen, children, group, families and immigration evaluations

The Latinx experience, as with all cultural experiences, exists on a broad spectrum, encompassing a diverse range of perspectives and histories. That's why having the ability to look for a therapist with a particular migration background or cultural identity might be important in your search. Latinx Therapy is a directory with dozens of search filters, including cultural identities, migration background, a comprehensive range of LGBTQ identities and plenty of therapeutic specialties. It's one of the most extensive directories we’ve ever reviewed, and we are pleased to name it as the best culturally sensitive online therapy directory for the Latinx community.

As soon as you land on the homepage, you simply click “find a therapist,” enter your location and scroll through the results. From there, you can refine your search further, noting if you have any particular clinician identity preferences, specialties or types of sessions you’re searching for. When you browse the results, you'll easily spot the therapists who speak Spanish — they have "Hablo espa?ol" clearly listed, a feature we found helpful. This is also the only directory we saw that lists providers who offer immigration evaluations, making us even more impressed with the emphasis on inclusion for all Latinx people. Plus, it has a comprehensive FAQ guide that demystifies the whole process of finding a therapist.

Cost: $125-$195 per session | Insurance accepted: Yes | States available: California, New York, New Jersey and Oregon | Types of therapy offered: Individual, children, couples, family, teens and coaching

It's well documented that years of oppression have created a stigma within the Asian community when it comes to getting mental health support. This fact even spilled over into our research for this article — it was challenging to find mental health providers that focused specifically on the Asian experience. Then we found Yellow Chair Collective, which is home to a team primarily composed primarily of Asian therapists. Their expertise extends to serving individuals who identify as queer, neurodivergent and multicultural. This comprehensive approach makes it our top pick as the best provider for the Asian community.

Yellow Chair Collective offers sessions for individuals, children, couples, teens and families. You can expect specialties like immigration trauma and family dynamics. It even has providers who offer ADHD coaching and EMDR therapy. Best of all, it has a limited number of sliding scale payment slots, ensuring that services are as accessible as possible. Just a heads up — services are only available to those residing in California, Oregon, New Jersey and New York, and it's only in-network with Cigna insurance. That said, the service can provide superbills for you to submit to your insurance company for reimbursement.

Cost: Free | Insurance accepted: Varies based on provider | States available: All 50 states and the District of Columbia | Types of therapy offered: Individual, couples, children, group, teen and family

Finding a queer or trans-identified therapist can be challenging. Finding a therapist of color can be hard. Add both of these needs together when looking for a culturally sensitive therapist and you may feel discouraged. Don’t — the National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network is an expansive directory with therapists of color who are either queer and trans-identified or trans-affirming. That's why it is our top pick for the best trans-affirming therapy provider.

We love that you can filter your search based on language, and we're encouraged by all the intersections of identity the therapists hold. However, the remaining search filters leave much to be desired — you can filter by therapists who offer a sliding scale or a “low fee,” but there are no other options to filter by insurance or budget. Despite these drawbacks, this is a unique directory that answers a specific need of therapy-seekers. If you’re struggling to afford therapy, you can even apply to the National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network mental health fund to receive up to $125 per session in financial support.

Cost: $160-$240 per session | Insurance accepted: Yes | States available: District of Columbia and all states except Vermont | Types of therapy offered: Individual, couples, teen, children, family, groups and psychiatry 

It's common to run into online therapy companies with long waiting lists for appointments or therapists who aren’t taking new clients. This can be a major roadblock when you’re ready to start therapy and need to start right away. Thriveworks is the only online therapy provider we found that offers same-day appointments. To make things even better, they accept over 50 insurance plans, another rarity from our extensive research. We also love that Thriveworks is available throughout the United States — you can even attend in-person sessions in some areas. All of these excellent features make it one of the most immediately accessible therapy providers available. 

Here’s where things get tricky: Thriveworks doesn't have many search filters, so it's challenging to search for a provider based on identity. That said, you can voice your needs to the intake coordinator during your intake session, and they can work to pair you with someone who meets your needs.

Cost: Varies based on provider | Insurance accepted: Varies based on provider | States available: All 50 states and the District of Columbia | Types of therapy offered: Individual, couples, children, family and teens

If you’re in search of an LBGTQ therapist, you’ll want to select a service that has a heavy emphasis on the queer community. TherapyDen does just that — on its landing page is a banner highlighting therapists who provide therapy for the trans community. Furthermore, this is the only online therapy directory that has the option to filter to find therapists who are LGBTQ-identified. This is a big plus, as most services focus on highlighting therapists who are LGBTQ-allied.

This is one of the smaller directories we found in our search. This means your search results may be slimmer than what you may receive on other, more mainstream directories. That said, we are firm believers in quality over quantity, and are confident the directory can point you in the direction of your perfect match.