LivingWorks Start

LivingWorks Start is a 90-minute online training program that will teach you how to recognize when someone is having thoughts of suicide and can help you:

• Become more comfortable talking about suicide
• Keep a loved one safe in times of distress
• Support friends and co-workers
• Build professional skills
• Have peace of mind knowing you’re ready to help

BounceBack® is a free skill-building program managed by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA). It is designed to help adults and youth 15+ manage low mood, mild to moderate depression and anxiety, stress or worry. Delivered over the phone with a coach and through online videos, you will get access to tools that will support you on your path to mental wellness.

7 Cups – If you are feeling lonely, sad, stressed, or worried, 7 Cups could be the perfect app for you.  It provides online therapy and emotional support for anxiety and depression.  There are more than 160,000 trained listeners and licensed therapists who are available to anonymously speak with you 24/7.  Speak your mind and confide in listeners without the fear of being judged.  These listeners can be searched for based on their experience or their specialties, such as bullying, panic attacks, eating disorders, relationship breakups, and many more.  Affordable therapy with an online therapist can commence one-to-one in a confidential setting.  Free for IPhone and Android.

Anxiety Relief Hypnosis – is an app suggested to help improve relaxation and reduce anxiety within just 1-3 weeks of use.  The app’s developers say that hypnosis can decrease anxious thoughts and enhance your response to relaxation, which, in turn, resets your behavior and enables an inproved response to stress.  The app provides an audio session read by a certified hypnotheratpist together with calming music and sounds from nature to aid relaxation.  The “awaken at end” feature can be disabled to allow you to fall into restful sleep at bedtime.  Free for IPhone and Android.

Calm was branded as Apple’s “App of the Year” in 2017.  The app is designed to reduce anxiety, improve sleep, and help you  to feeel happier.  Calm focuses on the four key areas of meditation, breathing, sleep, and relaxation, with the aim of brining joy, clarity, and peace to your daily life.  The app delivers meditations that can help you to de-stress, as well as breathing programs, music, and sounds from nature to relax your mind and body and promote better sleep.  Calm is the perfect app if you are new to meditation, but it also offers programs for more advanced users.  Meditation sessions are available in lenths of 3-25 minutes, to fit in with your schedule.  Free download on IPhone and Android, some services cost money.

Headspace – uses mindfulness and meditation to help you perform at your best each day.  The app’s mission is to provide you with the essential tools to achieve a happier, healthier life.  Whether you need to build healthier relationships.  find a place of calm, keep your mind fit, or reduce stress, Headspace has hundreds of themed mindfulness and meditation sessions to support you.  The app reports that meditation reduces daily stress and improves focus and attention.  What is more, using Headspace is suggested to enhance compassionate behavior toward others in just 3 weeks.  Free for IPhone and Android.

Happify – is a space to overcome negative thoughts and stress and build resilience.  Whether you are feeling stressed, anxious, or sad, Happify helps you to regain control of your thoughts and feelings.  In fact, 86% of the app’s users report feeling better about their lives after 2 months of using it.  Happify employs techniques and evidence-based interventions in the areas of CBT, positive psychology, and mindfulness to help you break old and unhealthful patterns and form new, healthful habits.  The app offers activities and games to improve your life satisfaction and ability to fight negativity.  Your emotional well-being is calculated as a happiness score that you can improve upon each week.  Free for IPhone and Android.

Super Better – is a game focusing on increasing resilience and the ability to remain strong, optimistic, and motivated when presented with challenging obstacles in life.  A study by the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia found that when people played SuperBetter for 30 days, their mood improved, symptoms of anxiety and depression decreased, and self-belief to achieve goals increased.  The app will help you to adopt new habits, improve your skills, strengthen relationships, complete meaningful projects, and achieve lifelong dreams.  SuperBetter also has the potential to help you beat depression and anxiety, cope with chronic illness, and recover from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  Free for IPhone and Android.

Talkspace – is a counseling and therapy app that connects users with a convenient, affordable, and confidential way to deal with anxiety, stress, depression, relationship issues, and chronic illness.  A free consultation is provided with a Matching Agent to identify the ideal therapist for your needs based on several factors.  More than 1,000 licensed therapists are available, who specialize in anxiety, phobia, depression, demoestic violence, PTSD, and more.  After upgrading and becoming a member, access is given to a secure chat room wherein you can raise and discuss your worries with your private counselor.  The app’s pricing plans are described as being apporximately 80% lower than traditional office-based appointments.   Free for IPhone and Android.