Running a support group involves more than just promoting it. Facilitators often handle tasks like onboarding, scheduling, responding to inquiries, maintaining privacy, and ensuring compliance with guidelines.
Psychology Today is a popular platform for advertising support groups, but it primarily focuses on promotion. MentalHappy, on the other hand, provides tools for both attracting new members and managing group operations in one platform.
This post compares MentalHappy and Psychology Today to help you understand how each platform supports the needs of facilitators and their groups.
You’ll know about:
MentalHappy stands out as an all-in-one solution platform designed specifically for support groups. It is unique for its easy management and better engagement resources that keep the participants involved. Furthermore, it provides tools that simplify every step of running a group.
It is not just a listing site. It’s a full-fledged platform built to host, manage, and grow support groups. Here, as a facilitator, you can handle everything from participant onboarding to ongoing engagement in one seamless space.
For example, If you are hosting a weekly anxiety management group with MentalHappy, your clients will receive automated reminders, a chat feature for ongoing discussions, and a dashboard to track attendance and progress. Everything happens in one place; no need for external tools.
On the other hand, Psychology Today primarily serves as a directory for listing groups. Here, facilitators can post descriptions of their groups, but the platform doesn’t provide tools to manage the groups directly.
Once listed, facilitators must handle all administrative tasks (such as follow-ups, registrations, and communication) outside the platform, which is really very hectic.
An example is > An example is: If you post about a grief support group, you’ll need to manage inquiries through email or phone, create your own Zoom links, and manually track participant information. With the growing demand for your services and the limited time in your day, handling all these tasks can feel overwhelming.
So, in short, MentalHappy simplifies the process by handling the hard parts, whereas Psychology Today leaves most of the administrative work to the facilitator.
MentalHappy acts as an all-in-one hub for facilitators. From scheduling sessions, sending automated reminders, securely hosting video calls, and handling payments, everything is integrated into the platform. Facilitators don’t need to juggle multiple third-party services. It’s like having a personal assistant that takes care of the boring, repetitive stuff, so facilitators can focus on helping people. With MentalHappy, running a support group feels simple and organized.
It gives your participants easy access with just one link ahead to your dedicated group page. As a facilitator, you can create a polished, professional landing page with all the group details in one place—reducing confusion and saving time.
Participants find it easier to stay engaged because the platform offers an intuitive and welcoming experience.
Make your group members interact through a community wall, post questions, and share resources. They can do it even between sessions, fostering deeper connections.
MentalHappy prioritizes mental wellness by fostering a community feel helping participants feel supported even outside group sessions.
MentalHappy helps facilitators see how their group is doing by tracking participant progress and giving feedback on engagement. It shows facilitators what’s working and what’s not, helping them make the group better over time. It’s like having a scoreboard that keeps track of everyone’s growth.
Psychology Today
> Manual and Fragmented Process
Psychology Today leaves facilitators to do all the work manually. If you list a group there, you’ll have to send reminder emails yourself, create Zoom links, and chase participants for payments. It’s a lot of extra effort that wastes time and makes running a group harder than it needs to be.
Here, Onboarding new participants requires back-and-forth emails, forms, or even scheduling phone calls. There’s little room for interactivity beyond the initial sign-up.
Limited Engagement
Once participants sign up, engagement drops off. The directory model offers no tools to facilitate ongoing communication or foster a sense of community. Or group discussion topics may be outdated, and participants don’t have much room for interaction or engagement.
After getting participants on board, facilitators must handle everything else manually. This includes finding a video conferencing tool (Zoom, Google Meet), processing payments through external platforms (PayPal, Stripe), and manually sending reminders.
Psychology Today doesn’t offer any tools to track outcomes or participant success. Facilitators are left guessing if their group is helping or not. Without this data, it’s harder to improve the group or show real results to participants. It’s like driving without a map – you just hope you’re going in the right direction.
Imagine Sarah, a grief counselor, wants to start a virtual support group.
With MentalHappy, Sarah can:
With Psychology Today, Sarah must:
The result?
Sarah spends more time on admin tasks than focusing on her participants' healing journey.
MentalHappy ensures facilitators run groups professionally and effortlessly, removing the typical hurdles that come with managing support groups through Psychology Today.
The answer is a crystal clear YES! Why? By joining MentalHappy as a facilitator, you can save time by automating reminders, integrating video calls directly into the platform, and keeping resources in one central place.
