Free Alternative Resources for Mental Health Support
I contacted a psychotherapist recently to ask if they could schedule some sessions with a family member. It's a child who doesn't have a particular condition, but our ongoing situation has been difficult for some time and I’m concerned that it affects motivation with school work, as well as our relationship. The therapist replied to say that, instead of therapy, they recommend that I find other ways to support the child: encourage positive friendships, exercise and other interests and provide targeted help such as perhaps a tutor to help with motivation around study, rather than paying for a therapist. They cautioned that sometimes psychotherapy can lead to rumination and resentment.
I think this was excellent advice and that it could also be helpful for parents and carers to pursue their own ‘psychoeducation’. I’ve noticed that, rather than therapy, some sources of support for young people (and others) experiencing poor mental health, such as charities, emphasise the importance of improving 'wellbeing'. I’ve included here some links to organisations that can offer support or psychoeducation for parents and for adolescents. These sources can all be accessed free of charge.
Possible sources of free psychological counselling for teenagers
Many senior schools (both private and state sector) have a school counsellor available to pupils, funded by the school. The counsellors are usually qualified psychotherapists who also work in private practice. The potential drawback is that sessions most likely take place within school hours and on school premises, and your child might find it awkward to have to explain to their friends where they are going for the regular meetings. There may be a wait.
www.theabingdonbridge.co.uk is a charity which offers 12 one-to-one counselling sessions with qualified psychotherapists free to young people aged 13 – 25 who live in South Oxfordshire or the Vale of the White Horse. They raise funds for this and accept donations. They also run weekly wellbeing groups for different age ranges, starting from age 13, and other activities.
Nai’s House, naishouse.org.uk, based in Bicester, is an Oxfordshire youth charity working directly with children and young adults to reduce suicidality. This charity also accepts donations via it's website. It was founded by a mum whose daughter took her own life aged 22 after receiving treatment from statutory mental health services and finding that their approach didn’t work for her. The charity's mission is to reduce suicide, self harm and poor emotional wellbeing in young people aged under 30. They offer 1-to-1 support, workshops, social groups, complementary treatments and suicide prevention training.
Oxfordshire Mind is a mental health charity (part of a UK nation-wide charity called Mind). They provide wellbeing support to adults and children. In Oxfordshire, they run a series of educational courses and workshops in areas including assertiveness, self-esteem, stress and managing strong emotions. The courses appear to be quite in-depth, ranging in length from 2 x 2-hour online workshops in Assertiveness, to an 8-week face-to-face course in Managing Strong Emotions. The courses are available to anyone over 16, free to attend and run on fixed dates. In order to access them, you would need to attend an informal 30 minute appointment with a Wellbeing Worker to discuss your current situation and wellbeing needs. More information and contact details can be found at: https://www.oxfordshiremind.org.uk/support-for-you/short-courses/.
www.youngminds.org.uk has short blogs (‘real stories’) from young people and techniques for coping with anxiety, panic attacks, overwhelm and building self-confidence and resilience, among other areas.
https://healthtalk.org/ is a resource run by a charity which provides short video clips and transcripts of interviews concerning a range of mental health problems and difficulties faced by teenagers. The charity’s aim is to disseminate knowledge and help people to feel less alone. There are interviews with people who explain why they think they developed depression, the onset of an eating disorder, living with acne and many others subjects.
https://www.oxfordshiremind.org.uk is a charity (part of a UK nation-wide charity called Mind). They provide a range of services, some for young people from as young as age 9. There are detailed information sheets on anxiety and stress, self-care and sleep, and advice for parents and students, among other resources.
Free online mental health support for teenagers
Free online resources for parents supporting their children's mental health
Familylives.org.uk is a charity which publishes articles and offers some free online courses, including one entitled ‘Coping with teens’ and another on ‘Co-parenting’ (following separation or divorce). There's an article on Parental Alienation and an article and videos about bullying.
