Trashfire The BetterHelp, CreatorHealth, InfluenceLogic Rabbit Hole - Candid 2.0, brought to you by Joel Robbinson

melon · Oct 1, 2018

Recently starting in September, an influx of videos pertaining to a discussion of mental health, depression and anxiety had ignited the new YouTube trend. First emerging after YouTuber Elle Mills' publicised 'YouTube Burnout', a pattern in videos started to emerge in whereby creators suddenly revealed their bouts of 'depression' and mental health problems, meanwhile also promoting the online service BetterHelp as 'another resource to fight depression' and get help, with affiliate links in the descriptions. Notable YouTubers include Boogie2988, Shane Dawson, Phillip DeFranco, and Bobby Burns. This sponsored 'resource' is where the problem lies.

BetterHelp is described as an online therapy service, and advertised as the alternative to face-to-face counselling. BetterHelp is detailed as hosting professional and licensed therapists to tend to your needs, with 24hr availability and access to a host of communication methods, whether it be instant messaging, voice calls, video calls, etc.

BetterHelp is pimped out by a shady non-entity known as CreatorHealth, itself very discretely managed by the owner of InfluenceLogic, a marketing company specifically setup for getting YT content creators to shill. There is a post explaining their broader network here. InfluenceLogic is an affiliate marketer and BetterHelp uses affiliate marketing, so their relation seems incidental. Here's an explanation of how to deduced who recruited the YTer, but a comprehensive list of YTers and who their top-level affiliate is can be found here.

We've made a convenient image summarizing what's wrong with BetterHelp.

Thanks to the help of Memology101's videos and some farmers, BetterHelp is being revealed to be a massive scam that preys on the mentally ill and impressionable fans of content creators. I will try to compile all findings and lists of concerns in this post.

The Pricing

Currently, YouTubers are shilling this as the 'cheaper alternative' to professional counselling, yet scammed customers have come forth in claiming that's not exactly true.

BetterHelp's weekly rates range from $35-$80USD per week. Yet users of the service have complain that they have been randomly charged for two months without refund nor explanation. Some without ever even pairing up with a therapist.

"Licensed Therapists"

The main attraction to BetterHelp's service is derived from its promotion of 'professional and licensed therapists'. However, looking into the terms and conditions of the website shows that not only do BetterHelp hold no liability for the services provided, stating that all responsibility lies within the customer and their counsellor, but they do not assure the quality, skills, certification or even employment of said therapists.

Furthermore, according to their website, BetterHelp is HIPAA (the U.S's Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) certified, yet as pointed out in Memology101's video, their terms and conditions contradict this as they claim no accountability if something were to happen.

Unprofessionalism and Negative Experiences

In light of this knowledge, it's easy to make the connection as to why a large sum of people have a negative experience with BetterHelp. Customers detail the unprofessionalism of therapists they were match up with, and in some cases even rudeness and disrespect. Many users have experienced being outright turned away, due to being in a 'crisis' situation or not suited for BetterHelp's services. This has lead many to believe the company preys on the 'not actually depressed' to better extort them without risk of dealing with a 'real' mentally ill case.

YouTuber Deschroma also made a video detailing her negative experience with BetterHelp.

Shane Dawson's Ploy

I won't go into much detail here as Memology's 5th episode covers it well, but it has been suspected that Shane Dawson's new documentary series on the Paul brothers is really just a marketing gimmick for shilling BetterHelp, as he 'dissects' the brothers' 'sociopathic' tendencies with therapist Kati Morton, who has appeared in a number of videos promoting BetterHelp across YouTube.

Extra Information

I've hopefully roughly covered all the main aspects of criticism in regards to BetterHelp, so now I'll just list some further info and the Memology videos. Thanks to @vhstape for gathering a lot of this data!

Note: This has not been verified by some of the more experienced R&D users on the site. Take everything with a grain of salt, but for expediency's sake we have moved it out to the open.

Some basic info on the shill "therapist"
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzBYOHyEEzlkRdDOSobbpvw
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/katimorton
Mail: PO Box #665 1223 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90403
Business email: linnea@toneymedia.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KatiMorton
Website: https://www.katimorton.com/
Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/katimorton1/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katimorton1/?hl=en
Online shop: https://store.dftba.com/collections/kati-morton
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kati-morton-lmft-04801b7
Tumblr: https://katimorton.tumblr.com/
Amazon store page: https://www.amazon.com/Kati-Morton/e/B07D8NHD87

Very little info I could find on Happyable, Inc. which she is co-founder of

https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_de/6002711

BetterHelp was acquired by Teladoc in 2015
https://www.crunchbase.com/acquisition/teladoc-acquires-betterhelp--4d8d5d6c
https://www.fastcompany.com/4042379...romise-but-raises-plenty-of-ethical-questions

