In this brief guide, we will discuss some great services where you might get free online counselling chat 24×7, and that really helps with mental health issues of any type. If you or someone you know needs such help please go through this list and get the help you need.
Where can I find Free Online Counselling Chat 24×7?
There are many free online counselling chat services that are 24×7, here is a short list:
- 7 Cups of Tea
- Supportiv
- Better Help
- Freeonlinetherapy.org
- Counsellingonline.org
- Etherapypro.com
- Juno.clinic
- iPrevail
Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, a lot of mental health resources have shifted to a free online counselling chat model that is better due to the 24×7 availability.
To indeed not be suffering from a serious mental illness in order to be able to use these free online counselling services, they may also be used if you are experiencing any distress related to mental health, even something basic like stress or sadness.
If you are experiencing severe mental health distress and feel like you might harm yourself in any way, then instead of going on the free online counselling chat services, try to look for a helpline instead, as they are more immediate and they might be able to provide more help than just a free online counselling service.
Here are some helplines according to the country that you can check out.
You may also find some helplines here, and this website has the added advantage of providing helplines by the disorder you may be suffering from.
If you’re facing this, it may be a good idea to seek the help of a therapist or other mental health professional. You can find a therapist at BetterHelp who can help you learn how to cope and address it.
Free Online Counselling Chat 24×7 Services List
Discussed below are some of the best free online counselling chat services that work 24×7
7 cups of tea
7 cups of tea is quite possibly one of the best services that provide free online counselling in chat form 24×7.
Here is something the makers of the website have to say about themselves:
“We live in a world where you can be surrounded by people, but still feel lonely, with nobody to turn to when things get rough.
But being heard is an important part of being human. Psychologist, Glen Moriarty saw that there was great power in listening, but he knew not everyone had someone to talk to. He started to wonder. “How can I make being heard a reality for everyone?”
That’s why 7 Cups was born.
Thanks to thousands of volunteer listeners stepping up to lend a friendly ear, 7 Cups is happy to say, “We’re here for you!”
No matter who you are or what you’re going through, this is a place where you’ll be heard and cared for. We might be strangers on the surface, but underneath we’re just the friends you haven’t met yet.”
Glen Moriarty, the person who founded this website, is a psychologist who foresaw the need for therapy and guessed that there would be a need soon to have more freely available resources for therapy and founded this website, which has now become something of a phenomenon.
7 cups of tea offers volunteer services that are free, chatrooms and forums that are also free and paid services that one may talk to for a relatively low fee.
Their professionals are licensed accordingly and even the volunteers go through a rigorous screening process, and this makes the website perfectly legitimate and supremely helpful.
Free online therapy
Free online therapy is another great service where one might seek free online counselling in a chat form 24×7.
This service also uses a model similar to 7 cups of tea, where you may talk to a volunteer free of charge, a professional for a low fee, and there are some chat rooms and forums as well that you may look at and see if you can be a part of a healthy conversation of mental health.
To get started with this website and find a 24×7 free online counselling chat, you need to follow the following steps, or you can also visit the FAQ section of the website and get a better sense of how it works.
- Create an Account: It is free and you don’t need to provide too many details, and your personal stuff will always be kept private, it is merely for ease of access
- Select “Listener” or “Venter”: This provides you with a selection of whether you want to talk to someone or if you might be willing to listen. The Listener option lets you volunteer to listen to another person, and the Venter option matches you with someone else who will listen to you.
- Get Chatting: That is it, you can now start chatting and seek the free online counselling you need.
Counselling online
Counsellingonline.org is another great service you might want to check out if you are looking for a 24×7 free online counselling chat portal.
There are also services like Kooth for kids.
To get started on this website you may follow these instructions according to the website:
- “Click on “Get started’ at the bottom of the page
- Choose between joining our community or starting a single access session
- Read and accept the terms and conditions
- Complete the basic information we need to begin a counselling session
- A chat window will open and you can start chatting to your counsellor.”
This website also offers the following features that may make up your mind about their free online counselling chat service, if you are still on the fence about it:
- “Membership gives you access to a range of services including chat sessions, self-help modules and the peer to peer forum. All of these services are free”
- “You won’t need to repeat your story each time you start a session”
- “You can refer back to previous sessions for any helpful tips and referrals”
- “It helps track your progress so that you can see how you are going.”
According to this website, the stigma attached to the seeking of mental health is what drove them to create a free, online portal that could provide online counselling in chat form to people 24×7, because mental health issues don’t have time.
Counseling can be very beneficial as discussing your issues (individually or with a partner) can allow the therapist to facilitate the conversation in a meaningful flow. The therapist can act as a catalyst in the conversation offering insight with a process known as immediacy to bring out the latent underlying thoughts and/or emotions of both parties.
