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Therapist Directory Information

We want to acknowledge the concerns that have been raised about our directory. We understand that using publicly available information has caused some therapists to feel distressed and/or frustrated. This was never our intention. Our goal is to provide a clear, factual response that addresses these issues and your questions directly. We hope this article will contribute to a more objective conversation about the challenges facing the mental health field.

Overview of 7 Cups: Mission and Impact

7 Cups is a pioneering emotional support service, founded in 2013 on the principle of providing accessible, compassionate mental health support globally. Our platform has reached over 80 million people across 189 countries, supported by a vast network of over 600,000 trained volunteer listeners. These volunteers have provided over 35 million hours of free emotional support, a profound and free-of-charge impact that complements traditional care.

Our commitment to innovation and impact has been recognized through numerous accolades, including:

  • Distinguished Leadership in Mental Health Award for the United States from eMHIC (2024)
  • StanfordMedX Award for Healthcare System Design Innovation
  • World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer Award for Transforming Mental Health

The transformative impact of our platform is best captured in the stories of individuals we serve, such as Kayla’s journey.

Context for the Directory and Local Support Services

We help a lot of people on 7 Cups and often make referrals to local services like food pantries, shelters, and therapists. Our directory is designed to solve three key problems in the mental health field, and we've made good-faith updates as part of an iterative process to address these challenges.

  • Solving the "Ghost Network" of Outdated Information: The "ghost network"—provider information that is inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated—is a core challenge for all professional directories. Our directory is being designed as a central, verified data source. A therapist can update their information once, and any verified partner—like an insurance company or another directory—will be able to pull from this single source of truth.
  • Eliminating Pay-to-Play Barriers to Access: Most commercial directories, such as Psychology Today, only list therapists who pay a monthly fee. This creates a limited, pay-to-play ecosystem. Our directory is free, ensuring we can build the most comprehensive map of available care and make more effective referrals.
  • Closing the Broken Referral Loop: A critical failure of the broader health system is the inability to track referral outcomes. Our system is being designed to create a more comprehensive, closed-loop referral process that confirms whether a connection was made, ensuring people actually receive the help they need.

Please see references below highlighting these 3 challenges we are working to address.

Good-Faith Changes Made to the Directory

We have received direct feedback from therapists and have made a number of changes to show our commitment to a collaborative approach.

  • All requested profile deletions occur within 12 hours on average. We have made this a priority.
  • The "Send Message" button has been changed to "Request a Connection."
  • Multiple disclaimers are provided on profile pages and the submission form, clearly stating that the clinician is not employed by or affiliated with 7 Cups and that the information is based on publicly available data.
  • We have an explicit checkbox: "I give 7 Cups permission to attempt to forward my message and contact information to this provider on my behalf."
  • When a person submits a form, we immediately refer them to Psychology Today and the National Provider Identifier (NPI) registry so they can reach out to the therapist there if they prefer.
  • We also provide an easy opt-out option for all listings. One click leads to a form that results in profile deletion.

These features ensure that no therapist is listed in the directory if they do not want to be. While we use publicly available information—a common and legal practice that helps both potential clients and therapists—we are also committed to respecting a therapist's wishes. If a therapist wants not to be listed in our directory, we delete them and do not re-add them without their permission. We are also always eager to receive feedback from therapists and others who want to help us improve mental health outcomes for people in need.

Questions and Our Responses

How do you respond to allegations that some profiles were autogenerated or “scraped” from public directories without consent?

The information for our directory is compiled from publicly available sources, which is a common and legal practice. While the use of public information is a common and legal practice, we've chosen to go beyond our legal obligations by making it simple for any professional to have their profile removed from our directory and ensuring those requests are fulfilled promptly. For example, we make a good-faith effort to remove any profile upon request within 12 hours, even though we are not required to do so. We are not aware of any professional directory that is as responsive as we are. Some directories refuse deletion requests altogether as they are not legally required to delete profiles.

