The Bloom app describes itself as a “self-therapy” app based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques. While Bloom can help you learn about and build CBT skills to manage stress or anxiety, it does not offer live therapy or any interactions with a licensed therapist. Bloom costs $14.49 per month, $59.99 per year, or $399.99 for a lifetime subscription.
Pros & Cons of the Bloom App
The Bloom app is a great, non-intimidating CBT app for those who are new to CBT techniques. The ability to watch educational videos on your own time is awesome for people with busy schedules. However, Bloom does not offer therapy with a licensed therapist, and is more of a supplemental tool that teaches CBT skills than a therapy app.
Bloom App Pros & Cons Table
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| CBT skills are taught in an engaging, non intimidating way for beginners | Therapy with a licensed therapist is not offered |
| CBT video lessons are easy to fit into varied schedules | There is no free trial for the monthly subscription |
| Great for people who need a little bit of motivation or a self-esteem boost during the day | Currently only available on Apple (though there are plans to come to Android in Fall 2022) |
| Good for managing mild symptoms of anxiety and stress | The app can be buggy at times, causing load time errors |
| Seven-day free trial with the yearly subscription |
Where to Get the Bloom App
Currently, you can only download the Bloom app in the Apple App Store.
Is the Bloom App Available on Android?
Bloom says it will be available for Android in Fall 2022.
What Is the Bloom App?
The Bloom app is a self-proclaimed “self-therapy” app based on CBT skills. While the app is helpful in teaching and building upon CBT skills, it is important to note that you will not have access to a licensed therapist, and all of the work you do is self-guided.
It features interactive and expert-guided video lessons that use CBT skills to reduce anxiety and stress, improve self-love, and more. All of the in-app activities, journals, mindfulness, and breathwork exercises are easy for beginners, and the non-intimidating way CBT skills are taught encourages you to continue practicing.
Each interactive video lesson has a summary of what it’s about and who it’s good for, which makes selecting a video that is right for you easy. The video lessons are written by a licensed CBT psychologist, Seth Gillihan, and guided by certified CBT coaches, Mike or Sherinta. They will lead you through the lesson and an in-video activity meant to help you recognize how your thoughts and feelings affect your daily life.
Who Is the Bloom App Right For?
Bloom would be great for people who are unfamiliar with CBT skills, are experiencing mild forms of stress or anxiety, and for people with busy, varied schedules.
New to CBT
If you are new or unfamiliar with CBT skills, the Bloom app would be a great starting point. All of the CBT terms and activities are explained in a detailed but easy-to-understand manner.
Mild Anxiety & Stress
The Bloom app covers topics that can help with mild levels of stress and anxiety. Not only are there dedicated sections to stress and anxiety, but there are also sections for self-love, overcoming disappointment, motivation, and sadness. Bloom would be good for those who need just a little bit of extra support during their day.
Busy Schedules
With the Bloom app, you can access expert-guided CBT video lessons on your own time. This is a great tool to use for those who want to work on their mental health, but have a varied schedule and need short, manageable lessons to complete when they can.
Alternatives to the Bloom App
Those already familiar with CBT, who want one-on-one online therapy options, or those under the age of 13 may want to seek out an alternative to Bloom.
Familiar with CBT
Those who are already fairly familiar and confident using CBT skills but want additional guidance may be better off with Sanvello. Not only does Sanvello offer in-app journals and mindfulness exercises, but you can also asynchronously text with a mental health coach. Another option is to deepen your mindfulness or improve your practice of meditation on apps like Calm and Headspace.
Online Therapy
If you need more one-on-one support with a live therapist, you may want to try Talkspace or BetterHelp. Or you can search an online therapist directory to find someone to connect with more quickly.
Age Restrictions
The Bloom app states that you must be over the age of 13 to use the app, and to purchase a subscription, you must be over the age of 18.
Bloom App User Reviews
The Bloom app currently has a 4.8-star rating out of 9,400+ reviews on the Apple App Store. While it is a generally well-reviewed app, there were some concerns that certain users highlighted.
