Editorial Policy at ChoosingTherapy.com

Welcome and thank you for visiting ChoosingTherapy.com.

Every year, over 36 million people turn to ChoosingTherapy.com for practical, evidence-based guides covering mental health, psychology, relationships, parenting, and more.

At ChoosingTherapy.com, trust is paramount. To ensure quality content for our reader, our guides are crafted by a team of compassionate and seasoned licensed therapists and medical professionals. Each member of our expert writing team is dedicated to sharing their extensive knowledge in their specific areas of behavioral health and psychology.

Once an article is drafted, it undergoes thorough review by our dedicated team of editors. Our editors ensure that every piece on ChoosingTherapy.com provides clear answers to your most pressing questions, is presented in an accessible manner, and is free from unnecessary jargon.

After our edits are completed, every article is subjected to rigorous medical review by board-certified doctors and medical professionals. This ensures that our content is accurate, meticulously fact-checked, up-to-date, and relies on the latest research available.

ChoosingTherapy.com is committed to fostering a welcoming and judgment-free environment. With over 250 writers and reviewers contributing to ChosingTherapy.com, our team represents a diverse set of views and lived experiences.

Our aim is to create a safe, inviting space where everyone feels comfortable taking the next step in their mental health journey. Join us in learning, growing, and taking meaningful steps toward living a more fulfilling life.

Below you will find a detailed description of our editorial policy.

ChoosingTherapy.com is Editorially Independent

ChoosingTherapy.com is committed to editorial independence. All decisions about the content published on ChoosingTherapy.com are made by our Editorial Team with the advice and guidance of ChoosingTherapy.com’s Mental Health & Medical Advisory Teams. Importantly, our editorial independence extends to our thorough reviews of mental health products and services. This independence ensures unbiased, trustworthy resources you can rely on throughout your mental health journey.

The Content on ChoosingTherapy.com is Written by Experts

We know you want to get your information from experts you can trust. That’s why the clinical guides on ChoosingTherapy.com are written by an experienced group of 250+ licensed therapists, credentialed mental health professionals, board-certified doctors, pharmacists, and other medical professionals.

When we cover topics that demand different expertise, for example when covering workplace rules and laws or the intricacies of insurance billing, we work with the relevant industry professionals to create our content. Those writers include experienced HR professionals, insurance professionals, medical journalists, and mental health advocates.

Every article on ChoosingTherapy.com prominently features the author of that article and includes a link to their Author Page. This enables our audience to review our authors’ credentials, experience, professional background and affiliations, accolades, social media presence, and significant publications they’ve been featured in.

Our writers are required to disclose any conflicts of interest that may exist. They must also guarantee that all their work is their own and they sign pledges not to use AI tools, virtual assistants, or ghost writers to create the guides and articles for ChoosingTherapy,com.

All the content you find on ChoosingTherapy.com is held to the exacting editorial, medical, and ethical standards detailed on this page.

If you’re a licensed mental health or medical professional and would like to work with us, learn more about writing for ChoosingTherapy.com here.

ChoosingTherapy.com’s Content is Medically Reviewed

ChoosingTherapy.com maintains a Medical Advisory Team and a Mental Health Advisory Team which work alongside our Editorial Team to ensure the information we’re providing is accurate, evidence-based, and up-to-date.

Our Medical Advisory Team is made up of board-certified physicians and pharmacists. They review every article that includes a statement of medical fact to ensure that our content upholds the strict medical integrity our audience expects and deserves.

Our Mental Health Advisory Team is made up of licensed mental health professionals. They regularly review our articles to ensure the information provided conforms to the guidelines provided by relevant government agencies and professional organizations.

Our content is updated regularly to reflect new research, to update statistics, or to better answer the questions our audience is asking. Updated content is also subject to review by our Medical and Mental Health Advisory Teams.

ChoosingTherapy.com Upholds High Editorial Standards

All of the content on ChoosingTherapy.com is the product of a dedicated editorial team who strive to relay evidence-based and up-to-date information on mental health topics in a way that’s helpful and accessible so that our audience can learn, grow, and continue to make progress on their mental health journey.

Our Editorial Team upholds an editorial policy that was inspired by, and carefully designed to comply with, the high standards set by leading organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). This ensures you receive accurate, fair, and ethical information, grounded in best practices for online health information and journalism. Additionally, we adhere to the Association of Health Care Journalists’ principles and FTC’s advertising guidelines, further ensuring our content’s transparency and reliability.

Our Content is Evidence-Based and Reflects Scientific Consensus

While acknowledging diverse perspectives, ChoosingTherapy.com is dedicated to evidenced-based mental health information and always favors scientific consensus when it exists.

When scientific consensus does not exist, ChoosingTherapy.com will cover the topic from a neutral perspective and represent each view to the best of our ability so that our audience has access to the best information available.

Just like you, we encounter all kinds of ideas online, on social media, and out in the real world as we go about our day. ChoosingTherapy.com is a place you can turn for reliable, evidence-based information that’s delivered by experienced professionals with expertise in the topic they’re writing about.

We Keep Information Current by Updating Content Regularly

We know that you’re relying on us for the best, most up-to-date information available. That’s why ChoosingTherapy.com strives to update our content every 3-6 months. During every update we ensure fact, statistics, and research reflects the best information currently available. During every update, our content is re-edited and re-reviewed by a medical reviewer.

