What you CAN do if you can't Afford Therapy — Therapist Explains!

Psychotherapist Georgia Dow explains options you might look into if you cannot afford therapy.

Therapy alternative links and Helplines

Lifeline: 13 11 14
Depression Hotline: [phone]
Suicide Hotline: [phone]
LifeLine: 1-800-273-8255
Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386
Sexuality Support: 1-800-246-7743
Eating Disorders Hotline: [phone]
Rape and Sexual Assault: 1-800-656-4673
Grief Support: 1-650-321-5272
Runaway: 1-800-843-5200, 1-800-843-5678, 1-800-621-4000
Exhale: After Abortion Hotline/Pro-Voice: 1-866-4394253
Self Harm: 1-800-DONT CUT (1-800-366-8288)
Pregnancy Hotline 1-800-4-OPTIONS (1-800-467-8466)
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) Youth Support Line 800-850-8078
National Association for Children of Alcoholics 1-888-55-4COAS (1-888-554-2627)
National Child Abuse Hotline [phone]
National Domestic Violence Hotline [phone]-SAFE (1-800-799-7233)
National Drug Abuse Hotline [phone]-HELP (1-800-662-4357)
National Youth Crisis Hotline [phone]
Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention 1-800-931-2237 (Hours:8am-noon daily, PT)
Veterans: 1-877-VET2VET
Adolescent Suicide Helpline: 1-800-621-4000
Postpartum Depression: 1-800-PPD-MOMS
Nami Helpline: 1-800-950-6264

UK:
Childline: 0800 1111
Samaritans: 08457 909090
Abuse Not: 0808 8005015
Brook Young People's Information Service: 0800 0185023
Eating Disorder Support: 01494 793223
Anxiety UK: 0844 477 5774
Depression Alliance: 0845 123 23 20
Rape Crisis Centre: 01708 765200
Rape/sexual assault: 0808 8000 123 (female) or 0808 8000122 (male)
Miscarriage Association: 01924 200799
LLGS Helpline (LGBT): 0300 330 0630
Sexuality support: 01708 765200
Bereavment: 0800 9177 416
Runaway/homeless: 0808 800 70 70
CareConfidential Pregnancy/post abortion: 0800 028 2228
Women’s Aid National
Domestic Violence Helpline 0345 023 468
National AIDS Helpline: 0800 567 123

AUSTRALIA:
Helpline 1: 13 11 14
NSW1800 636 825
SA131465
QLD1300 363 622
WA1800 676 822
NT1800 019 116
TAS1800 332 388
ACT1800 629 354
VIC1300 280 354
Salvos Careline 1300 36 36 22 (National)
Lifeline 13 11 14

AUSTRIA:
Helpline 1: 142
Website: WWW.TELEFONSEELSORGE.AT

BELGIUM:
Helpline 1: 106
Website: WWW.TELE-ONTHAAL.BE

CANADA:
Helpline 1: 604-872-3311 (Greater Vancouver)
Helpline 2: 18666613311 (Toll free-Howe Sound/Sunshine Coast)
Helpline 3: 1-866-872-0113 (TTY)
Helpline 4: 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433) (BC-wide)
Website: WWW.CRISISCENTRE.BC.CA
Mental Health Crisis Line 1-866-996-0991 (Ottawa and Eastern Ontario)
Kids Help Phone [phone] (All of Canada, age below 20)
Mental Help Health Line 1-866-531-2600 (Ontario)

FRANCE:
Helpline 1: (+33) (0)9 51 11 61 30
Website: WWW.SOS-AMITIE.ORG

GERMANY:
Helpline 1: 0800 1110 111
Helpline 2: 0800 1110 222
Hotline: [phone] (to Samaritans) Hotline: [phone] (to Samaritans)
International Helpline Berlin: Postfach 580251
10412
Hotline: 6-12pm English service: 030-44 01 06 07
Hotline: Russian service: 030-44 01 06 06
Telefonseelsorge Deutschland (National)
Hotline: [phone]
Hotline: [phone]

IRELAND:
Helpline 1: [phone] (UK - local rate)
Helpline 2: [phone] (UK minicom)
Helpline 3: 1850 60 90 90 (ROI local rate)
Helpline 4: 1850 60 90 91 (ROI minicom)
Website: WWW.SAMARITANS.ORG

MALAYSIA:
Helpline 1: [phone]
Helpline 2: [phone]
Helpline 3: [phone]

