Mental Health

28 Low-Cost or Free Online Therapy Resources

Mental health care is more important than ever. To help make it more accessible, we rounded up the best free or low-cost resources you can tap into right now. 
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Given the gauntlet that we’ve all been through over the past year (and counting), we should all be getting free online therapy. Mental health should not be considered a luxury, but the reality is finding a therapist on a budget can feel damn near impossible. Average sessions often start at $150 an hour. But quality low-cost and even free online therapy does exist. There are dozens of affordable therapy resources from sliding-scale collectives and therapy funds to apps and social media communities that can help fill in the gaps.

What is online therapy?

Online therapy can take many forms—a teletherapy session via Zoom, a text-based chat, or even a social media forum moderated by a mental health professional.

Online therapy benefits and drawbacks of online therapy

A huge, and critical, benefit of low-cost and free online therapy is that it makes mental health care more accessible.

If you’re struggling, working with a licensed mental health provider one-on-one or in a group setting—whether that’s in-person or remote—is always going to be the best option. They have specific training to identify signs and patterns in what you’re going through that you may not be able to identify for yourself.

An Instagram account or mental health chat bot can’t and shouldn’t replace that. Therapists have the education, experience, and tools to “help you proactively set yourself up so you can reduce the frequency and intensity of what you’re going through in the future,” says Alyssa Petersel, LMSW, a therapist and founder of MyWellbeing. But these resources are still incredibly beneficial—and tend to be more affordable. “Using an app, or finding a community or social network around mental health can be hugely valuable in finding people who are like-minded and can relate to what you’re going through,” says Petersel.

Our picks for best online therapy

To help you navigate the wide world of mental health resources, we’ve put together a guide to free online therapy resources to help you find personalized care for support in crisis mode or in long-term personal growth.

Bliss

Created by the Centre for Interactive Mental Health Solutions, Bliss is an eight-session interactive therapy course that targets depression by using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques. You can sign up for free.

OpenPath Collective

OpenPath Collective, a collective of therapists who conduct sessions online and in-person, has matched more than 50,000 clients with psychotherapeutic care. For a lifetime membership fee of $59, you can choose from 12,000 therapists for sliding-scale sessions at just $30 to $60. Supporting those who are underinsured and uninsured or cannot otherwise work with a therapist, OpenPath is the strongest option for lower-cost mental health if you are looking for one-on-one counseling on a budget.

Identity-Based Directories and Collectives

“It can be very healing to sit in a space with people who share your identity,” says Tanner, which is why tapping into a network of culturally relevant therapists and resources designed for you to show up fully as you are can be so powerful.

  • The Support Group for Those Affected by Racial Trauma, for example, is therapist-led, with around 500 members active in daily conversation in this online safe space.
  • The Asian Mental Health Project (AMHP) works to tackle pervasive cultural stigma around mental health; each Wednesday, AMHP hosts a community virtual check-in to “unpack” and sometimes learn from mental health professionals.
  • Inclusive Therapists offers a bilingual directory that “celebrates all identities, abilities, and bodies,” plus the option to search with sliding-scale options, and a form to get matched with three therapists based on your cultural identity, goals, or needs.
  • Therapy for Latinx offers free online self-screenings and a national network that connects people with licensed therapists and provides resources.
  • Brown Girl Therapy offers a newsletter of resources curated by a first-gen Indian American therapist-in-training for all children of immigrants to discuss mental health and wellness.
  • Therapy for Black Girls is a psychologist-run resource hub for the mental wellness of womxn of color. The site has a $9.99 membership support group, The Yellow Couch Collective. And TBG also maintains free resources like a podcast, a blog, and referrals to Black therapists.
  • Therapy for QPoC offers resources for those who identify as ethnically/racially diverse and LGBTQ+ or consensually nonmonogamous. In addition to workshops and a blog, they have a growing directory of sliding scale sessions with 50-plus therapists.
Free therapy funds

To offset the high costs of mental health care for the communities who need it most, therapy funds are excellent resources for getting low-cost or free online therapy.

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Positive mental health communities on social media

Navigating social media can be stress-inducing—or it can actually help boost your mental health with the right follows. Add some quality content to your Insta feed with Small Talks, an IGTV series on which therapists answer questions; The Anxiety Healer, an account focused on anxiety management techniques; Dr. Mariel Buque, a psychologist and intergenerational trauma expert; Queer Sex Therapy, an account addressing (you guessed it) sex in the LGBTQ+ community; Therapy With Charlotte, which offers helpful breathing exercises and tips for managing negative emotions; and The Body a Home for Love, which focuses on resources for healing sexual trauma among Black women.