Reconnect With Yourself
Users thought Bloom was great when they had overwhelming moments during the day and needed some extra support. Not only did people mention Bloom helped them reconnect with themselves, but it also helped when they needed extra guidance.
Easy to Use & Helpful
A lot of other users pointed out Bloom’s ease of use, and how easy-to-understand all the content is. They felt Bloom helped them tackle their worries, and that the journals and emotional tracking were useful tools that helped them notice patterns.
I also find Bloom to be very user-friendly. I especially like the journals you complete while watching video lessons, and find them very useful. Completing an activity that works in tandem with the lesson you’re learning feels really powerful.
Journals Are Deleted
Unfortunately, it seems that completed journals can be deleted from your account. Some users suspected that this is because Bloom is a smaller company, not able to store as much data. Other users wondered how long they were able to review previous journals, and it sounds like after six months, your work may be deleted.
Buggy App
There were a fair amount of users that complained the Bloom app was really buggy for them, crashing often. This happened to me quite a few times as well, even when connected to wifi. The buggy app may contribute to the other issue users were bringing up, like being automatically charged for subscriptions.
For those users who are still having issues with the Bloom app, I highly recommend that you email them at: [email protected]. They have excellent customer service and I have been really impressed with their team.
Bloom App Cost
The Bloom app has a limited free version and a premium version that unlocks all of the interactive, expert-guided video lessons in the app. Subscriptions start at $14.49 per month or $59.99 per year. A lifetime subscription costs $399.99 and includes a seven-day free trial.
Is the Bloom App Free?
Yes, the Bloom app has a free version with limited content available. This includes daily CBT activities and journals, as well as some mindfulness and breathwork exercises.
Currently, Bloom is offering 40% off a yearly subscription with the code Bloom25. You can redeem this coupon in-app under your settings.
App Discounts, etc
| Discount Offered | Yes/No |
|---|---|
| Free App | Yes |
| Free Trial | Yes |
| Student Discount | No |
| Family Discount | No |
| Coupons | 40% off with code Bloom25 |
Does Bloom Take Insurance?
No, Bloom does not take insurance at this time.
What If I Want to Cancel Bloom?
You can cancel your subscription at any time through the Apple App Store. Simply click on your photo in the top right corner and select “Subscriptions”, from there click on “Bloom” and cancel.
Does Bloom Offer Refunds?
Yes, Bloom will issue refunds within the first 30 days with no questions asked. You can either email them at [email protected] or request a refund in the app.
For more information on the Bloom app’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, please visit their website.
Getting Started
Bloom is available exclusively for Apple and can be downloaded from the app store on your iPhone or iPad.
Step 1
Download the Bloom app in the Apple App Store.
Step 2
To create your account for free, simply input your name and email address, then create a password. You will answer a few basic questions like, what brings you to Bloom, your familiarity with CBT, which guide you want, and what time you want to focus on your lessons.
Step 3
You can choose to start your seven-day free trial (available only for the yearly subscription) or exit the screen and explore the free version of the app.
Free Version: Detailed Review
The Bloom app is fairly limited in its free version, but it does allow you to use the CBT activities, journals, mindfulness, and breathwork exercises. You will also be able to view everything that comes with the premium subscription.
Feature 1 – Select Free Content
Most of the free content will be located in the “Today” or “Explore” Hub. When you first sign up, you will be able to watch a short, introductory video about what CBT is and how it works. This is great for those that are brand new to CBT techniques or for those that need a refresher.
In the “Explore” Hub, you will find categories like Anxiety, Stress, Sadness, Motivation, and more. Within each of these categories are areas called “Habits,” and they are either an activity, a journal, a mindfulness or breathwork exercise. All of these are under 2 minutes long and can easily be completed.
Activities
There are six main activities, including grounding techniques and ways to practice gratitude. These are all interactive videos with one of the guides and a journal entry.
