Resources and Helplines For Educators

As an educator, you may have additional questions about how you can best support yourself along with your students. Below, you will find resources that will be helpful to support your own well-being.

If you are looking to help your students find additional support, please visit the ‘Resources for Students’ page.

Supporting Your Own Emotional Well-Being:

While inviting students to bring their stories to the projects they create, you may hear experiences that speak to incredible loss, difficulty, and heartbreak. You may at times also find that listening to your students’ stories and serving as a witness has an impact on your own mental health. This is something that people in all caring professions (nurses, doctors, social workers, therapists, etc.) experience. It is crucial that you take care of yourself so that you can continue to show up for your students. This could include exercising, eating well, and making time to connect with friends and loved ones. In addition, below you will find a list of resources that can further support you. It is also worth noting that your healthcare provider will likely have a list of mental health professionals who offer services at a reasonable cost. 

Resources

1. Mental Health and Well-Being Education

Mental Health America (MHA): This page shares signs and symptoms, facts, statistics, and the latest news on mental health.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)This page highlights why it is important to care for your mental health at every stage of life, and provides examples of risk factors and protective measures.

Child Mind Institute: A family resource center that educators can share with parents who are looking to support their children with mental health, behavior or learning challenges. 

Mental Health California: An innovative digital magazine featuring various mental health topics. They provide multiple resources as well as education and awareness campaigns.

2. Wellness & Meditation

Headspace: An app that provides instructional videos and guided meditations to support emotional well-being. This app is free for K-12 (primary-secondary) educators in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.

InsightTimer: A free app with a wide variety of meditations from psychologists and mindfulness teachers.

UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center: An app that offers guidance and practice in mindfulness meditation.

3. Self-Guided Tools

Mental Health America (MHA): This is a screening tool that gives you a quick snapshot of your mental health.

Berkeley Greater Good: A digital magazine that includes articles on wellbeing and happiness, as well as a suite of resources such as podcasts, videos, and quizzes.

Self-Compassion.org: This website curates Dr. Kristin Neff’s ground-breaking work on self-compassion and includes research, recommended practices, and other resources.

Pinterest Well-Being: A collection of short (<5 minutes) evidence-based exercises to help you with stress – developed with the Stanford Lab for Mental Health Innovation.

4. Clinical Services: Online Therapy

Talkspace: This organization offers a wide range of mental health service options (text, live video, and phone) provided by professional counselors. The organization has specific support available for teenagers.

Inclusive Therapists: This website features a directory of mental health professionals with diverse backgrounds who strive to provide safe and equitable therapeutic services.

Therapy for Black Girls: Online space to promote mental wellness in Black women and girls, providing therapy resources and educational materials.

South Asian Therapists: Largest South Asian mental health therapist and counseling community in the world. International directory of therapists of South Asian descent

coa: Therapist led emotional fitness classes as well as one-on-one online therapy services.

Helplines:

There are times when you may need to intervene in a more urgent, direct way rather than simply referring students to online counseling or an online resource. If a student poses a danger to him or herself or to another person, then immediate action should be taken.

  1. Crisis Text Lines:
    • United States: Text HOME to 741741 
    • Canada: Text CONNECT to 686868
    • United Kingdom: Text SHOUT to 85258
    • Ireland: Text HOME to 50808
  2. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 988
  3. National Eating Disorder Association National Helpline 1-800-931-2237
  4. Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Helpline 1-800-662-4357
  5. National Alliance on Mental Illness Cutting/Self-Harm Helpline Text NAMI to 741741
  6. National Runaway Safeline: 1-800-RUNAWAY (1-800-786-2929)
  7. Open Counseling: International Crisis Hotlines