In the spirit of transparency, every article will have the original publication date, the date of any significant updates, and the date of the most recent update. Not only that, but when articles experience significant additions or revisions, a record will be made in the “Update History” section at the bottom of the article in order to detail previous authors, previous medical reviewers, and summarize the changes made to the content.

We Only Cite Trusted Sources

All sources must be deemed trustworthy and reputable by our Editorial Team, Medical Advisory Team, and Mental Health Advisory Team. Those sources include government agencies, universities and colleges, scholarly journals, industry and professional associations, non-profit organizations, and other high-integrity sources of mental health journalism.

Our editorial staff reviews the quality of sources within all content prior to publication as part of ChoosingTherapy.com’s standard publication process. Sources are reviewed and updated regularly during our standard article updating process.

Certain topics benefit from first-hand experience of multiple experts. In these cases our Expert Writers and Editorial Team may interview other relevant professionals. Interviewees featured in content on ChoosingTherapy.com Interviewees are not paid for sharing their insights and are not given “copy approval” privileges but may request to fact check and/or clarify their statements.

All sources are cited in APA format at the bottom of each article in the Sources section.

We Provide Clear and Accurate Article Titles

Titles are our first opportunity to establish trust with our audience. As such, the articles at ChoosingTherapy.com will feature titles that clearly and accurately convey the content, regardless of where that content may be found/appear (search, social, internal, etc.). Vague, sensational, or misleading article titles are not permitted.

We Only Link to Resources We Think You’ll Find Helpful

You’re here to learn, grow, and take the next step in your mental health journey. We do our best to support you in that journey by only linking to other resources when our expert writers, dedicated editorial team members, and medical reviewers agree that the resource may be helpful to you.

That means ChoosingTherapy.com may link to external web pages if those pages relate to a source or source material used to inform or create our content. We may also link to external web pages if they provide additional information or assistance that are valuable to our audience.

Additionally, all of the sources we link to will be deemed trustworthy and reputable by our Editorial Board and may include government agencies, universities and colleges, scholarly journals, industry and professional associations, non-profit organizations, and other high-integrity sources of mental health information.

Our editorial staff reviews the quality of external links within all content prior to publication as part of ChoosingTherapy.com’s standard publication process.

Outbound links will open in a different browser window.

Product Reviews on ChoosingTherapy.com

ChoosingTherapy.com believes that getting the right support during one’s mental health and emotional wellness journey can make all the difference. And we recognize that we’re in a unique position to help our audience evaluate and navigate the ever-growing number of mental health products, services, and brands in the market. Whether that support is in the form of a therapist, a psychiatrist, a mood-tracking tool, or a mindfulness app, we’re dedicated to helping our audience better understand their options.

All reviews of products, services, and brands on ChoosingTherapy.com are the result of independent research, careful analysis of user feedback, extensive first-hand experience and testing, as well as interviews with industry experts. Like all of our content, each product review and buyer’s guide is carefully edited, fact checked, and medically reviewed to ensure accuracy and reliability.

Our audience can trust our expert reviews because each is backed by a comprehensive and transparent methodology with scoring rubrics that are thoughtfully designed by product experts and licensed mental health professionals.

Every review on ChoosingTherapy.com features a convenient summary of our full methodologies and scoring rubric, clearly lists pros and cons, links to alternative solutions that outperform in key areas, and provides detailed analysis of the product, service, or brand based on hands-on, personal testing by our experienced team members.

Learn more about our scoring criteria below:

Review Scoring Criteria for Online Therapy Platforms

Review Scoring Criteria for Online Psychiatry Platforms

Review Scoring Criteria for Ketamine Assisted Therapy Platforms

Review Scoring Criteria for Anger Management Classes Online 

Review Scoring Criteria for Online Group Therapy & Support Groups

Review Scoring Criteria for Medication-Assisted Treatment Programs

Review Scoring Criteria for Mindful Drinking Apps

Review Scoring Criteria for Mental Health Apps

Review Scoring Criteria for Online Healthcare Platforms

Review Scoring Criteria for Online Eating Disorder Treatment Platforms

Review Scoring Criteria for Meditation Apps

Review Scoring Criteria for Yoga Apps

Review Scoring Criteria for EHR, EMR, & PMS Platforms

Review Scoring Criteria for Website Builders for Therapists

Review Scoring Criteria for Therapist Directories

We strive to keep product and service details up-to-date, we update content regularly, and we re-test/re-evaluate products and services as appropriate. While we may earn affiliate revenue from some companies we review, all our reviews are fair, objective, and 100% editorially independent.

Corrections Policy at ChoosingTherapy.com

ChoosingTherapy.com is dedicated to accurate, clear mental health information. While we have built a process that avoids errors in nearly all cases, we are also aware that we’re not perfect. When errors are detected, they are corrected. We promptly make corrections and/or clarifications to our content when deemed necessary by the Editorial Board and/or our Medical & Mental Health Advisory Team.

You can notify our team of potential errors by emailing [email protected].

Advertising on ChoosingTherapy.com

ChoosingTherapy.com earns revenue through certain online affiliate partnerships. Our complete advertising policy and a full list of our current partnerships can be found on ChoosingTherapy.com’s advertising policy page.

Additionally, ChoosingTherapy.com is supported in part through the therapists and other providers who participate in the ChoosingTherapy.com therapist directory.

How to Contact Our Editorial Team

ChoosingTherapy.com’s mission is to deliver the most helpful, accurate mental health information on the web. If you have questions for us, or suggestions on ways we can improve, we’d like to hear from you. You can email us directly at [email protected].

This page was updated on August 8th, 2024.