Teladoc seems to be doing very well and seeing a lot of growth currently
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/TDOC?p=TDOC
https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/tdoc/financials

"BetterHelp, the leading e-counseling service worldwide, today announced FaithfulCounseling.com, a service offering online counseling for Christians. Every counselor on the platform is a practicing Christian who seeks to integrate appropriate faith-based guidance with their clinical practice."
https://www.businesswire.com/news/h...rapy-Platform-Launches-FaithfulCounseling.com

Founder of betterhelp is a man called Alon Matas
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alonmatas?lang=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alonmatas
linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alonmatas

from his linkedin
"IDF - Israel Defence Forces
6 years

Project Lead
IDF - Israel Defence Forces
1998 – 2000 2 years
israel

Led a $5 million project to plan, design and develop a new IT system for the IDF's telecommunication infrastructure
Development Team Leader
IDF - Israel Defence Forces
1996 – 1998 2 years
Israel
Software Developer
IDF - Israel Defence Forces
1994 – 1996 2 years
Israel"

Interview with him: https://mixergy.com/interviews/betterhelp-with-alon-matas/
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entr...an-interview-with_us_5a453dbbe4b06cd2bd03deae

Worth noting he has no qualification relating to any medical field going off the public information.

Edit, found other stuff:
https://qz.com/866949/at-online-therapy-apps-employees-may-be-reading-your-sessions/
https://www.amsa.org/members/benefits/betterhelp/
https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/sunnyvale...ral-service/betterhelp-1216-262454/complaints
seems they are not only using youtube to shill
http://drdrew.com/2017/mark-geragos-haesue-jo-episode-291/
http://mentalpod.com/archives/4894
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Facebook-suggesting-me-to-like-page-BetterHelp
https://theoutline.com/post/3376/why-is-instagram-so-worried-about-my-mental-health?zd=1&zi=ri3gdwpb

Also found Alon Matas's reddit account: https://www.reddit.com/user/alonmatas

Let me know if there's anything else that needs to be added here. Posting it the Multimedia forums because: 1. I heard this thread would be better here and 2. I don't have privileges to the Youtube forum anyway.

EDIT: It's been discovered that a lot of non Phillip DeFranco affiliate link directions have been found to contain Phillip DeFranco's 'Rogue Rocket' tag. The rabbit hole goes even deeper.

This was captured from Boogie's affiliate link, and the video posted by @Hackallier below shows a lot more YouTubers guilty of this, such as The Gabbie Vlogs. I suspect Memology will be doing a video on it soon, so I'll update the OP when that comes out.

UPDATE: Whew lad. The rabbit hole goes through to China now. Here is some of the information that's been dug up/come to light since the original OP (The Condensed Version):

Archived copy of Linkedin: https://web.archive.org/web/20181002174240/https://www.linkedin.com/in/kati-morton-lmft-04801b7
"Co Founder
Undisclosed
December 2011 – Present 6 years 11 months
Santa Monica, CA
We're an early stage healthcare startup that delivers professional mental health knowledge to a global audience.

High Fidelity Wireframe
MVP
We have strong traction
We're scalable
TAM: 450,000,000"

It's suspected Morton is the co-founder of BetterHelp, hence her religious shilling of the service.

Thanks to @Frostitute for this info!

InfluenceLogic workers + connections page.

Acquisition of BetterHelp in 2015 for 4.5 mil: https://web.archive.org/web/20181003071124/
Teladoc Datamining: http://www.telemedmag.com/article/teladoc-mines-mountains-data-strategic-insights/
https://archive.fo/RmWV8
Teladoc Antitrust Lawsuit (a.k.a. Monopoly Hunt on Telemedicine): https://www.businesswire.com/news/h...ladoc-moves-block-Medical-Board-rule-restrict
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20161018/NEWS/161019900
Teladoc Investors: https://www.teladoc.com/news/2014/0...owth-and-solidify-market-leadership-position/
"These guys https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icon_Ventures now called jafco mentioned in the teladoc funding link who also invested in cyber security start-ups with Google and have investment links to naval intelligence and DOD via proofpoint , Fireye another company invested in by this group were hired to investigate the Trump/Russia link."
Google Co-Investment: https://www.ft.com/content/32e52364-9987-11e3-b3a2-00144feab7de#axzz3UUUYcu2w
Teladoc Funding History: https://www.owler.com/company/teladoc#fundinghistory
Privacy Policy: https://www.teladoc.com/notice-of-privacy-practices/

Thanks to @judgehate and @Boogie1488 for this info!

