‘BetterHelp’ gains momentum with Florida lawyers
During its meeting in October, the Mental Health and Wellness of Florida Lawyers Committee announced it was expanding the services offered by the Florida Lawyers Helpline.
The helpline, operated by CorpCare, launched a new member benefit, BetterHelp, which matches Bar members with a licensed therapist based on their own preferences and needs through text, phone calls, or video chats.
The immediacy of BetterHelp makes it much easier for members to receive an appointment in lieu of a local therapist.
“During the pandemic, we found that there were very long wait times for members to access a local in-person therapist,” immediate past committee Chair Karl Klein said. “This new benefit gets our members the help they need faster.”
In April, the committee worked with the Bar’s IT department to add a sign-up link for BetterHelp to the member portal page on the Bar’s website. In the four months that followed, traffic to the site has been nothing short of impressive.
LegalFuel Practice Management Advisor Jamie Moore, the staff contact for the committee, said 32% of the new cases came via the direct access portal link.
With that kind of growth, Moore is excited for what the rest of the year holds.
“If the utilization continues at this rate, we should double the usage from last year,” Moore said.
Chair Richard Rivera said he is “incredibly proud” of the committee’s work both in establishing this “incredible and needed” member benefit, and for finding new ways to get the word out to the membership.
“This free service is completely confidential and is administered by a third party, not the Bar itself,” he said. “So, while the administrator reports the utilization numbers, the Bar does not receive any information about which members are using the service and for what reason. It is my sincere hope that the utilization rate continues to grow as more and more of our members get support to either address specific issues, or just to keep performing at a high level.”
More than a traditional hotline, Florida Lawyers Helpline is available 24/7/365 to provide a continuum of services — everything from crisis intervention and referral for free mental-health counseling, nutrition and health information, child-care referrals, providing a case manager to help find long-term care facilities for family members or financial consulting to help members with debt management, budgeting, and retirement planning.
CorpCare, which provides confidential, round-the-clock support as the vendor responsible for operating the Florida Lawyers Helpline (833-351-9355), recently upped the number of free therapy sessions available to Bar members from three to five a year.
Visit The Florida Bar Mental Health & Wellness Center for more information regarding the services offered for Florida lawyers.