BetterHelp Found Sponsoring Traumatizing YouTube Videos That Create Its Own Customer Base

Online therapy company denies 'vertical integration' strategy

NEW YORK—In what industry analysts are calling a "disturbing but undeniably efficient business model," online therapy platform BetterHelp has been discovered sponsoring YouTube videos specifically designed to traumatize viewers into needing mental health services, sources confirmed Tuesday.

"We started noticing a pattern," said media researcher Diana Okonkwo, who first identified the trend. "Every video about childhood abandonment, generational trauma, or 'signs you were emotionally neglected' was brought to you by BetterHelp. It's like if a window repair company sponsored little league baseball."

The investigation revealed that BetterHelp has quietly become the exclusive sponsor of over 4,000 YouTube videos with titles including "Why Your Parents Never Loved You," "10 Signs Your Entire Personality Is a Trauma Response," and "That Thing You Do? It's Actually Dissociation."

"We simply support content creators who discuss mental health," said BetterHelp spokesperson Marcus Chen, dismissing accusations that the company was essentially farming psychological distress. "If viewers happen to feel a sudden, overwhelming need for therapy approximately 90 seconds into a video about attachment disorders, that's just a happy coincidence."

YouTuber Jenna Holloway, whose channel focuses on "making viewers confront every repressed memory they have," confirmed the sponsorship relationship.

"BetterHelp reached out after my video 'Your Childhood Pet's Death Was More Traumatic Than You Realize' went viral," Holloway said. "They've been incredibly supportive. They even suggested I do a follow-up called 'You Never Properly Grieved Anything, Actually.'"

At press time, BetterHelp had announced a new partnership with a creator whose upcoming video, "Everything You Think Is Fine Is Not Fine," was already projected to generate 50,000 new therapy signups.