MentalHappy allows facilitators to create customized, professional landing pages for their support groups. These pages showcase group details, schedules, testimonials, and resources in a clean, visually appealing format. This polished presentation builds trust and attracts more participants by clearly reflecting the group’s purpose and value.
Psychology Today provides a basic listing format with limited customization. Facilitators can add text descriptions and a profile photo, but the overall look remains uniform across all listings. This lack of branding can make it harder for groups to stand out, and the experience may feel generic to potential participants.
MentalHappy gives group leaders easy-to-use tools that help them see how their participants are doing over time. Facilitators can check who’s attending, how engaged people are, and whether the group is making a positive impact. This helps leaders understand what’s working and make changes if needed to keep their groups helpful and effective.
On the other hand, Psychology Today doesn’t offer any way to track how participants are progressing. Facilitators are left guessing if their groups are successful, with no clear information to help them improve or adjust their approach.
MentalHappy helps you grow your groups and income without the extra hassle! It gives the facilitator more ways to earn extra income by offering paid support group options. Everything facilitators need – from scheduling to payments – is included in one platform.
Facilitators using Psychology Today often end up spending more time and resources on outside tools, as it does not offer any help or resources on the platform, which is not budget-friendly.
MentalHappy prioritizes your privacy and security; therefore, it is fully HIPAA-compliant. Ensure all video calls and group sessions are securely hosted within the platform to protect sensitive participant information. This level of built-in privacy protects mental health discussions from unauthorized access.
In contrast, Psychology Today functions mainly as a public directory and does not offer HIPAA compliance or any inherent privacy protections. Facilitators using Psychology Today must rely on external tools that may lack the necessary security for mental health services, putting participant confidentiality at risk.
MentalHappy goes beyond simply connecting facilitators with participants. It actively supports facilitators in their mission to improve mental health results. So in short, this platform simplifies logistics, encourages community engagement, and empowers facilitators with tools to boost retention and participant progress.
In contrast, Psychology Today serves as a passive listing site, offering little ongoing support to facilitators or participants beyond initial visibility.
Facilitators who have switched to MentalHappy consistently report significant improvements in how they run their groups. One facilitator shared,
"After years of listing my support groups on Psychology Today, I always felt like I was juggling too many things at once—emails, Zoom links, reminders, payments—it was exhausting. When I discovered MentalHappy, everything changed."
Now, I send one link, and participants can sign up, pay, and join sessions without the back-and-forth. The automated reminders and secure video hosting keep things organized, and my group feels more connected through the community features. I finally have more time to focus on helping people, not handling logistics." - Lila M., Trauma Support Group Facilitator
Testimonials [See case studies] "Before switching to MentalHappy, I listed my group on Psychology Today, but keeping track of participants and sending updates was exhausting. MentalHappy’s automated reminders and built-in video sessions took so much pressure off me. I’ve noticed a huge difference—my participants stay engaged between sessions because of the community wall, and I’ve seen a 30% improvement in retention. I can’t imagine running my group without it now." - David Reynolds – Anxiety Group Leader
"Running empowerment circles used to be overwhelming, especially when managing payments and onboarding. MentalHappy’s platform allows me to create a landing page that looks professional and brings in more participants. I also love the reporting tools that help me track progress. In just three months, I’ve doubled my group size, and participants say they feel more connected because of the seamless experience. It’s like having a virtual assistant for my group!" - Lisa Carter – Women's Empowerment Coach
Running a support group should be about helping people, not juggling emails, payments, and reminders. That’s where MentalHappy excels. It streamlines the behind-the-scenes work—automating schedules, reminders, payments, and even tracking group progress—so you can focus on what truly matters: supporting your participants.
While platforms like Psychology Today are great for listing and promoting your group, they don’t offer tools to manage the day-to-day operations. MentalHappy goes a step further, providing an all-in-one solution to keep your group organized, professional, and stress-free.
If you’re looking for a platform that simplifies the logistics and helps your group thrive, MentalHappy has everything you need to succeed.
MentalHappy is designed for online support groups with features for group chats and video sessions. Psychology Today connects people with therapists and doesn't focus on support groups.
MentalHappy is more user-friendly for organizing and managing support groups, while Psychology Today is better for finding therapists.
Yes, but Psychology Today connects you with therapists, while MentalHappy focuses on peer support, though it may have facilitators.
MentalHappy has more security features specifically for support groups, while Psychology Today focuses on secure therapist-client communication.
If you are in a life-threatening situation - DO NOT use this platform.
Use these resources to get immediate help.
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