Options For Free Counseling For Teens

The teenage years can be a time of many physical, hormonal, mental, and emotional changes. Teenagers are in the process of becoming adults and may experience new challenges and stressors, which can result in mental health concerns. 

Mental health care can be expensive. If cost is a concern for you, either as a teenager seeking care for themselves or as a parent seeking care for their teenage child, you may want to explore resources for free teen counseling options. In this article, we’ll explore several different options for seeking free or low-cost counseling for teens.

Resources for free counseling for teens

Below are several resources you might consider looking into when searching for free counseling for teens. 

School services

In high school settings, school counselors can offer help in crisis situations as well as provide support for stress-related concerns such as academic pressure. Most schools also employ school psychologists, who may work with all the schools in a district to provide resources for students. These psychologists can diagnose mental health conditions and work with teens to develop Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). IEPs can often connect students to free mental health services provided through the school district. 

If you are a teenager in foster care, you may not need to pursue the path of an Individualized Education Plan and mental health diagnosis to seek therapy. Many cities and states offer free or discounted mental health services for those in the foster system, or for young adults who have recently aged out of the system. A school counselor or social worker, or the state's department that manages foster care, should be able to guide you to these resources.

For older teens attending college, most universities have on-site counseling centers where students can seek free therapy, though they may limit the number of sessions a student can attend each semester or year. College counseling centers may also have long wait times to start treatment, though they are typically able to provide care to students in crisis situations. Even if you are not able to schedule a therapy session right away, college counseling centers and other student health care options on campus, such as wellness centers or student health centers, are often able to provide you with a list of free or low-cost community resources for mental health support. 

Therapists in training

Besides student counseling centers, colleges and universities may offer additional resources for treating mental health disorders, even for teens that are not enrolled in their classes. If your local college or university has a counselor or therapist education program, they may offer free or highly discounted therapy if you are willing to meet with a therapy student who has not yet completed the credentialing process. 

Typically, this kind of arrangement requires you to commit to attend a certain number of sessions for the therapy to be offered free of charge or at a lower rate. There’s no need to worry about receiving a lower standard of care in these situations — a qualified, licensed, and credentialed therapist will supervise your care with the trainee therapist to ensure you are still served adequately. 

National hotlines

There are a wide variety of national programs that offer free mental health services to both teens and adults who are experiencing crisis situations. It can be important to note that in these instances, care is only free in an acute crisis, and these programs do not provide ongoing mental health support, though the workers who staff the hotlines will likely be able to connect you to free or low-cost therapy resources near you if you desire ongoing counseling. These hotlines and programs include:

• The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Program): Simply dial 988 or 1-800-273-TALK
• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) 24/7 Treatment Referral National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP
• The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): 1-800-950-NAMI, or by email at info@nami.org
• The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN): 1-800-656-HOPE
• The National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233, or by texting “START” to 88788
• The Trevor Project, which provides support to young people in crisis who identify as members of the LGBTQ community: 1-866-488-7386, or by texting “START” to 678678
• The Steve Fund, which provides support for young people who identify as black, indigenous, or a person of color (BIPOC): Text “STEVE” to 741741
• The Veterans Crisis Line: Call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, then press 1
• The Trans Lifeline, which provides support to people who identify as transgender or nonbinary: 1-877-565-8860

Online resources

Many of the above-mentioned hotlines and programs also have public websites available. While you will likely not be able to find free therapy services directly through these websites, they can connect you to lists of providers and their specialties, as well as to screening tools to help you learn more about various mental health conditions. 

You can also find community support and resources on these websites through various peer-to-peer message boards and chat rooms, along with free webinars and blog posts about topics related to mental health. Some of these online resources include:

• The National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health, which advocates for the rights of families who have children and teens with mental health conditions and challenges
• The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
• Mental Health America
• The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA)
• The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA)

Online therapy

If you cannot find free counseling, but you are still hoping to seek therapy services at a lower cost, online therapy may be a helpful alternative for you. Most legitimate online therapy services are not free, beyond a potential discounted introductory rate for a short time. If you find an online therapy service that claims to provide consistently free therapy, you may want to check if their therapists are properly licensed and credentialed — some websites offer what they market as “therapy” but, in reality, are meetings with a life coach or wellness expert, which can also be helpful but are not a substitute for mental health care from a licensed professional. 

You can get connected with licensed, qualified mental health professionals through BetterHelp, an online counseling platform. Here, you can choose services according to your schedule and speak with your therapist through video chats, phone calls, or in-app messaging. This could be useful for parents wondering how to effectively support their child through mental health concerns or other challenges. Teens can seek online counseling through TeenCounseling, BetterHelp’s sister service. Online therapy can make it easier to get the support you need when you need it most, regardless of your age or needs.  

The efficacy of online therapy

Online therapy with a trained therapist may be just as effective as traditional in-person therapy when it comes to reducing symptoms of mental health conditions. One study found that a telehealth therapy program in which parents and teenagers met with a family therapist had comparable outcomes to in-person family counseling. If you are the parent of a teenager who may be experiencing mental health challenges and you feel you could benefit from additional support, you may want to seek online therapy through a service such as BetterHelp. If you are a teenager seeking lower-cost therapy services for yourself, consider using the TeenCounseling platform, where you can find many providers specializing in working with young people to address their mental health concerns.