Text with a trained Crisis Counselor, free and confidential. Just send a text to 741741 with whatever you’re struggling with, like depression or self-harm. You can even talk about your relationships, family, or school.
We surveyed Crisis Text Line volunteers about how their work has impacted their lives, relationships, and communities. We also analyzed anonymized CC reports and voluntary texter surveys.
Free and confidential
Whether it’s a relationship issue, financial worries, bullying, culture and identity issues, illness or homelessness, the counselors at Crisis Text Line are available to listen and help you find resources. They use empathetic listening techniques to help you get from “a hot moment to a cool calm.” They’ll never pressure you for an answer, and they’ll work with you to problem-solve. They’ll even contact emergency services if you’re in immediate danger.
National crisis lines offer phone, email and online chat support. They’re free to use, and you won’t be charged a fee by your mobile service provider.
You can also connect with national crisis lines via Facebook Messenger. Your communications with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and Crisis Text Line over Facebook are private and secure. The counselors don’t have access to your profile or any other identifying information. They can’t offer individual casework or advocacy, but they can link you to resources locally. You can find these and other helplines at Find A Helpline.
24 hours a day
If someone you know is struggling with mental health or suicide-related issues, there’s help available to them 24/7. You can call or text 988 to connect with a crisis counselor. It’s free, confidential, and available in 200 languages.
The goal of a session with a crisis counselor is to empower the individual and problem-solve with them to identify the best course of action, often without calling emergency services. The service’s counselors are trained to de-escalate situations and help the person manage their distress.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline also has a Facebook Messenger bot that lets you talk to a counselor for free. If you’re a young person of color, you can also text STEVE to 741741. The Steve Fund is an organization that promotes the use of this service as an important tool for youth of color who are in need of support. Messages to both of these services are encrypted and private, so they can’t see your phone number or any other identifying information.
365 days a year
Text HELP to 741741 and you will receive two automated responses that tell you you’re being connected with a Crisis Counselor, and then invites you to share more if you want to. The Crisis Counselor will ask if you would like to share anything that’s been on your mind, and you can share as much or as little as you want. They are there to listen and support you.
Our Crisis Counselors are volunteers, and they receive specialized training to help people during their most difficult moments. We recently surveyed our volunteers to learn more about how their experiences with Crisis Text Line shape their lives, their relationships, and their careers. Here are some of the findings:
Getting help is easy
Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 crisis support via text message. People in a mental health crisis can access the service by texting HOME to 741741. Trained volunteer Crisis Counselors respond to the texts and help texters move from a “hot moment” to a place of calm using empathetic and compassionate listening. They also use techniques like active listening, safety planning and collaborative problem-solving.
Because the counselors cannot see a texter’s body language or hear their voice, they are trained to empathize and not interrogate them, but to ask questions that encourage the texter to suss out solutions. The average text conversation lasts 45 to 60 minutes, and the counselors will follow up a few times before moving on to another person in need.
The organization uses data to assess each texter’s situation and prioritize those in the most immediate need. It only engages emergency services in less than 1% of the situations it encounters.