If you’re in crisis, help is available right now
This page brings together urgent support across the UK. If you’re finding it hard to keep yourself safe, please reach out to one of the services below — they are there for exactly this, at any time of day or night. You don’t have to face it on your own.
Need urgent mental health help?
For urgent support when it isn’t life-threatening, call NHS 111 and choose the mental health option (Option 2). It’s free, open 24 hours a day, and available to people of all ages.
A trained mental health professional will listen and help you find the right support. You can call for yourself or for someone else.
Someone to talk to
You can talk to someone, day or night
These free services are there whenever you need them — whether you want to talk things through or simply not be alone with how you’re feeling.
Samaritans
A safe, confidential space to talk about whatever you’re going through, for as long as you need. Free to call, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
You can also email (reply within 24 hours) or chat online at samaritans.org.
More ways to get help
Support for specific situations
CALM
The Campaign Against Living Miserably runs a helpline and webchat for anyone who is struggling or in crisis, whatever the reason.
Helpline and webchat — see current opening hours at thecalmzone.net.
Childline
For anyone under 19. A free, confidential place to talk about anything — no problem is too big or too small.
Free, 24/7. The number won’t show on the phone bill. More at childline.org.uk.
National Domestic Abuse Helpline
Free, confidential support for anyone experiencing domestic abuse, run by Refuge. If you’re in immediate danger, always call .
Freephone, 24 hours a day. More at nationaldahelpline.org.uk.
Support for young people
Support if you’re a young person
If you’re a teenager or in your late teens, everything above is there for you too.
Childline, SHOUT and Samaritans all take calls and messages from people of any age, right now, whatever’s going on — you don’t need to explain everything perfectly, and you don’t have to be sure it “counts” before you reach out.
Aged 16 to 18
You don’t have to wait for a crisis to reach out
Hope Therapy offers ongoing, private counselling to young people aged 16 to 18, across England. In England, once you’re 16 you can get in touch yourself — no parent’s permission or GP referral needed. Parents and guardians are just as welcome to make the first enquiry on your behalf. This is planned, appointment-based support rather than immediate help. If you need someone right now, please use the services above first.
Find out more about counselling for young people →
Aged 16 to 18
Where to go for ongoing support
We aren’t able to offer direct counselling sessions to young people under 16. Your GP is usually the best starting point. They can refer you to CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) — the NHS’s specialist mental health service for under-18s. In some areas you may be able to refer yourself directly; your GP surgery can tell you what’s available locally.
More support for this age group
A wider network for young people
These independent organisations are built specifically for young people, covering some of the same areas as the wider network listed further down this page — but with support designed for your age group.
Confidentiality, explained in advance. Confidentiality works the same way for young people as it does for adults, with one addition. Before any sessions begin, your therapist will explain exactly what stays private. They’ll also explain the specific circumstances — such as a serious safeguarding concern — that would mean involving someone else. This is always explained clearly in advance, never after the fact.
Getting in touch took something, and we don’t want that to feel wasted. If none of this feels like the right fit, the rest of this page lists further UK-wide support that isn’t specific to any age group.
What a mental health crisis can feel like
A crisis looks different for everyone, and there’s no threshold of distress you have to reach before you’re allowed to ask for help. You might feel completely overwhelmed, unable to face everyday things that normally feel manageable. You might feel frightened by your own thoughts, or as though you can’t keep yourself safe.
For some people it feels loud — panic, racing thoughts, a sense that everything is too much. For others it feels flat and distant, a kind of numbness, or feeling cut off from everything around them. It might have built slowly over weeks, or arrived suddenly after something happened.
However it feels for you, reaching out is always okay. You don’t have to explain it perfectly, and you don’t have to be sure it “counts”. The services on this page are there for whatever you’re carrying right now.
If you’re worried about someone else
If someone you care about is struggling, taking it seriously is one of the most helpful things you can do. Let them know you’ve noticed, and that you’re there. If they’ll let you, stay with them, and help them get in touch with one of the services on this page.
A wider network of support
Other organisations that can help
Support outside the therapy room, for a range of adult needs. If you’re a young person, the section above lists organisations built for your age group instead. These are independent organisations — we’re sharing them because they may help, and details can change, so please check each organisation’s own website.
Finding support near you
To find services in your area, the NHS page on where to get urgent mental health help and the Mind support directory are kept up to date and let you search by location.
Our crisis handbook
A printable guide you can keep or share, bringing together support options and things that can help in a difficult moment. If you need help right now, please call one of the services above rather than waiting to read the guide.
About Hope Therapy
How our service works — and what it isn’t
Planned counselling, not crisis or emergency care
Hope Therapy & Counselling Services provides counselling and therapy by appointment — online across the UK and face-to-face in selected locations across England. We are not a crisis line, an emergency service, or a medical service, and we’re not able to offer urgent or same-moment support. For anything urgent, please use the services on this page.
Who we work with
We work with adults across England, and with young people aged 16 to 18 under a dedicated safeguarding process — self-referral is welcome from age 16, and parents or guardians can also make an initial enquiry. Our counsellors offer talking therapies; they do not diagnose medical conditions, prescribe medication, or provide crisis intervention. Where any of these might help, the right next step is your GP, NHS 111, or one of the specialist services listed above. Read more about counselling for young people →
Confidentiality and its limits
Conversations with our therapists are treated as confidential, within professional ethical standards. There are some limited exceptions — for example, where there is a serious risk of harm to you or someone else — and your therapist will explain these clearly before any work begins.
Contacting us for non-urgent support
When you’re ready to look into ongoing counselling — and you’re not in a crisis — you’re welcome to reach us on (phone answered 9am–9pm) or by email at . Please don’t rely on these if you need help now, as they aren’t monitored around the clock.
Hope Therapy is a National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society (NCPS) Organisational Member. The therapists we work with are qualified and registered with appropriate UK professional bodies, such as the NCPS and the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP); individual registrations vary per therapist.
National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies
Individual registrations vary per therapist. Last reviewed: May 2026.