Bloom activities are:
- The Morning Show
- Feel-Good Challenges
- Calm Anxiety
- Grounding Technique
- Develop Gratitude
- Life Long Learning
Journals
There are four journals that you will write in throughout the app.
Journals include:
- Gratitude Journal
- Today’s Intention
- Morning Journal
- Evening Journal
Mindfulness
There are three mindfulness exercises that are more like thought-provoking mini-lessons on different quotes, mantra, or specific subjects. These are called, “Daily Quote,”, “Daily Mantra” and “Guided Check-In.”
Breathwork
Both breathwork sessions, Calming Breathwork and Nighttime Breathwork, are basic breathing techniques and beginners can do them with ease.
Feature 2: “Entries” Hub
The Entries hub is where you can find a section for “Session History”, “Bookmarked Sessions”, and a feed of everything you’ve completed in the app. You will also be able to access your app setting in the Entries hub. In the settings, you can change your main guide, manage your subscription, apply discount codes, and turn off the background music.
Premium Version: Detailed Review
The Bloom premium app will give you full access to all of the interactive, expert-guided video lessons.
Feature 1 – “Explore” Hub
The Explore hub is the main place to find all of the interactive, expert-guided video lessons that Bloom calls “Self-Therapy”. An interesting notion that comes up throughout Bloom is that the expert guides are there to empower you to be your own therapist.
There are seven categories for you to explore:
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Self-love
- Sadness
- Motivation
- Frustration
- Sleep
In each category, you will see the “Habits” area and then various topic sections with the video lessons. For example, in the “Motivation” category you will find topic sections like “Overcoming Procrastination”, “Reaching Your Goals”, and several others. All of these sections will have between 8 to 10 videos for you to complete. If you need to change your learning video guide, you can easily do this in your account settings.
How Has the Bloom App Changed?
Bloom was founded in August 2020 by Leon Mueller (CEO) & Daniel Lohse (CTO) in partnership with CBT psychologist, Seth Gillihan.
According to CEO Leon Mueller, they are the world’s first “self-therapy” platform which creates an entirely new category in the mental health market of self-guided therapy. Mueller says there are three things that make Bloom unique and different from other mental health apps, “We leverage the power of interactive video sessions to recreate the personal experience and guide users much better through the therapy experience. We leverage data & [machine learning] (ML) to personalize the experience to each and every user. We leverage the power of CBT to help users change behavioral and thought patterns.” (L. Mueller, personal communication, March 21, 2022).
While looking through Bloom’s Terms of Service, which has not been updated since 2020, there is a section about submitting your own content to the app, i.e., guided questions, journals, or other writings. There does not appear to be an area in the app to do this currently, so we believe user-generated content has been discontinued.
Bloom App vs Happify
Bloom and Happify are both CBT based apps that offer materials to help you build and practice CBT techniques. Both feature a limited free version, and offer a monthly or yearly subscription for premium plans. Happify is more expensive, at $14.99 per month and $139.99 annually, with no free trials. Bloom, is $14.49 per month or $59.99 annually and offers a seven-day free trial for its yearly subscription.
The content remains the main difference between the two apps. Happify offers in-app games, articles, and webinars for you to utilize in their premium version, while Bloom is focused on delivering its “Self-Therapy” guided videos and CBT exercises. Both apps could be great for those new to CBT who want to boost their overall, daily happiness.
Final Verdict
Overall, I genuinely love the Bloom app. It is not only aesthetically pleasing, but it is easy to use and engaging to learn from. Even for those familiar with CBT, it’s refreshing to be reminded of how CBT is able to help you reframe negative thoughts and behaviors. While I wish there were more than just two guides to choose from, I appreciate how well-spoken and knowledgeable both Mike and Sherinta are.
However, the concept of “Self-Therapy” and being my own therapist felt like too much of a responsibility. I can see how this would be helpful if used in tandem with one-on-one CBT-based therapy. As a supplemental tool, the Bloom app could be a powerful way to reinforce what you learn in live therapy sessions, and really help to maximize your healing process.
