Mental Health Resources

Need help finding a therapist? Look no further than bit.ly/getatherapist. Whether you’re struggling with your mental health, looking for someone to listen, trying to work on a very specific issue, or figuring out what is even available, that link is chock-full of information and directories so you can find what you need.

Want to create your own self-rescue box? Check http://bit.ly/selfrescuekit for instructions and ideas.

Want to share this with someone? Send ’em to bit.ly/mentalhealthAEM

Outside of finding a therapist, below we have resources in various categories, so browse through and hopefully you’ll find something helpful:

  • Coming Down From Feeling Frozen, Overwhelmed, Anxious, Dissociated
  • Mental Health Resources
  • Hotlines and Text Lines for Crisis Response

Coming Down From Feeling Frozen, Overwhelmed, Anxious, Dissociated: 

If you’re feeling frozen, triggered, anxious, overwhelmed, and/or dissociated (e.g. like you’re detached, floating away, disembodied, etc.), you might try the following to ground yourself and recalibrate your nervous system. The following strategies are options to regulate yourself—to go down from a heightened/agitated state or come up from a numbed/frozen one.

Depending on what you need and how your body reacts, you may choose strategies that are about focusing but not paying too much direct attention to your body (going out) or choose strategies that are about specifically being mindful of your body and its functions (going in). Overall, engaging your available senses can be an important piece here:

  • Smell something soothing (e.g. a lavender salve rubbed on your temples or wrists, a lit candle, a favorite cologne/perfume spritzed in the air, an essential oil on a cotton ball).
  • Taste something that is soothing and familiar, or perhaps something where the temperature, texture, and/or flavor can be nicely distracting to experience and try to describe out loud (e.g. like a mint or a piece of gum).
  • Feel something cool if you’re agitated (e.g. cold compress over your forehead, cold metal in your hands, chilled water in a glass, splashed cool water from a sink, chilled water bottle behind your knees, etc.) and feel something warm if you’re numb or frozen (e.g. a warm cup of tea, breath into your palms, a pile of freshly dried laundry) or your very own touch—massaging tense places.
  • Watch calming and/or gently educational videos (e.g. a soft-spoken video about an aquarium & its inhabitants, relaxing virtual environment videos, etc), looping GIFs for breathing guidance, etc.
  • Listen to peaceful music, nature sounds (e.g. when I’m homesick, I can listen to coquí sounds and feel at home), ASMR (if you find it calming), audiobooks that can distract/refocus you on a different subject, etc.

Body Mindfulness (Going In)

  • Orient-Move-Ground technique: It is explained in more detail here. This is particularly helpful when dealing with feeling frozen, triggered, and/or dissociated. In short, orient yourself to time/space/location (e.g. “I am currently in X city, it’s X time of day, and I’m inside an apartment.”) or a safe person, move around, and lean into more direct mindfulness of your body.
  • Box breathing: This is a combination of tracing and breathing. As you inhale for a count of four, draw or trace one side of a square. Exhale for a count of four and draw or trace the next side of a square. Inhale for a count of four and do the next side. Finally, exhale for a count of four and finish the square. Repeat as needed. 
  • Horse lips exhale: Popular with people giving birth, this one is fairly simple—keep your lips together, jut them out slightly, and let your breath force itself out so it makes a noise. Here is a video explaining and demonstrating it.
  • Mooing Breath: Exactly that! Inhale through your nose and, on the exhale, just moo slow and low until your breath runs out. Repeat as needed.
  • Alternate nostril breathing: (You need clear sinuses for this!) Here is a video explanation of how this works (the explanation starts after the minute mark) and here is another one that also give a bit more detail about breathwork in general.
  • Move your body: move body parts that feel safe, THINK about moving body parts (visualizing yourself doing a thing is sometimes as helpful as doing the thing itself), rock back and forth, bounce, hug yourself, and or just shake your body loose. You can also try Progressive Muscle Relaxation.

Focus & Distraction (Going Out)

  • The Rainbow Countdown: Find and name (or point to) 3-5 items in your environment that are red, then 3-5 items that are orange, then keep repeating until you’ve covered the basic colors of the rainbow. 
    • Alternatively, you can adapt this exercise based on your available senses (e.g. name 3 things you can hear, 3 things you can touch, 3 things you can smell, etc.)
  • Guided visualizations: You can do this by listening to an MP3 guided experience (examples here) or finding an app like Calm or Headspace (here they explain how & why visualizations work), hopping onto a video streaming platform like YouTube and searching for guided visualizations, reading a visualization guide, and/or asking someone you trust to read you a story or scene. Depending on the visualization, some may also incorporate breath-work (a more “going in” strategy), such as this ASMR guided visualization.
  • Make or transform something: You can get crafty (something repetitive can help get you in a zone of relaxation and steadiness, while something that requires a lot of attention to detail can help focus you) as well as simply transform something, like ripping a piece of paper, or unraveling something braided.
  • Think of safety: Think of a person and/or place you consider safe and just visualize that for a while. Consider what they might say to you in this moment, or just bask in their mental presence.
  • Street Somatics: This short video by Prentiss Hemphill explains a few exercises we can do when coming down from tense situations such as protests.

