Why I Built GooderTherapy

I've been in therapy for close to 15 years. For me, therapy wasn't optional. It came as part of my recovery from alcohol and drugs, which I've been in for 17 years. Over time it stopped being something I did because I had to and became something I do because I genuinely can't imagine my life without it.

That's a long time to work with someone. Long enough that my therapist feels less like a service provider and more like someone who actually knows me. The real me, not the version I show most people.

So when he went on vacation a while back, something shifted in me. I started thinking about what happens if he retires. What do I do? Where do I even start?

I did what most people do. I went online.

The Problem With Every Therapist Platform Out There

I spent hours going through Psychology Today, Zocdoc, and a handful of other platforms. Every single one of them showed me the same thing. A therapist's self-promotion. Credentials. Certifications. Insurance accepted. A headshot and a paragraph they wrote about themselves.

None of it told me what I actually needed to know.

After 15 years of doing this work, I know what I'm looking for in a therapist. I want someone I can trust. Someone who has done their own work and knows the way through it. Someone who isn't going to flinch when things get hard. That's not something you can put in a credential. You can only know it from someone who has actually sat across from them.

The platforms weren't broken because of bad design. They were broken because they were built for therapists to market themselves, not for clients to find the right fit.

What I Started Noticing on Reddit

Around the same time, I kept coming across posts on Reddit. People asking how to find a good therapist, sharing bad experiences, describing the exhaustion of going through three or four therapists before finding someone they could actually open up to.

The trial and error, the vulnerability of starting over with someone new, the cost of getting it wrong. It's brutal. Especially for people who are just starting out and don't even know what a good therapist feels like yet.

I kept thinking there has to be a better way to do this. Not a perfect way. Finding the right therapist will always take some courage. But a more informed way.

So I Built GooderTherapy

I had a week off between jobs and decided to finally do something about it.

GooderTherapy is a platform where therapy clients can anonymously review their therapists based on real experience. Not what the therapist says about themselves. What it's actually like to sit in the room with them.

No therapist signup required. Your review gets processed by AI to remove any identifying details, so nobody, not even me as the developer, can trace a review back to you. Reviewer privacy isn't a feature. It's the foundation the whole thing is built on.

This will never be a business. There are no ads, no subscriptions, no monetization of any kind. I built it because I kept seeing people struggle with something that should be easier, and I had the skills to help.

What GooderTherapy Can Do For You Right Now

The reviews are coming, but you don't have to wait for them to find value here.

GooderTherapy already has 1,983 therapists across 75 cities in Tennessee in the system. The coverage is strong across the state, with a heavy concentration in the Nashville metro. Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, Spring Hill, Hendersonville, Murfreesboro and more. Plus solid representation in Knoxville, Memphis, Chattanooga, Clarksville, and smaller markets statewide.

More importantly, we built an AI chatbot to help you find the right fit from day one. Just tell it what you are seeking therapy for and what insurance you have, and let it find you the best match for your situation. No scrolling through endless profiles. No guessing. Just tell it what you need and let it do the work.

It's the tool I wish I had when I was staring at a screen full of headshots and credentials trying to figure out who I could actually trust.

Where We Go From Here

The platform gets more powerful with every review that comes in. If you have a therapist who has made a real difference in your life, please consider leaving them a review. You don't have to say much. You just have to say something true.

It might be exactly what someone else needs to take their first step.

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