Teens and young adults have better mental health outcomes with Joon online therapy
Online therapy is proven effective generally, but especially for teens. Joon’s unique model of live 1-to-1 online therapy with a consistent, well-matched therapist combined with our mobile app skills practice makes the Joon model of care remarkably effective for this age group. We are experts in young people's mental health, and everything we do is committed to providing them the best care possible.
Since 2020, Joon therapists have been working with teen and young adult clients to treat their mental health conditions and help them build skills to achieve their individual life goals. Our therapists use only research-backed practices with a long track record of working for adolescents (often called “evidence-based therapy”). But Joon’s model of care is not just about going through the motions of evidence-based care or handing out worksheets.
Spearheaded by teen psychology expert and Joon co-founder Dr. Amy Mezulis, PhD, Joon therapists have been using evidence-based mental health approaches from the start, and we’ve been measuring the program’s effectiveness from day one because we believe data matters!
Dr. Mezulis partnered with Vice President of Clinical Services, Dr. Katey Nicolai, PhD. They continued to refine and expand the program, including conducting team-wide continuing education in working with neurodiverse, LGBTQIA+, and other under-represented youth.
Recent partnerships, such as our renewed free therapy program with the City of Seattle, show that Joon’s approach also works with teens with many systemic challenges to overcome and who may be seeking therapy without the scaffolding of parental support.
The Joon model of care is rooted in the understanding that the relationship between a young person and their therapist is critical to success. That’s why “poor therapist fit” is one of the top reasons for teens to leave therapy after trying it the first or second time. Feeling understood and cared about by your therapist is a core tenant of how Joon works with young people.
In addition to a trusted relationship, the Joon model of care uses gold-standard therapy practices, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) continues to recommend evidence-based mental health counseling as a frontline treatment for teen depression and anxiety (1). Recent studies have found that online cognitive behavioral therapy is just as effective as in-person therapy in treating both depression and anxiety (2, 3).
Joon’s unique skill-building app helps young people learn and practice new skills during and after individual therapy appointments. The Joon mobile app allows teens and young adults to access the tools they need whenever and wherever they are through their iPhones or Android phones throughout the week. Young people can access on-demand skills, available at any time, such as relaxation skills and ways to improve their sleep, as well as skills custom-assigned by their therapist to map onto the work done together in session, such as specific coping or relational skills.
Importantly, skill completion is associated with better outcomes, underlining how well the Joon care model works. Young people who complete most of their assigned skills tend to show an almost 2x improved symptom reduction compared to those who do not. Therapists at Joon encourage clients to practice what they’re learning outside of the session, leading to improved coping skills and more effective patterns and habits. Our custom platform makes it easy for therapists to assign these skills and see if clients use them. If they don’t, we adapt.
Isn’t in-person therapy more effective than online therapy?
No, this is a common misconception. The global pandemic provided large-scale examples of online therapy. Because of that world wide event, we have more proof than ever that live 1-on-1 therapy conducted remotely over video works. Said another way, working with an in-person therapist in your town isn’t likely to work better, especially if they aren’t experts in adolescent mental health or aren’t using evidence-based care practices.
Although online therapy isn’t appropriate for all circumstances, it’s highly effective for most outpatient care. (Outpatient care simply means you are not in a hospital or residential care situation.) Through behavioral health industry research, it's well-established that online therapy is highly effective and supported by the fantastic outcomes Joon sees yearly with our clients.
Is online therapy the right choice for teens?
Yes! A huge portion of mental health challenges show up during the teen years, and Joon’s approach of evidence-based skills practice plus live sessions with a trusted, consistent therapist equips young people with lifelong skills to cope with these new challenges.
Teens and young adults have unique mental health needs, and they can also be hard to engage in care. There are developmentally appropriate needs, such as the desire for privacy, independence, and a say in their healthcare. Online therapy can be a great vehicle to address these concerns.
Online therapy is more accessible, eliminating the need for transportation or additional time taken to get to and from appointments. It can also be more private, with young people having mental health appointments in their rooms or other private locations, without fear of who they’ll see in an in-person waiting room. Online therapy also broadens options to a wider range of therapists, as well as flexible scheduling around extracurricular activities and social events. Teens and young adults are used to engaging with their worlds through their smartphones and many feel more comfortable accessing therapy virtually.
So, how do we know Joon’s online therapy works?
Every year since its inception, the clinical outcomes for Joon’s clients surpass those from mental health industry benchmarks and research. To say it plainly, our online therapy clients are improving more consistently than typical in-person therapy for their age group.
Youth working with Joon start to feel better in just weeks, which motivates them to stick with it and build on their success. After 12 weeks of online therapy, the majority of Joon clients show significant improvement in both anxiety and depression. And we see this kind of success across groups—by gender, race, and across the adolescent age range (ages 13-26).
For youth coming to Joon for care with clinical levels of anxiety, 78% saw their anxiety levels return to normal (non-clinical) levels within 12 weeks. In contrast, only 43% recovered to normal levels in the same time period in other in-person therapy (4). For clinical levels of depression, 71% of Joon clients saw their depression levels return to normal symptom levels after 12 weeks, compared to only 27% for clients of other in-person therapy (5).
What does the data mean?
Because we’re measuring effectiveness in the same way as other researchers, the results are an honest, fair comparison. Clients fill out a “survey” weekly in their mobile app that asks these same standardized questions every time. So when you read that they “recovered” or “returned to normal,” that’s based on what our clients tell us directly! They’re asked questions about how often they feel anxious and depressed, irritable, restless, have appetite struggles, thoughts of self-harm or suicide, and more.
Most of the time, these changes in how clients think and feel are also visible to their family and friends. If they’re less tired, irritable, restless, and so on, it tends to have an outward impact on their lives. One parent said about Joon, “To see the light in my child’s eyes again...I just can’t thank you enough.”
Why Joon vs other online therapy?
Joon’s unique model of care was custom-built for the distinct therapy needs of adolescent development (yes, it really does continue until 26!). At every step, the young person’s care is personalized by their carefully chosen therapist. Add our technology-supported skills practice to the accessibility of online therapy, and you have our recipe for success.
Designing our care model specifically for developing teens and young adults—including a technology-forward approach—is the main driver of Joon’s outstanding clinical outcomes, paired with the tremendous team of therapists at Joon who put their hearts into this work every day. It’s rare to find therapists in your hometown whose sole focus is on adolescents. But that’s what we do every day, and we’re passionate about doing it right.
FAQs about online therapy
What are the risks of online therapy?
A safe adult must be able to reach the client in case of a crisis during the therapy session. That’s why Joon always collects emergency contacts for clients. We also create safety plans for clients who need them. This gives the client the tools to manage minor crises on their own. We will also tell you during the therapist matching process, initial appointment, or down the road if there’s ever a concern that a higher level of care is needed.
Is online therapy good for anxiety?
Absolutely. As Joon’s effectiveness data clearly shows, online therapy done right can be as effective, or better than, in-person therapy. The way Joon incorporates coping skills practice empowers young people to work on their anxiety anytime during the week, not only during their live 1-to-1 therapy sessions. Anxiety impacts about one-third of teens in the US (6) and is one of the most common issues we treat every day at Joon.
What are the disadvantages of online therapy?
Some people find it harder to build the initial bond with their therapist or struggle to sit still in front of a screen. Others have trouble finding a quiet, private place to meet. Joon's therapists and care managers are well-equipped to handle these common challenges. We often help young people select and locate a place for private sessions. Our therapists are also experts at building rapport remotely, and our strengths-based approach makes space for neurodivergent folks and others to be themselves without sitting rigidly at a computer screen.
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