Mental Health Resources:

  • Power Makes us Sick (PMS) is a creative research project focusing on autonomous health care practices and networks from a feminist perspective. PMS seeks to understand the ways that our mental, physical, and social health is impacted by imbalances in and abuses of power.
  • Project LETS is a national grassroots organization and movement led by and for folks with lived experience of mental illness/madness, Disability, trauma, & neurodivergence. They specialize in building just, responsive, and transformative peer support collectives and community mental health care structures that do not depend on state-sanctioned systems that trap our folks in the medical/prison-industrial complex.
  • The Fireweed Collective (FKA The Icarus Project) is a support network and education project by and for people who experience the world in ways that are often diagnosed as mental illness. Their site has useful articles on a wide range of experiences, as well as webinars and trainings both for service providers and for folks who experience mental illnesses.
  • Pineapple Support provides 24/7 online, emotional support as well as free and subsidized professional therapy and advice to all performers and producers who have been active in the adult industry within the past 6 months.
  • Black Women’s Blueprint envisions a world where women and girls of African descent are fully EMPOWERED and where gender, race and other disparities are ERASED. They offer a wide range of services and trainings by and for Black women and girls.
  • The Nap Ministry examines the liberating power of naps. They believe rest is a form of resistance and reparations. They do events, workshops and they share experiences of rest and liberation.
  • Emotional Baggage Check provides a way for us to anonymously “unload” our heavy thoughts on people who have volunteered to listen.
  • The Network / La Red is a bilingual survivor-led, social justice organization that works to end partner abuse in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, SM, polyamorous, and queer communities. Rooted in anti-oppression principles, their work aims to create a world where all people are free from oppression.
  • TraumaQueen.love is a podcast made up of conversations with survivors, therapists, partners, educators, and experts. The goal of TQ is to normalize talking about assault and healing for us all. Providing a free resource, each episode will highlight active and productive steps forward for survivors and allies.
  • The Northwest Network of Bi, Trans, Lesbian and Gay Survivors of Abuse works to end violence and abuse by building loving and equitable relationships in our community and across the country.
  • A Self Harm Resource List, written with special attention to Black, trans, & queer experiences but with sound advice and ideas for all.
  • 10 to 10 Helpline, a confidential, anonymous helpline for people in Massachusetts who want to stop using abuse and control in their intimate relationships. The Helpline is also for family, friends and professionals who want to help them stop. People who are unsure about their behavior can also call the Helpline.

  • The Wildflower Alliance, a peer-focused organization that supports healing and empowerment for people who have been impacted by psychiatric diagnosis, trauma, extreme states, homelessness, problems with substances and other life-interrupting challenges. In 2012 the Wildflower Alliance opened the only peer-run respite in Massachusetts, Afiya.

  • The Urban Institute for Mental Health Virtual Calming Room, a page full of guided meditations, motivational and educational videos, printable coloring pages, and music for relaxation and focus—all centering Black voices and experiences.

    • Hotlines and Text Lines for Crisis Response

    If you need someone to talk to immediately, or need resources, here are many relevant hotlines, chat-lines, and texting options you might access.

