Getting help
We shouldn’t wait until things are difficult to reach out. Learn more about mental health professionals who can help you overcome or manage emotional challenges, and explore coping and treatment options below.
Types of mental health professionals
Mental health professionals are trained to help patients improve their mental health, manage mental health conditions, or cope with difficult thoughts, feelings, behaviors or situations.
Psychologists
Psychologists hold a doctoral degree in clinical psychology or a related specialty and can diagnose mental health conditions and provide psychotherapy.
Psychiatrists
Psychiatrists are licensed medical doctors who have completed psychiatric training and can diagnose mental health conditions, prescribe and monitor medications, and provide psychotherapy.
Counselors, Clinicians and Therapists
These professionals all have masters degrees and can evaluate a patient’s mental health and use therapeutic techniques to help address issues.
Clinical Social Workers
Clinical Social Workers are trained to evaluate a person’s mental health and use therapeutic techniques based on specific training programs
Psychiatric nurses
Psychiatric nurses can provide assessment, diagnosis and therapy for mental health conditions or substance use disorders, and can prescribe and monitor medications in some states.
Types of talk therapy
Psychotherapy is the process of talking to a mental health professional to treat or cope with mental health challenges.
Common approaches
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Goal-oriented therapy that focuses on the link between our thoughts (cognition) and actions (behavior) to change thought patterns that cause negative thoughts or behaviors.
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Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
A form of CBT therapy that is focused on regulating intense emotions, handling stress in an effective manner, and improving interpersonal relationships.
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Exposure Therapy
This therapy is primarily used to treat anxiety (eg, phobias or social anxiety) and involves exposing a patient to their anxiety source in a controlled environment to help them overcome the related anxiety or distress.
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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
A structured therapy where a patient focuses on a traumatic memory while following visual cues to reduce the vividness and emotion associated with trauma or anxiety.
What to expect
Therapy sessions usually focus on moods, feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.
In this video, therapist and vlogger Kati Morton shares what usually happens in a first session.
Other treatment approaches
Most treatment plans involve some sort of talk therapy like the approaches outlined above. These therapy sessions may be part of a larger plan that can include:
Medication
Medication is sometimes used to treat mental health conditions like depression, anxiety disorders and bipolar disorder. Medication generally works best in conjunction with psychotherapy.
Group Support (or Group Therapy)
This is the process of speaking about emotional challenges with others who are struggling under the direction of a mental health professional. It is sometimes used to address challenges and conditions like substance use disorder, eating disorders, or the death of loved ones.
In-patient Treatment
In-patient treatment takes place in a medical or mental health facility and may be helpful for more serious conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia that require monitoring treatment in a safe, controlled environment, as well as problems associated with dangerous behaviors like eating disorders and self-injury.
Electroconvulsive Therapy
Electroconvulsive Therapy is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures in the brain are electrically induced in patients to provide relief from mental health conditions.
Get Support
Mental health professionals are trained to support people who are struggling with any mental health challenge. If you need immediate help, please use one of the first two resources below to talk to a trained counselor 24/7.
When contacting a resource below, any information you provide will be collected and used by that resource, subject to its end user terms and conditions and privacy policy. Please contact the applicable resource if you would like more information.
| Resource | Type | Contact |
|---|---|---|
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Crisis Text Line
Have a free, confidential chat with a trained counselor. Available 24/7. |
Text Line | Text ACTION to 741-741 |
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Lifeline
Call for a free, confidential conversation with a trained counselor. Available 24/7. |
Call Line | 988 |
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ADAA Therapist Search
A tool to help find local mental health services, including teletherapy options. |
Website | Visit website |
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APISAA Therapist Directory
The Asian, Pacific Islander, and South Asian American (APISAA) Therapist Directory is a resource to help Asian, Pacific Islander and South Asian Americans facilitate their search for a therapist. |
Website | Visit directory |
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BetterHelp
A paid online portal that provides access to mental health services, including online counseling, phone, and text communication. |
Website | Visit website |
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Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation
The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to changing the perception of mental illness in the African American community by encouraging those who suffer with this debilitating illness to get the help they need. |
Website | Visit website |
|
Disaster Distress Helpline
Provides free, immediate crisis counseling for people experiencing emotional distress related to a natural or human-caused disaster. Available 24/7. |
Call Line | Call 1-800-985-5990 or text “TalkWithUs” to 66746 |
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Free Black Therapy
Connecting Black therapists with Black and African American individuals who lack adequate funds or health insurance. Absolutely free. |
Website | Visit website |
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Inclusive Therapists
Inclusive Therapists offers a safer, simpler way to find a culturally responsive, social justice-oriented therapist. |
Website | Visit website |
|
Latinx Therapy
Latinx Therapy is a multimedia community that destigmatizes mental health myths, provides education to eliminate taboos of therapy, and advocates to combat mental health stigmas through a bilingual podcast, and a directory of Latinx Therapists for easier accessibility to services. |
Website | Visit website |
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National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network (NQTTCN)
NQTTCN works to increase access to healing resources for QTPOC. |
Website | Visit website |
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SAMHSA Treatment Locator
A free, confidential resource to find support for substance use and other mental health challenges. Available 24/7. |
Website | Visit website |
|
South Asian Mental Health Initiative and Network (SAMHIN)
SAMHIN, a non-profit organization, addresses a broad range of mental health needs of the South Asians in the U.S. including offering support groups, directory of South Asian mental health providers and a Helpline. |
Website | Visit website |
|
Subtle Asian Mental Health
SAMH is a Facebook group made up of over 58,000 members of the Asian communities from all over the world. This is a safe, open, inclusive, and non-judgemental space to share thoughts and feelings about anything, especially mental health. |
Website | Visit group |
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Talkspace
A paid online text therapy platform that provides 24/7 access to licensed therapists who cover a broad range of mental health services. |
Website | Visit website |
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Therapy Aid
A platform that connects essential workers and those impacted by natural disasters and crises with free or low-fee therapy sessions. |
Website | Visit website |
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The Trevor Project
A safe, judgement free support service for LGBTQ and questioning youth who are struggling or thinking about suicide. Available 24/7. |
Website | Visit website |
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Trans Lifeline
A free peer support phone service run by trans people for the trans community, that operates from 10am to 5am EST. |
Call Line | 877-565-8860 |
|
Warmline Directory
A Warmline is a free peer-run hotline that offers callers emotional support, staffed by volunteers with lived experience. |
Website | Find a Warmline |
|
WAVES
The purpose of AMHC WAVES is to destigmatize mental health within the Asian community by providing a safe space for individuals to discuss any and all mental wellness. Currently, WAVES hosts virtual roundtables monthly but plan to offer in-person meet-ups in the future. |
Website | Visit website |
Outside the U.S.?
Get free, confidential support from a real human over phone, text or webchat.