NEW ZEALAND:
Helpline 1: [phone]
Helpline 2: 0800 111 777
Website: WWW.LIFELINE.ORG.NZ/

PHILIPPINES:
Helpline 1: 02 - 896 - 9191
Helpline 2: Mobile phone: 0917 - 854 - 9191
Natasha Goulbourn Foundation (632) 804-HOPE (4673) and 0917-558-HOPE (4673)

SINGAPORE:
Helpline 1: 1800- 221 4444
Website: WWW.SAMARITANS.ORG.SG

SOUTH AFRICA:
Helpline 1: 0861 322 322
Website: WWW.LIFELINE.ORG.ZA
Anxiety and Deppression SADAG: 0800 567 567

🚨 DISCLAIMER: This video series is provided for informational purposes only and should not substitute for a personal consultation with a professional.

🎙 Check out Georgia's @Apple Talk podcast with @Rene Ritchie :

[CrystalBluesky]

Can confirm: Journaling does wonders.

I turned into my own therapist when I was a teenager by writing my emotions out, exploring them, and getting past my emotional knee-jerk reactions. Through journaling, I was able to take a step-back and analyze the things that went wrong and how I would change it, or keep similar bad situations from happening again in the future.

I always highly recommend journaling to my friends who are struggling.

[ShadowScar]

Still don't understand how she is not more popular. She just gave out free therapy. Taking care of your Basic needs, offering some tools, methods & resources. Pure Gold! Man, i needed this reminder. If you happen to see this comment you're very much appreciated! Thank you!

[TelynEthuil]

I wish that when I was younger I had you as my therapist. I really failed to open up due to how I felt around them, or they didn't seem to be listening to what I felt was important. Bad experiences caused me to avoid mental health help for decades, and then the sheer cost was the other barrier. Thankfully I am getting therapy on the NHS now and it's helping since I was able to actually talk and be ready to talk.

I hope you continue to inspire people to take steps to care about their mental health.

[iuli]

Hey, Georgia! I just wanted to say that I'm so happy that you do these videos. I'm on my way to become a teacher and it's the first time when I think about doing something to help the people around me with the world they live in (I just realised that understanding your feelings it's sooo important, but complicated). You inspire me so much! I love everything you do! Thank you so much! 💛

[townshipaddict]

My Notes:
1. Fix your sleep schedule
2. Eat healthy and at fixed timings
3. Excersise daily
4. Journal
5. Self help books, go slow
6. Yoga and medidation

[amandaluther]

So it 1am I’m laying in bed cry I go on YouTube to see if there is so glimmer of hope to feel better I find your video’s and build up the courage to call the NAMI hotline…. Only to hear a message telling me they are now only open from 10am-10pm Monday-Friday.

[RavinkaMalinka]

I've been self medicating my whole life because Slovakia sucks :D ... a method that help me a lot is something I call "the annoying child method" ... basically I just keep asking WHY until I come to the root of the problem. Imagine the child will not take "I don't know" for an answer, so it also forces me to do research. It helped me overcome my arachnophobia for instance, or make me realize that I'm worrying for nothing.

I absolutely hate people who tell me to "get help" if I so much as look tired. I can't afford it and for free therapy (not in my home country anymore) my insurance put me on a waiting list.... 3 years and still waiting C: (think they didn't even put me on that list/they lost my data...doesn't matter anymore...)
Nevertheless I think every therapist should put so much care and effort into their work as you do. You are a wonderful, insightful person.

[DG_Raizen]

Therapist here (Social Work type). Firstly, I want to say thank you for taking the time to use your reach to help and educate so many people. That lack of access leaves a lot of people in rough positions with few places to turn, so reaching out in this way is definitely a huge step forward.

Secondly, access to care has been a problem for a long time between rates, poverty, insurance/managed care, a healthcare system that's way behind the times, poorly compensated therapists with excessive loads, limited number of therapists, etc. This is coupled with the complexity of mental illness which makes it that much more difficult to find an appropriate therapist. It's frustrating to me that here we are in 2022 and it feels like mental health care and access still takes a back seat to everything else.

[classicslover]

That's a relief, Georgia! Thank-you! I DO get 7 1/2 to 8 hours of sleep, and during the pandemic I'm now up to 250 pounds of muscle (wasn't a goal, just the result of consistent exercise:) and I finished writing my memoir. I also draw, (I expand now by working with color) play guitar, sing (I have even done opera), pray, go for walks, meditate, read and find ways to help people. Just yesterday, I ran (literally) an errand and saw a man at a corner standing looking...not happy. I said "hi", we struck up a conversation and I asked if the new year had been good to him. Then he told me his brother had just died. Drawing on my experience from my Dad dying, we chatted some more. He was...less...sad.

