Confirm your employment relationship first
UT Southwestern’s current Employee Support page describes its move from an internal EAP to Headspace. It distinguishes employees from students, interns, residents, and other affiliates who are not employed by UT Southwestern. Those nonemployee groups are directed to different support resources.
If you work across institutions or hold a trainee appointment, ask which organization provides your benefit. Use the employer listed in your benefit enrollment rather than relying only on the building where you work. If you are asking for a family member, confirm that person’s eligibility and service route before creating an account.
Sources: UT Southwestern: Employee Support, powered by Headspace
Name the kind of support you are trying to book
The UTSW FAQ distinguishes text-based Headspace coaching and wellness resources from clinical therapy and psychiatry. It explains that clinical visits are billed through insurance. It also identifies MDLive as a separate therapy and psychiatry route for people enrolled in UTSW health plans; check the current terms directly.
Write your request in appointment terms: “I want to arrange a clinical therapy appointment,” or “I need help understanding which service I am selecting.” Ask the service to identify the clinician or support role, visit format, and billing route before you consent to a booking. An app feature name alone may not answer those questions.
Sources: UT Southwestern: Employee Support, powered by Headspace
Resolve account and appointment questions separately
UTSW’s instructions direct Headspace members seeking a therapist or psychiatrist to Member Support through the Video tab after onboarding. Follow the current official instructions, and ask support for help if the relevant feature is unavailable in your account.
Keep a brief record of the access issue and what support told you. Then confirm the appointment itself: date, time zone, clinician, location, intake paperwork, and payment information. If a support conversation supplies a referral instead of a booking, ask who contacts the referred practice. Do not assume an outside practice can access your employer benefit account.
Sources: UT Southwestern: Employee Support, powered by Headspace
Plan the handoff from work to a personal appointment
Choose a private contact method for confirmations and a realistic place for the appointment. HHS recommends using a personal device where possible and avoiding workplace-linked devices or networks for telehealth. If your only available setup is a shared clinical workspace, contact the provider to discuss a workable alternative before the appointment.
Keep clinical intake information separate from requests for schedule coverage at work. For the workplace conversation, ask what administrative process applies to the time you need. For the provider conversation, ask how to submit your history securely and what records would help. This keeps each request with the team that can actually resolve it.
Sources: HHS: Telehealth Privacy and Security Tips for Patients
Your next-step checklist
- Confirm the employer and benefit eligibility route.
- Identify coaching, clinical care, or benefit navigation as the request.
- Ask which service and payment arrangement the appointment will use.
- Resolve app access before the appointment day.
- Confirm whether a referral or actual booking was provided.
- Choose a personal contact method and private visit setup.
Keep personal, insurance and medical information in the appropriate organization’s approved secure channel.
Common questions
Is Headspace coaching the same appointment as therapy?
UTSW describes them separately. Ask Member Support to identify the service you are choosing and explain the clinical booking route if that is what you want.
Sources: UT Southwestern: Employee Support, powered by Headspace
Can every trainee working at UTSW use the employee route?
Employment status matters in the published eligibility guidance. Nonemployee students, interns, residents, and affiliates are directed to other resources. Check your specific status through the official page.
Sources: UT Southwestern: Employee Support, powered by Headspace
Sources and verification
The sources below support the administrative information in this guide. Follow the responsible organization’s current instructions when requirements, forms or contact routes change.