Nobody tells you this when you start therapy, but what you do between sessions matters just as much as what happens in them. The research is consistent on this: clients who engage with their mental health between appointments make faster progress than those who treat each session as a standalone event.
The problem is that most people are not sure what that between-session engagement is actually supposed to look like. This list is a practical answer to that question, based on what actually helps.
Symplia — For Session Prep and Between-Session Journaling
symplia.app
The most specific tool for therapy clients on this list. Symplia is built entirely around the therapy relationship: journaling throughout the week, mood and sleep tracking, and a structured session prep note before each appointment so you arrive knowing what you want to discuss.
The session prep feature is what makes it different from general journaling apps. Before each appointment, Symplia guides you through what you want to explore, how you have been feeling, and what patterns from your week are worth bringing in. Most people spend 15 to 20 minutes of their sessions catching up on their week. Symplia helps you skip that part and get into the actual work faster.
Voice-to-text journaling is available free. Stored voice journals, AI weekly summaries, and post-session reflection tools come with the paid plan.
Free 7-day trial. No credit card. symplia.app
Insight Timer — For Mindfulness and Nervous System Regulation
insighttimer.com
Insight Timer has over 150,000 free guided meditations. For therapy clients, the somatic and nervous system content is particularly useful. If you are working through trauma, anxiety, or emotional regulation in therapy, practicing between sessions with targeted meditations is part of the work. Insight Timer has courses specifically for this.
Free tier is genuinely substantial. Premium adds courses and offline listening.
Finch — For Self-Compassion and Daily Check-ins
finchcare.com
Finch is a self-care pet app where you take care of a small bird by completing self-care goals each day. The reason it earns a spot on this list is that it makes self-compassion tangible. For people who find self-compassion exercises abstract, having a creature to care for makes it concrete.
It also has guided journaling, mood check-ins, and a simple goal-setting system that complements what you are working on in therapy without requiring much time.
Free with optional premium.
Bearable — For Correlating Health Factors
bearable.app
Bearable tracks mood, sleep, energy, symptoms, medications, supplements, and activities, then builds correlation reports showing which factors are associated with better or worse days.
For therapy clients, this is useful when you are trying to understand what actually affects your mental health rather than relying on anecdote. Showing your therapist three months of data demonstrating a pattern is more useful than describing an impression.
Free tier tracks limited factors. Premium unlocks the full correlation engine.
Woebot — For CBT Practice Between Sessions
woebot.io
Woebot is an AI chatbot that uses CBT techniques. If your therapist is using cognitive behavioral therapy, Woebot gives you a daily practice space to apply the techniques. Thought records, cognitive reframes, behavioral activation work best when practiced regularly, not just during a session.
The important thing to understand: Woebot is not a companion app for your existing therapy and not session prep. It is for practicing CBT specifically.
Free.
The honest summary
You do not need all five of these. You need the one or two that match what you are working on in therapy.
If session prep and journaling is the gap, start with Symplia. If mindfulness practice is the gap, Insight Timer. If you want health factor correlations, Bearable. If you want to practice CBT between sessions, Woebot.
Symplia is a between-session therapy companion app. Free 7-day trial at symplia.app.