The short answer: if your employer offers Lyra, Spring Health, or Modern Health, use it — a real allotment of free sessions with licensed therapists is the best per-dollar mental health deal that exists, and these platforms are mostly better-run than the 800-number EAPs → they replaced. Go in knowing three things: the session cap and what happens after it, the difference between a "coach" and a therapist, and that the benefit evaporates the day you leave the job.
What these platforms are
Employer-paid networks that replace the old EAP: your company buys a yearly allotment of sessions per employee (commonly somewhere between 6 and 25 — check yours), you sign up with your work email, get matched fast, and pay nothing. Lyra leans clinical — licensed therapists, evidence-based care, and its own employed clinicians alongside a contracted network. Spring Health leads with a screening assessment and precision-matching. Modern Health leans hardest on coaching — many plans route you to a certified coach first, therapist on request.¹ All three: real value, fast access, no bill.
The three things to know going in
The cap, and the cliff. Free sessions run out — mid-treatment if the work is real. Ask at session one: "What's my session count, and if we need more, do you take my health insurance?" Many platform therapists also sit on insurance panels; a warm handoff beats a cold restart. If not, the 10-day rule → gets you an in-network start while things are still moving.
Coach ≠ therapist. Coaches can be great for goals and habits. They are not licensed, don't diagnose, and aren't the right seat for depression →, trauma →, or anything clinical. If the intake funnel offers a coach and you wanted therapy, say the sentence: "I'd like a licensed therapist, please." You're entitled to ask.
Confidentiality is real, with edges. Employers see aggregate usage, never names or notes — same legal footing as an EAP.² The edge cases are data ones: you're using a vendor your employer chose, so read the consent screen about what's shared and treat app data as app data →. And continuity has a job-shaped boundary — leave the company, lose the platform. If you're eyeing the exits, ask your therapist now about post-employment options.
The honest take
Free is free: use the sessions. Just treat the platform as a funded on-ramp, not a permanent home — get the cap in writing at session one, insist on a licensed therapist if that's what you need, and plan the handoff before the meter runs out. If the work turns out to be long, a therapist you choose →, on your own insurance, is the seat that survives job changes.
Q&A
Q: Should I use my company's Lyra, Spring Health, or Modern Health benefit? A: Yes — the free sessions with licensed therapists are genuinely valuable and confidential (employers see aggregate usage, not names). Know your session cap, ask what happens when it runs out, request a licensed therapist rather than a coach for clinical concerns, and remember the benefit ends when the job does. Source: TherapyCalifornia comparisons, August 2026.
When you outgrow the platform: therapists you choose, availability confirmed → Find one
Sources
- Lyra Health — lyrahealth.com · Spring Health — springhealth.com · Modern Health — modernhealth.com [RE-VERIFY session models at publish]
- Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, Civ. Code §56 et seq. — employer-sponsored care disclosure limits.
Paid for by participating therapists. Inclusion is computed from availability data — never purchased. No ads, no data sold.