What standards should a responsible therapist directory meet to ensure accuracy and trust?

A responsible directory must be transparent about its practices and empower professionals to control their own information. We've implemented safeguards like prominent disclaimers and clear communication. We believe that directories should also have a free option to address the three key challenges we outlined above. We are always striving to improve our directory and to correct errant information that exists in other sources.

What are the best practices you think all directories should follow?

We believe all directories should work to solve the major problems we've identified. Best practices should include building a comprehensive, free directory; creating a verified data source that allows therapists to update their information once for use across multiple platforms; and designing a closed-loop referral process that confirms a connection was made. We do our best to use the most reliable information available, and we make it easy for therapists to claim their profiles to make this information even better.

What liability do sites like 7 Cups accept if a therapist’s listing contains errors?

Incomplete information is a core problem for all directories. A best practice is to regularly update information by checking sources like the NPI registry. We use publicly available facts like credentials and location, and we work to keep our data as accurate as possible. We also welcome any information shared with us at support@7cups.com and are committed to updating or correcting any inaccurate details for free once verified. If anyone is aware of inaccurate information published online that we have used, we encourage them to alert us to it so we can strengthen our directory.

Do you use therapist listings as a funnel to drive uptake of paid services?

No. The primary purpose of the directory is to help our users find the support they need offline, and we send thousands of free referrals to therapists. We operate the directory at a very significant loss. Therapists can pay a small monthly fee to "claim" their profile and receive additional benefits, but the basic listing is provided for free, and any therapist who asks can also receive a premium listing at no cost.

Will you implement any third-party audits or credential-verification services?

We already regularly check and update records based on information from the NPI Registry. The challenges we've outlined above will persist until a solution has gone through enough iterations to successfully address them. We also appreciate hearing proposals from the mental health community to improve the ecosystem for both clients and therapists.

We are in a mental health crisis with many people unable to find the necessary resources they need. 7 Cups has built a free emotional support system and a free local support services directory to help individuals easily find help. Our goal is to strengthen the social safety net by highlighting our listeners, the number of people helped, the top mental health issues, local shelters, food pantries, treatment centers, and therapists.

References for 3 challenges outlined above:

  1. https://www.wired.com/story/therapy-broken-mental-health-challenges/
  2. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/04/ghost-network-mental-healthcare-lawsuit
  3. https://techbullion.com/why-its-still-so-hard-to-get-a-therapy-referral-and-how-new-tech-is-helping/
  4. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/02/19/mental-health-ghost-network/
  5. https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/09/20/nx-s1-5118420/mental-health-insurance-guide-ghost-network
  6. https://insurify.com/health-insurance/news/the-rise-of-ghost-therapists/
  7. https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/09/21/nx-s1-5120543/mental-health-care-parity-insurance-ghost-network
  8. https://www.crainsnewyork.com/health-pulse/state-employees-sue-carelon-behavioral-health-over-mental-health-ghost-networks
  9. https://bhbusiness.com/2023/12/06/this-isnt-just-a-payer-problem-health-plans-and-providers-must-jointly-address-ghost-networks/
  10. https://www.npr.org/transcripts/nx-s1-5087899
  11. https://prismreports.org/2024/05/06/ghost-networks-harm-lgbtqia-people/
  12. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7497897/ Focuses on how inaccurate or outdated therapist listings in insurance directories lead patients to seek out‑of‑network care and unexpected billing. It highlights “ghost network” phenomena: unreachable providers or false listings
  13. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3708590/ Compares outcomes for direct-internal referrals vs external-network referrals. Found significantly higher dropout before first appointment among externally referred clients—suggesting broken referral-to-treatment linkages in network models
  14. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267755401_Availability_of_Outpatient_Care_From_Psychiatrists_A_Simulated-Patient_Study_in_Three_US_Cities Employs secret-call audits across urban areas; documents low availability and incorrect listings in commercial and Medicaid plans, linking directory issues with referral failures