NYC Well
NYC Well is offering amazing resources to deal with mental health issues in the pandemic context as well, and even other than that they have services that provide free online counselling chats 24×7.
NYC Well provides a connection to free and confidential mental health support whenever you need.
You may choose to speak to a counsellor via phone, text, or chat and you can also get access to mental health and substance use services.
The amazing part about this service is that is set in New York it appreciates that people might not just want to talk in English, and therefore offers services in more than 200 languages.
They also have database for mental health and substance use services that you can take a look at.
ETherapypro
On Etherapypro you may choose to speak to a professional and this service is only free for the first 3 days, after which one needs to pay a minor fee as all their counsellors are professionals.
You need to first take a questionnaire and you are matched up with a licensed professional, post which you can start your therapy in a proper manner.
iPrevail
iPrevail is a great option for free online counselling chat service that runs 24×7.
This website offers professional support that may be sought for a nominal fee, and you have your very own wellness coach to coach you through the problems you may be having.
They also do a proper assessment to gauge your needs and work accordingly.
Betterhelp
Betterhelp is one of the most premier online counselling chat services that one might seek.
They provide services that are affordable, not totally free, but since they have professional psychologists who hold doctorates and are at the top of their field, it might be worth it.
If you cannot make up your mind about whether you should try online counselling chat at betterhelp, just take a look at some of the testimonials:
One user writes: “I recently found myself in the middle of an especially difficult time in my life where I was dealing with a breakup and having to move out of the country due to some visa issues. I knew I needed to talk to someone, but couldn’t afford to go to in-person counseling as I stopped working and therefore lost my insurance coverage. I began looking for a more affordable way to access counseling, and came across BetterHelp through an online search.
I had done a few years of in-person counseling during college in the past, and while I had an awesome therapist, sometimes I had to wait a week, sometimes two, to be able to talk to my therapist. So, I was excited to find BetterHelp because they offer unlimited messages back and forth with a licensed therapist and offered a free week trial, where I got to see just how awesome it really is!
I’ve now been working with my BetterHelp counselor, Aiko, for about two months and have found her to be an extreme source of comfort and support. Whenever I need to talk about anything, I log on and pour my heart out. Aiko always responds with insightful and helpful advice.”
Another user comments: “I have now been working with Sheilah on BetterHelp for about 4 weeks, and can confidently say that I am a lot less anxious about my career path now than when I first signed up…I am so much better off now than I was before.”
Someone else also comments on the great services they received: “I am a totally different person now than when I signed up 19 months ago. I have found my voice and can speak up for myself now….My confidence level is also better than it ever has been.”
They have also received extensive media coverage, and one article about online counselling chat services titled All-You-Can-Text Therapy services, written by Joshua Fruhlinger, says:
“My BetterHelp therapist asked the same kinds of thought-provoking questions as the traditional therapists I worked with in the past. (What is it about your future that you’re unsure of? Can you tell me about your old life and what is different now?) Because of the continuing, open-ended nature of the text chat, however, she helped me identify anxiety triggers and coping mechanisms much faster than it would have taken had we met only once a week. What’s more, I came to find that launching the BetterHelp site on my smartphone or laptop and writing out my thoughts became therapeutic in itself.”
These testimonials prove that betterhelp is a great option to seek help from.
How to use online chat rooms?
You may also want to use an online chat room as a means of counselling, in case you don’t feel up to talking to someone one on one yet, or maybe you just wwant to dip your toes first. Here is how you can use an online chat room:
- Find an online mental health support chat room
- Login with the credentials that they ask for, most legitimate and moderated chat rooms require some sort of sign in but details are kept private
- Start listening to people who are already typing
- Try to chime in if you have the solution to someone else’s problem
- When you feel comfortable start with some basic discussions of some of your problems.
Conclusion
In this brief guide, we discussed some great services where you might get free online counselling chat 24×7, and that really help with mental health issues of any type. If you or someone you know needs such help try to get the help you need through the services we discussed above or the helplines mentioned. Please reach out to us if you have any questions or comments or if you need further information about any of these services.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Free Online Counselling Chat 24×7
Can I talk to a counselor online for free?
Yes, you can talk to a counselor online for free but usually these services only have a limited time that is free, after which you may have to pay a small amount of fee. There are also services like Kooth for kids.
Is there any free online therapy?
Yes, there are services that offer free online therapy, but usually after an intial free period they may require some nominal fee.
However there are some services where you may get free therapy from volunteers and even the services that charge are usually quite low compared to the therapists in the regular setup.
Can I chat with a therapist online?
Yes, there are many services where you can chat with aa therapist online, like 7 cups of tea, supportiv, betterhelp and iprevail.
Citations
https://www.counsellingonline.org.au/how-we-can-help/chat-to-a-counsellor
