MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES
Caring for mental health is important for everyone, including kids! Sometimes we need a bit of extra help from others so that we can have a healthy mind and spirit, and that is totally okay. It takes a lot of courage and strength to reach out for help!
If children can learn about mental health early and know that there are lots of wonderful mental health resources, then they will be more prepared to take care of their own mental health. Plus, educating kids about mental health at an early age is a key component of raising an understanding, empathetic generation.
Below is a list of mental health resources for youth!
In Canada
- Kids Help Phone
https://kidshelpphone.ca/
- Professional, 24/7 counselling service for young people
- Offers support over the phone, online, and over text
- YouthSpace
https://youthspace.ca/
- Provides emotional support and crisis intervention
- Offers support online and over text
- Teen Line
https://teenlineonline.org/
- Peer support for young people
- Offers support over the phone, email, text, and through an app
- The Trevor Project
https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
- Provides mental health and crisis support for LGBTQ youth
- Offers support over the phone, online, and over text
- Trans Lifeline
https://www.translifeline.org/
- Provides mental health and crisis support for LGBTQ youth
- Offers a peer support hotline
- Resources Around Me App (Kids Help Phone)
https://apps.kidshelpphone.ca/resourcesaroundme/welcome.html
- Search for mental health resources and other youth programs around Canada
In The USA
- Your Life Your Voice
https://www.yourlifeyourvoice.org/
- Professional, 24/7 counselling service for young people
- Offers support over the phone, email, text, and through an app
- Teen Line
https://teenlineonline.org/talk-now/
- Peer support for young people
- Offers support over the phone, email, text, and through an app
- Strong Hearts Native Helpline
https://www.strongheartshelpline.org/
- Domestic or dating violence support for Indigenous people
- Offers support over the phone, email, text, and through an app
- The Trevor Project
https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
- Provides mental health and crisis support for LGBTQ youth
- Offers support over the phone, online, and over text
- LGBTQ National Help Center
https://www.glbthotline.org/
- Provides peer support for LGBTQ youth
- Offers support over the phone, online, and in group chatrooms
- NEDA Feeding Hope
https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/
- Provides support for people with eating disorders
- Offers support over the phone
If you aren't from Canada or the USA, use these sites to find resources in your area:
(There are also lots of online resources on all of the sites listed in this section that you can access even if you live internationally.)
- Your Life Counts
https://yourlifecounts.org/find-help/
- Search for crisis lines in your location
- Youth Mental Health Canada
https://ymhc.ngo/resources/
- Search for crisis hotlines in your location
Youth Mental Health Resources Worksheet
This worksheet is intended to be a parent-child activity, where you can help you kids explore the different youth mental health resources and find the ones that they think will work the best for them. I think this is one of the most important activities on BrainFrame because it can help eliminate the stigma of mental health at a young age and teach children about the mental health resources that are available to them.