Phillip DeFraudo is a Naughty Boy
It's no secret that DeFranco's ad agency company Rogue Rocket is linked with BetterHelp. Yet, at no point prior or during his shilling of BetterHelp did he state his material connection to them, which has lead us to believe ShillyD has broken an FTC guideline.

PewDiePie:
Felix released a video airing out BetterHelp and its sponsors' dirty laundry for all to see. Now is the time to strap in. Thanks, Pewds! <3

And to the newcomers from PewDiePie's channel, welcome to the farms! Make sure you read the rules before posting.

Hackallier · Oct 1, 2018

You should also add that Philip DeFranco's network Rogue Rocket is highly tied to this. At least Boogie uses his campaign. Maybe compile a list of affiliates with "Rogue Rocket" tag?

Guli · Oct 1, 2018

Something never felt right about them, along with that "too good to be true" itch at the back of my head, never expected it to be this bad

melon · Oct 1, 2018

Hackallier said:
You should also add that Philip DeFranco's network Rogue Rocket is highly tied to this. At least Boogie uses his campaign. Maybe compile a list of affiliates with "Rogue Rocket" tag?

Yes, I just saw that a few minutes ago. Sucks that more information came out while I was writing the OP! But no worries, I'll add that in, thanks!

vhstape · Oct 1, 2018

Rogue Rocket:
Linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rogue-rocket
Twitter: https://twitter.com/theroguerocket?lang=en
Website: https://www.roguerocket.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpLB7kBu9O5dbBKhaIOmqcQ/featured
Other info:
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/rogue-rocket
https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/C...hCriteria=+Rogue+Rocket&SearchSubType=Keyword

Rogue Rocket was founded on 03/27/2017

https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/Document/RetrievePDF?Id=04006331-23539720
https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/Document/RetrievePDF?Id=04006331-22284841
https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/Document/RetrievePDF?Id=04006331-22097112

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandanmorones
She is Executive Producer at Rogue Rocket, also states Rogue Rocket is "Starting a brand new production company and independent news channel with Philip DeFranco, an award winning YouTube personality and entrepreneur.

Production/Development/Partnerships for all Rogue Rocket properties - The Philip DeFranco Show, PhillyD, Etc."

Also Rogue Rocket is the name of a podcast he has which started early last month
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxtgZ5EunIc&list=PLT6-2Ll8kfxMqR0le3bytZVwrJHclyuO8

Danny Bragonier Co-Founder
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannybragonier

Allison Dea
Head of Community and Support
https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-dea

Alain Adler
Head of Engineering
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aladler/

Jeff Williams
Head of Business Development
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffwilliams/
(linkedin on the betterhelp webpage but no mention of his employment there)

Also just saw this which gave me a laugh https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/autism/which-autism-medication-is-right-for-my-child/
"Autism is a mental illness that often presents in early age and affects communication and social interactions, as well as cognitive ability in some children and adults."

while https://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/media-centre/news/2016-07-24-autism-and-mental-health.aspx

"Autism is not a mental health condition. However, we do know that autistic people are more likely to develop mental health problems. There can be many reasons for this, such as not getting the support you need."

UselessRubberKeyboard · Oct 1, 2018

This is also being advertised hard on Instagram, both in the photo stream and the stories stream.

Thanks for delving into this and exposing the scam.

Crippled_Retard · Oct 1, 2018

Candid targeted idiotic skeptics, but to exploit people who desperately want help for their failing mental health? That's just fucking disgusting. Especially Boogie, someone who's built part of his audience by talking about his clinical depression and abuse to exploit fans who probably related to him through that. Really just enforces what the thread on him says.

vhstape · Oct 1, 2018

Broke down the shills in groups of the different influencer marketing sites that have been used.
Also worth noting http://tryonlinetherapy.com/ is also betterhelp website