MindEd https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mental-health/minded is a free online resource provided by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Much of it was written for people working or volunteering with children (including teachers), but it's free and available for anyone to access. Funding has come from the Department of Health and the Department of Education. For some of the modules, you don’t have to register, while for others, you do need to register, but can still access the content free of charge. It provides links to training sessions of about 30-40 minutes’ duration on a range of topics including Adverse Childhood Experiences, and Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention. There is a module called MindEd for Families, specifically aimed at parents and carers, written by Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists. (There is also a module for relatives of older people experiencing mental health difficulties.) The MindEd for Families resource is extremely comprehensive, including sessions called Should I Be Concerned?, Support Available for Parents, Self-harm, Aggression, Running Away, Suicidal Threats, Eating Disorders, Family Relationship Problems, Drug or Alcohol Use, Mood Swings & Muddled Thinking and Autism Spectrum Disorders. There is even a module on Dealing with Professionals. I cried when I found this website, because of the contrast between the authoritative, compassionate material here and my experience of contact with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services locally.
Free Courses in England is a website which provides a range of courses, several with a mental health focus, with funding from the Department for Education. Most of the courses lead to a qualification accredited by NCFE, an educational charity and one of the biggest awarding bodies for post-16 technical and vocational courses in the UK. Some of the courses are also recognized as continuing professional development in certain careers. Online courses available include Children’s Mental Health, Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences, Mental Health First Aid, Understanding Autism and Counselling Skills. The Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Children and Young People’s Mental Health course, for example, has a duration of 6-12 weeks, with a time commitment of 5-10 hours per week. This course is rated 4.5 (out of 5) on TrustPilot. For all courses, you have to prove residency/eligibility (upload passport image or similar) and not currently be enrolled on a different UK Government-funded training scheme.
The Centre for Emotional Health is a charity based in Oxford, which offers training to people who work for local authorities, schools, prisons and faith organisations, among others. Their mission is to equip these organisations to promote emotional health in individuals, families and communities. The charity has a resources for families section on their website, with free single-page downloadable guides about empathy, giving praise effectively, negotiation and problem-solving within the family, among other themes.
https://www.aspergerexperts.com/ is a website with a lot of free material. The founders are 30-somethings all on the autism spectrum themselves. They explain that the primary symptom in Asperger’s Syndrome is anxiety and you don’t need a diagnosis to access their material. There's a 4-minute introductory video on the website at this link: Sensory Funnel Video. And this page: https://www.aspergerexperts.com/topics/ leads to links with many blogs and articles offering advice for families with someone on the autism spectrum, on topics including Parenting, Accountability, Motivation and Transitioning to Adulthood.
Potentially helpful blogs on psycho-therapists' websites:
https://hopeandharmonytherapy.co.uk/?post_type=post – Michael Tooley has written several blogs on the different aspects of the complexities of grief, social media and mental health, positive thinking and catastrophising, communication and conflict resolution.
https://www.counsellingwithdominic.co.uk/post/carers-blog - Dominic Burch is a counsellor based in Huddersfield and blogs about mental health support for carers.
Mental Health Resources on YouTube:
This psychotherapist provides links to various YouTube videos on his website, including on Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, ADHD and Trauma https://www.ricardogonicounselling.co.uk/material-for-you
More YouTube clips:
What is happening in the brain of a child with ADHD? A TED Talk by a neuroscientist whose own son has been diagnosed with the condition. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SncfM3psX-Q. Dr Robert Melillo, clinician, university professor and brain researcher.
7 Signs of Undiagnosed Autism in Adults: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwu3iZSgf10
Are you actually autistic or are you really an introvert? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9bwUb-M1Bg
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ZDo8YfiXs9EFD0F1izurw - systemic family therapy, various videos. A BBC documentary about anxiety: ‘I blame my parents’ giving some insight into the work of an accredited Family and Systemic Psychotherapist (scroll down on the following page): https://www.aft.org.uk/page/digitalresources. There is also a link to the Systemic Family Therapy YouTube channel
Last updated 30th December 2025