Mental health podcasts

Want to put your phone down and headphones in? Check out Yale professor Dr. Laurie Santos’s The Happiness Lab; Dr. Joy Harden Bradford’s Therapy for Black Girls; for the aspiring meditator, Dan Harris’s Ten Percent Happier (it's got an app with personal coaching too, and a COVID-19 sanity guide); and for couples therapy, Esther Perel’s Where Should We Begin is a must-listen.

Academic therapy trials

Academic institutions often offer therapy interventions as part of their mental health resources. In other words, while they’re furthering the field of knowledge or testing out new therapeutic approaches, you can get free therapy (some studies will even pay you). If you’re interested, start with the MindTrail’s Project, a collaboration between the University of Virginia and the National Institute of Mental Health to treat anxiety.

Science-backed mental health apps

Wellness apps have boomed, targeting anxiety, meditation, grief, and self-improvement. But which ones are actually backed by science? To help you make the most effective download, One Mind PsyberGuide, a mental health nonprofit, has you covered. Explore filterable reviews on 166 free mental health apps, rated for their scientific credibility and user experience.

Give an Hour

Via Give an Hour, all military members and their loved ones are welcome to free therapy. The organization connects therapy seekers with licensed mental health providers. Services are also provided pro bono for those affected by specific natural and manmade disasters, like the ongoing U.S. border humanitarian crisis and 2020 wildfires. Currently, Give an Hour also offers six sessions free for hospital-based employees and their families in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Chaplains on Hand

For many people, spirituality plays a major role in mental and physical health. Board-certified chaplains are spiritual care specialists who work with health care teams on integrated mind-body health. Chaplains on Hand offers Chat with a Chaplain for those in “spiritual pain.” Given that existing can feel like, well, an existential crisis, you’re likely qualified to speak with a skilled chaplain via email, phone, or video all day.

Student-run therapy sessions

Therapists-in-training need practice—and many therapy students practice on clients via free or low-cost clinics at their schools. Accredited social work, marriage and family therapy, or psychoanalysis graduate programs near you may offer training clinics for as low as $10 per session. Don’t be shy in emailing or calling to ask about the options.

Free therapist-run and peer-led support groups

“When we look at how people most successfully heal from trauma, it’s often through relationships and community,” says Casey Tanner, LCPC, a Chicago-based therapist working with the queer community. Therapist-run and trained-peer-led support groups offer a free way to get support. The National Alliance on Mental Illness offers local chapters across the country and compiled a list of online therapy and support groups, and Mental Health America has a guide to 20-plus specialized support groups, like Alcoholics Anonymous, Caregivers, Overeaters, and so much more.

Body Politic

For those who have tested positive or survived COVID-19, and the direct caretakers and family of those suffering from the virus, Body Politic COVID-19 Support Group offers a therapeutic community. More than 18,000 people have signed up since March, and there are 50-plus channels for different topics from financial stress to medical advocacy and local communities.

Postpartum Support International

For new moms—who are at risk for postpartum mental health symptoms—Postpartum Support International hosts facilitator-led support groups for parents including subgroups personalized to specific communities: queer, Black, birth moms, dads, Spanish, South Asian, NICU parents, loss, and more.

7Cups

7Cups is a free peer-to-peer counseling platform and community with 24/7 support and 140 languages available. “Sometimes sitting with someone with a shared identity can be more healing than sitting with someone with a clinical background,” Tanner says.

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You can browse “listener” volunteers to identify who might be a good fit and join live group chats with 2 to 20 people at a time. 7cups also offers an online therapy option for $150 a month, whereby your licensed therapist responds twice a day, five days a week. The platform is also HIPAA compliant, which means your data is protected under health law.

WeAreMore

WeAreMore is a peer support app for those with chronic conditions. WeAreMore also has a therapist directory to find practitioners who specialize in treating those with chronic conditions for users to search by budget. All costs are displayed in the app, and the first session is 50% off.

The Local Optimist

The Local Optimist is a text hotline open for chatting about “general anxiety and depression, relationships, stress, communication, self discovery, creativity, grief, and anything else on your mind,” says Petersel. Text 310-299-9414, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 3 to 5 p.m. E.T.

HealHaus

HealHaus, a Brooklyn-based inclusive space focused on holistic health and wellness, has weekly à la carte workshops on intuition and navigating uncertainty. Try a new modality, like breathwork, or consider their $30-a-month unlimited yoga and meditation class membership.

iPrevail

iPrevail pairs you with trained peer coaches to help you on a personalized plan of mental health lessons and tools for $9.99 a month. You’ll also have access to community boards, and its methods use well-researched cognitive behavioral therapy to help with stress relief, panic attacks, and more. Their platform is HIPAA compliant.

Crisis Lines

If you need help right now and you are in a crisis, please reach out to one of these lines via text or call.