Resources
Free lines and organizations. The ones marked 24/7 answer at any hour.
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Right now
When you or someone you love needs to talk to a person tonight.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text for anyone in emotional distress or crisis, including when you are worried about someone else and do not know what to do. Answers 24/7, anywhere in the country.
Crisis Text Line
Text with a trained crisis counselor, 24/7. Useful when talking out loud is not possible.
Veterans Crisis Line
Call 988 and press 1, or text 838255. Responders include veterans themselves.
Austin, 24/7
Local lines that connect to local care.
Integral Care Crisis Helpline
Travis County's 24/7 line for mental health crises and substance use, and the front door to their counseling, case management, and walk-in clinic.
SAFEline · The SAFE Alliance
Austin's 24/7 line for domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, and sex trafficking. Advocates help survivors, families, and friends who are not sure what they are seeing. Spanish-speaking advocates available. Deaf community line: 512-927-9616.
Outside Travis County? 988 answers everywhere, and 211 routes you to your own county's services.
Austin, ongoing
For the part that comes after the crisis, when everyone else has gone home.
Capital Area Counseling
Nonprofit sliding-scale therapy in Central Austin, roughly $15 to $60 a session based on income, no insurance needed. In person or telehealth. There is usually a waitlist, so calling early matters.
NAMI Central Texas
Free peer support groups. One set is for people living with a mental health condition, and a separate one is for the family and friends supporting them. That second group is for you. Online and in person, Bastrop through Williamson County.
Austin Center for Grief & Loss
Counseling and support groups for loss of every kind: death, miscarriage, suicide, divorce, separation. For adults and children. Formerly My Healing Place.
Texas Advocacy Project · Hope Line
Free legal help from attorneys for dating and domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and trafficking, including protective orders, custody, and housing. Weekdays 9am to 5pm. Civil matters only, not criminal.
211 Texas
Dial 211 for local help with rent, food, utilities, childcare, healthcare, and transportation. The practical needs that make everything else harder to carry.
Abuse & trafficking
National lines, all answering around the clock.
National Human Trafficking Hotline
Get help, connect to services, or report what you are seeing. Available in more than 200 languages.
National Domestic Violence Hotline
Advocates talk through your situation and your options, whether you are in it or worried about someone who is. Headquartered right here in Austin.
RAINN · National Sexual Assault Hotline
Support for survivors and for the people who love them, by phone or chat.
Specific situations
Lines staffed by people who work in one thing all day.
Al-Anon
Meetings for people whose lives are affected by someone else's drinking. Built entirely for the person on the outside of the addiction, which most lists forget.
Postpartum Support International
For pregnancy and postpartum mental health, for the parent and for the people around her. Call or text, in English and Spanish.
The Trevor Project
Crisis support for LGBTQ young people, 24/7, by phone, text, or chat.
Trans Lifeline
Peer support run by trans people for trans and questioning people. You do not have to be in crisis to call.
LGBT National Hotline
Peer support and local referrals for all ages. Not a 24-hour line, so check their posted hours.
National Alliance for Eating Disorders
Helpline staffed by licensed therapists who specialize in eating disorders, for the person struggling and for the people who love her. Weekdays, 9am to 7pm Eastern.
SAMHSA National Helpline
Free, 24/7 referrals to local treatment and support groups for mental health and substance use, including for family members trying to help someone else.