The pop performer has partnered with an online therapy company to provide free mental health services for his touring crew and fans.
Justin Bieber has teamed up with BetterHelp, a company that provides direct-to-consumer access to mental health services online. The 28 year old Grammy Award winner, who himself has battled anxiety and depression, shared that offering free therapy to his touring crew and fans is a "real blessing."
"The one thing I've learned over the years is that we all go through our ups and downs, and we all need help sometimes," Bieber told Relevant Magazine. "Being able to offer access to free therapy to my fans and tour family is a real blessing, and I'm humbled to be able to do it."
According to CBN News, Bieber is offering free access to the online therapy service for 18 months to his Justice World Tour's 250-person crew. The singer is also empowering fans by giving them one free month of therapy, which can be shared with a friend or family member in need. The performer, who has long been outspoken about his Christian faith and even struck up a close friendship with Hillsong's Carl Lentz, has previously asked his fans to pray for him during difficult times.
Before finding refuge in Jesus Christ, the media widely documented Bieber's spiral out of control, reporting on public incidents and drug use. The singer then went to Hillsong Church, which was famously led by Lentz in New York. The two began a friendship, but Lentz was later embroiled with numerous scandals that would lead to his dismissal from the megachurch in 2020.
Mercury News reported that Bieber even considered Lentz, who himself got treatment for depression and pastoral burnout, as his "second father." But in 2021, Bieber took to social media to say, "Hillsong is not my church," Billboard reported. The performer clarified that he was now "part of Churchome," which is led by Judah and Chelsea Smith. Judah officiated Justin and Hailey Bieber's nuptials in 2019.
This is not the first time BetterHelp teamed up with a superstar like Bieber. In 2021, the company partnered with two-time Grammy Award-winning singer Ariana Grande on a similar project, Paper Magazine reported. Grande initially announced that she would give away $1 million worth of online therapy, but the overwhelming response encouraged her to increase the budget.
At the time, Grande wrote on Instagram, "while acknowledging that therapy should not be for a privileged few but something everyone has access to, and acknowledging that this doesn't fix that issue in the long run, i really wanted to do this anyway in hopes of inspiring you to dip a toe in, to feel okay asking for help, and to hopefully rid your minds of any sort of self judgment in doing so!"
According to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illnesses in the U.S., which affects up to 40 million adults annually. While anxiety disorders are highly treatable, only 36.9% who suffer from it actually get treatment.