[navydavy]

YESS THIS IS THE VIDEO I WAS WAITING FORR! im really broke and i CANNOT afford therapy. Im also really mentally tired (I get bullied, judged and hated a lot annd i can't stand up for myself! I want to defend myself but i can't and that makes me feel totally angry at myself AND other people) i don't really know how i feel about myself. One time im selfish, one time im insecure. And i've wanted to talk about this with people (my family doesn't really understand) so i just accepted that i won't be able to talk to a professional and i should do things myself. Thank you so so much for this video!

[Drazooma]

Employee assistance programs are beneficial as well. They often provide free access to short term counseling, asessments, and referrals. Thank you for your insight on this often underaddressed issue!

[Raven_Black_]

When you posted that do you need therapy video I was about to comment that I can't even afford any help in my country as we are going through the worst financial crisis we've ever faced, I can barely afford food and bills here, but even writing that made me feel sad so I did not post the comment. It's a good coincidence now you post this. Your video is helpful, just like the others; more helpful than you might think. I've already been doing some of those tips, but some others are not accessible to me. I hate that even such simple things are out my reach. I don't know, I don't even feel like we are living here. Just surviving the day. Life must be more than that. It hurts more to see the things I am missing just because of being born in a 3rd world country, living each day imagining what could have been. I don't know. Don't mind me. Thank you Georgia for everything.

[AlexanderDRamos]

sleep from 6am to 4pm
eating a lunch and some anything i found when i go downstairs
feeling nothing
dopamine loops and just realizing it
( T uT) i just wanna maintain a normal rhythm in my daily life

[baffjey]

Ma'am, i have to say... one of your wonderful Attributes is your special Voice. Its frequency lets the walls around my heart crumble, so that it can be touched. There is so much authenticity and vulnerability in your Voice, that i cant help it but to feel vulnerable and open as well. Sometimes if i struggle to feel my sadness that has build up, i just listen to your videos . Im glad that you decided to stay openhearted, despite your past pain. The Energy in your Voice fits your job perfectly.

[MC]

Honestly a reason why i dont want to waste any money on therapists anymore is because most of them seem to suck. Not everyone, but most. I seen several therapist over the course of years. I tried to stick with each one and give them a chance, but in the end i realized they didnt even walk to talk to me yet help me. They wanted to hold their monologs, or let me talk and only nod without giving me and feedback or remembering what i said the next time we spoke. It was exhausting to try again and again, only to feel like even people that i pay to care about me do not care enough to even ACT like they do.
I feel like trying to work on my problems on my own helped me more actually. Including videos online, and books, but mostly just retrospecting everything i do or do not do. It helped with a lot, and still there is a lot id need help with. But i dont have the nerve anymore to deal with people who obviously dont care. Who i ask for help and all they do is waste hour after hour, saying we would talk about what i wish to talk about "sometime in the future" and then i figure all they were talking about was themselves instead of me.
Even the things you said in this video were NEVER part of my therapy and i been to five different therapists. From trauma therapy to cognitive behavioural therapy. And in the end i actually even felt they were siding with my abusers, making excuses why what they did was bad BUT...

[s.t]

I just found out my dog had cancer and has to be put down. It's the straw that broke the camel's back. I feel broken. I needed this video.

[Cylennce]

I really love your content! It makes me feel affirmed that I was doing the right thing by contacting my uni's counseling and talking to my friends before I discovered this channel through the Arcane reaction videos.

[TheWrestlinEra]

These videos are comforting.

Ma’am you are glowing! You are very pretty and have a wonderful personality! 🤍

[jinp]

Today I did some push-ups and I’m so glad I’m proud 🥺

[kylel]

So I thought I was depressed because I had low energy but I realized I'm still optimistic and still positive so it can't be depression. So I thought maybe I just need a therapist, and I started self therapy like documenting my triggers. My triggers are stupid people and inconsiderate people. Well those aren't triggers I can address since most people are stupid and/or inconsiderate. I work. I socialize at work. Aside from that I avoid people and I take a day off if I need it. I'm human. It's not about needing therapy or having anything wrong with me, it's about society and the pressure of generally everyone having an opinion that you need help.
Sometimes you really don't. Sometimes you just need a break