    • National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs Hotline: 
      • 212-714-1141
      • “Have you experienced or witnessed violence, or are you concerned about someone who has? We’re here to support you on our 24 Hour English/Spanish Hotline. All calls are free and confidential.  You can also report violence anonymously or ask for a counselor to reach out to you online.” 
      • More information here: https://avp.org/get-help/call-our-hotline/
    • Trans Lifeline: 
      • 877-565-8860
      • “Trans Lifeline’s Hotline is a peer support service run by trans people, for trans and questioning callers. Our operators are located all over the U.S. and Canada, and are all trans-identified. If you are in crisis or just need someone to talk to, even if it’s just about whether or not you’re trans, please call us. We will do our best to support you and provide you resources.” 
      • More information here: https://www.translifeline.org/hotline
    • National Domestic Violence Hotline:
      • 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) or 1.800.787.3224 
      • “Every contact to The Hotline is unique. Some callers identify as survivors of abuse, some as abusive partners and some as concerned family members and friends seeking help for someone else. The Hotline® is the only 24/7 center in the nation that has access to service providers and shelters across the U.S.”
      • More information here: https://www.thehotline.org/help/what-to-expect-when-you-contact-the-hotline/ 
    • Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) Hotline: 
      • 1-800-656-4673
      • “Call 800.656.HOPE (4673) to be connected with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area. When you call 800.656.HOPE (4673), you’ll be routed to a local RAINN affiliate organization based on the first six digits of your phone number. Cell phone callers have the option to enter the ZIP code of their current location to more accurately locate the nearest sexual assault service provider.”
      • More information here: https://rainn.org/about-national-sexual-assault-telephone-hotline
    • National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:
    • The Network/La Red Hotline:
      • 617-742-4911 (voice) • 800-832-1901 (Toll-Free)
      • “The Network/La Red’s 24-hour hotline provides confidential emotional support, information, referrals, safety planning, and crisis intervention for lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and/or transgender (LGBQ/T) folks, as well as folks in SM/kink and polyamorous communities who are being abused or have been abused by a partner. We also offer information and support to friends, family, or co-workers on the issue of domestic violence in LGBQ/T communities. All hotline staff are trained in domestic violence, peer counseling, crisis intervention, and safety planning. You don’t have to leave or want to leave your relationship to get support.”
      • More information here: http://tnlr.org/en/24-hour-hotline/
    • LGBT National Lines and Chats: 
      • National Hotline
        • 1-888-843-4564
        • “The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) National Hotline provides telephone, online private one-to-one chat and email peer-support, as well as factual information and local resources for cities and towns across the United States. All of our services are free and confidential. We speak with callers of all ages about coming-out issues, gender identity, relationship concerns, bullying, workplace issues, HIV/AIDS anxiety and safer-sex information, and lots more!”
        • More information here: https://www.glbthotline.org/national-hotline.html
      • Peer Chat
        • “Our volunteers offer free, confidential, one-on-one peer support for ​lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning people. Please note that is a volunteer-run service for focused one-on-one peer support. ​We unfortunately do not have the resources for casual chatting, and this is not a substitute for ongoing professional counseling.”
        • More information here: https://www.glbthotline.org/peer-chat.html
      • Youth TalkLine
        • 1-800-246-PRIDE (1-800-246-7743)
        • “The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Youth Talkline provides telephone, online private one-to-one chat and email peer-support, as well as factual information and local resources for cities and towns across the United States. All of our services are free and confidential. We speak with teens and young adults up to age 25 about coming-out issues, relationship concerns, parent issues, school problems, HIV/AIDS anxiety and safer-sex information, and lots more!”
        • More information here: https://www.glbthotline.org/talkline.html
      • Senior TalkLine
        • 1-888-234-7243
        • “The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) National Senior Hotline provides telephone peer-support, as well as factual information and local resources for our senior community.  No matter where they live, LGBT seniors have a place to call when they need peer-support, information and local resources.  Many times our callers are very isolated, some in the closet or and in need of a caring, non-judgmental person to talk with. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) National Senior Hotline provides seniors the ability to talk with our trained peer-support volunteers about issues including isolation, relationship concerns, bullying, family concerns, HIV/AIDS and much more.”
        • More information here: https://www.glbthotline.org/senior.html
    • DeHQ: Desi LGBTQ Helpline for South Asians: 
      • 908-367-3374
      • “DeQH is the first national Desi lgbtQ Helpline in the United States. We offer free, confidential, culturally sensitive peer support, information and resources for LGBTQ South Asian individuals, families and friends around the globe. We want to offer a safe and supportive ear for callers to share their concerns, questions, struggles or hopes through conversations with our trained South Asian peer support volunteers.”
      • More information here: http://www.deqh.org/
    • Trevor Project (hotline, text, and web chat)
      • 1-866-488-7386 for hotline
      • “If you are thinking about suicide and in need of immediate support, please call the TrevorLifeline at 1-866-488-7386 or select TrevorChat below to connect with a counselor. The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning young people under 25.”
      • More information here: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help-now/
    • Crisis Text Line 
      • Text HOME to 741741
      • “CTL serves anyone, in any type of crisis, providing access to free, 24/7 support and information via a medium people already use and trust: text. Text HOME to 741741 from anywhere in the United States, anytime, about any type of crisis. A live, trained Crisis Counselor receives the text and responds, all from our secure online platform. A live, trained Crisis Counselor receives the text and responds, all from our secure online platform. The volunteer Crisis Counselor will help you move from a hot moment to a cool moment.”
      • More information here: https://www.crisistextline.org/texting-in