What is Counslr?
Counslr is a digital mental health company that partners with organizations of all shapes and sizes to provide their constituents with unlimited access to live texting support sessions with licensed mental health professionals, which are available 24/7/365, on-demand or by scheduled appointment. Counslr’s services are accessible from within the Counslr mobile app, which is available to download for free on iOS and Android devices.
Counslr’s mission statement is to better reach the traditionally unreachable—the people who need support, but do not seek it (typically due to cost, inconvenience, and/or stigma). By maximizing the accessibility of support, Counslr breaks down the common hurdles people face when seeking help, enabling Counslr to effectively serve previously unserved populations.
What does Counslr cost for me or my child?
Sessions are completely free for those seeking support. Counslr is fully paid for by the school or other sponsoring organization. Accordingly, Counslr will never ask you or your child for any payment or insurance information.
How does my child use Counslr?
Students can download the Counslr mobile app from the App Store or Google Play Store, or by visiting counslr.com/download. They can then sign up in the app using their school email address or login credentials. Once they have received your consent (if they are under the age of 18), or agreed to our terms (if they are at least 18), they can hold a session directly in the app at any time, either on-demand or by scheduled appointment.
Why should my child use Counslr?
Counslr was designed to help students address the transitory issues that they face day-to-day. By addressing issues early and in the moment, Counslr helps students ensure that “small” problems stay “small”, helping to prevent problem scenarios from escalating or crisis scenarios from taking shape. Counslr is not a replacement for traditional longer term therapy. Accordingly, when one of Counslr’s counselors feels as though a student may be in need of traditional therapy, they will aim to refer that student back to the school counseling center to ensure that the appropriate care is provided.
When can my child use Counslr?
With Counslr is available 24/7/365, with licensed counselors staffed around the clock. This means your child can engage in a live texting session with a counselor whenever and wherever they choose.
How often can my child use Counslr?
Your child can hold as many sessions as they want to on the Counslr platform, for the duration of Counslr’s partnership with their school. There is a limit of one session every six hours.
How long are sessions?
Sessions typically last up to about 45 minutes. If a user is in a crisis, counselors will remain in-session with that user until the crisis is resolved.
How does Counslr handle emergency situations?
Counslr defines an emergency situation as one in which a student exhibits an imminent risk of harming themselves or someone else. Counslr’s geo-targeted SOS system ensures that help can be delivered efficiently and effectively in these situations. When a counselor clicks the SOS button available to them in their chat portal, they are given the exact location of the student in crisis, accessed via the smartphone's location services feature. They are also given contact numbers for local emergency services as well as the student’s emergency contact. Counselors will aim to keep students active in session until help has arrived.
What is support? How is it different from counseling?
Notably, Counslr provides Support, and does not diagnose, treat, or prescribe medication. There is partial overlap between support and more traditional therapy, but the primary distinctions are explained below:
Support involves active, empathic “listening,” offering understanding, and helping users to develop coping skills and consider different ways to look at a problem. Counselors can listen and reflect back to users what they are hearing or reading, and perhaps offer suggestions for approaches or resources that might be useful. Counselors will never diagnose or create a treatment plan when providing support, like they do in a counseling relationship or ongoing therapy.
Counseling often involves behavior change and frequently a plan that is designed and structured to work toward that change. It is usually about something specific, such as substance use, weight control, or making decisions about school or work, but can also be more vague, such as improving relationships or learning and practicing new behaviors and not falling into the same old patterns. It is often relatively short-term, between one and ten sessions, although it could be more. Counseling most often involves an ongoing relationship and the establishment of a therapeutic alliance with a specific counselor.
Who are the counselors?
Counslr strictly hires licensed mental health professionals who are certified to practice independently of clinical supervision. Primarily, Counslr hires Licensed Mental Health Counselors (LMHCs), Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs), Licensed Marriage & Family Therapists (LMFTs), and Psychologists (PhDs and PsyDs).
What languages are available on Counslr?
Counslr natively supports English and Spanish speakers, with more languages coming soon. On a limited basis, Counslr can support additional languages via direct request; students should email hello@counslr.com to request a manual pairing with a counselor who speaks a different language.
Can my child continue to have sessions with the same counselor?
Yes. Once a student has met with a counselor who they click with, they will have the option to schedule future sessions with that same counselor on an ongoing basis.
Is Counslr secure? Are sessions private?
Counslr goes above and beyond all requirements to be fully compliant with HIPAA, FERPA, and COPPA. All session data is secure and private, and chat logs are only visible to the counselor and the student. Only in emergency situations, or with the student’s explicit permission, will the counselor ever share any personally identifiable information with any other party, including any Counslr administrator. The only data shared with our partnered organizations is anonymized, aggregated data across all of the students at that organization, for example how many users have held sessions or what times of day sessions are most frequently held.
Will a counselor ever involve a student’s parent or guardian?
Students under the age of 18 must first receive consent from a parent or guardian before being able to hold sessions. The process of consent is initiated by the student while signing up within the Counslr app, and is completed by the parent or guardian through our age verification partner, PRIVO. Once they have received consent, or for a user over the age of 18, a counselor will not involve the parent or guardian unless the student specifically asks or allows them to do so, in which case they will do so with the assistance of a dedicated member of the internal Counslr team. The only exception is in an emergency situation, in which case the student’s designated emergency contact will be contacted.
Will a counselor ever involve the school?
A counselor will only involve the school counseling center if the student asks or allows them to do so, and only in service of making a warm handoff to an in-person school counselor for further support. Other than in the case of such an introduction, the school will not know whether any given student is using the Counslr platform, what is being discussed, or anything of the sort. The only exception is in a certain set of emergency situations in which the school may be alerted.