https://algebramedia.com/

24 Frames Of Nick https://archive.is/eyAEo

Theo Von https://archive.is/8uaOU

New Rockstars https://archive.is/jTU0l

Steebee Weebee https://archive.is/376yA

Self-Helpless Podcast https://archive.is/LSl5w

Philip DeFranco's company

boogie2988 https://archive.is/DA1jD

Philip DeFranco https://archive.is/pNBj8

Andrei Terbea https://archive.is/yOWRY

Shane Dawson https://archive.is/N97ec

Domics https://archive.is/ksPmM

Glam&Gore https://archive.is/VIjIT

SuperCarlinBrothers https://archive.is/cP6LY

Bobby Duke Arts https://archive.is/Puupv

jacksfilms https://archive.is/KulGI

Bart Baker https://archive.is/O0c6t

https://ben.productplacement.com/

https://www.influencelogic.com/

https://fullscreenmedia.co/

https://bentpixels.com/

YourMomsHousePodcast https://archive.is/dpUoS

http://www.prettygooddigital.com/

SteveTerreberry https://archive.is/NAzfH

http://www.disruptivagency.com/

MissRemiAshten https://archive.is/X5UHl

ElleOfTheMills https://archive.is/Q3hpN

AsapSCIENCE https://archive.is/wZxOh

UFD Tech https://archive.is/UIW3P

SimpleFlips https://archive.is/dVm2A

Viral Killer https://archive.is/Ys639

DanDanTheFireman https://archive.is/W2OVk

Psych2Go https://archive.is/KkR3b

Pinnacle of Man TM https://archive.is/DADrH

The Fairly Local Vegan https://archive.is/gNYVj

tiffanyferg https://archive.is/v9a1m

Blaire White https://archive.is/iZJNh

Most new ones I'm finding fall under NEB or NEB2, can't find any information about those tw0, so unsure what they really are.

Will try to update it when I can as it's still missing a lot of people

Raging Capybara · Oct 1, 2018

I have been watching some of Kati Morton's videos lately, it all seemed normal, but this cunt is a psychopath scammer of depressed people. Holy shit, you really can't trust anyone nowadays.

I never liked psychologists, and every day my disdain for them is slowly turning into hate. Fuck these "professionals".

Great thread, it needs to be viralized.

BrunoMattei · Oct 1, 2018

I didn't realize there were that many shills. I'm starting to think this might be a government program in order to find future school shooters and other crazies.

Autopsy · Oct 1, 2018

I'm inclined to believe they priority-list high profile individuals to give them fantastic service and the bad reports from others are in part due to excess number of buyers to therapists. It's easy to lose perspective of the difference between *your* great experience and everyone else's poor one on a digital medium; there used to be a few websites like that built explicitly to fuck with people's heads.

TWINK · Oct 1, 2018

i expected better from some of these youtubers, but then again why am i surprised.

also it's really funny that people expected to be charged the weekly price for their yearly subscription. the numbers are off but when subscribing yearly you pay for that entire first year right out the gate. that's always how it worked.

Edgeworth · Oct 1, 2018

Considering the exposure of mental health nowadays and how willing people are to throw money at a screen to be 'fixed' or 'cured', I'm sort of surprised it took this long for something like this to spring up and, dare I say, it's kind of not a bad con.

It's still fucking disgusting, preying on the mentally vulnerable though.

That being said, I remember when I first heard about this, it seemed tempting(I mean c'mon, getting 'help' without even having to leave the house? Talk about a low-hanging but effective fruit) but something said "no, just do it in person like the old days" so there's another bullet dodged.

Here's to hoping they get fully exposed as the scam artists they are.

From The Uncanny Valley · Oct 1, 2018

MrCreepyPasta (a yt narrator with some lolcowish tendencies) also shilled for them, might also wanna add that

vhstape · Oct 1, 2018

Uncanny Valley said:
MrCreepyPasta also shilled for them, might also wanna add that

Thanks added him to the Branded Entertainment Network section

LN 910 · Oct 1, 2018

Do you think this would belong more in Community Watch?

Nazi vegeta · Oct 1, 2018

bit unrelated but, I dont fucking understand Defranco's appeal.
guy became rich by being a fence sitter. At lest pewdipie even if still horrible, had the balls to do whatever he wanted to say or do, unlike him.

melon · Oct 1, 2018

2odastream said:
Do you think this would belong more in Community Watch?

Looks like it does, but unfortunately I have insufficient privileges to post there. Sorry about that.

LN 910 · Oct 1, 2018

melon said:
Looks like it does, but unfortunately I have insufficient privileges to post there. Sorry about that.

Try messaging the mods. It might get put into Proving Grounds first tho.

melon · Oct 2, 2018

2odastream said:
Try messaging the mods. It might get put into Proving Grounds first tho.

Moved! Hope everything's all good now.

In other news, Memology101 uploaded a new video on the saga. I'll edit the OP to include it, but I'll also link it here.

It seems Pewdiepie has caught wind of the fiasco too.

Trashfire The BetterHelp, CreatorHealth, InfluenceLogic Rabbit Hole - Candid 2.0, brought to you by Joel Robbinson

melon

They look like my tweets.

Hackallier

Guli

melon

They look like my tweets.

vhstape

UselessRubberKeyboard

Jet Set Neowilly

Crippled_Retard

I'm stuck in this fucking chair

vhstape

Raging Capybara

BrunoMattei

No I am not the Cinema Snob

Autopsy

TWINK

bring on the apocalypse

Edgeworth

That was... Objectionable

From The Uncanny Valley

halfway between the gutter and the stars

vhstape

LN 910

Guest

Nazi vegeta

melon

They look like my tweets.

LN 910

Guest

melon

They look like my tweets.