Resources
RESOURCES
Should you be in distress, in crisis, or simply need to talk, please reach out to your region's distress center. Trained volunteers are available to provide you with support and resources. Should you be in crisis and unable to keep yourself safe, for example, due to suicidal urges, please consider going to your nearest emergency department or calling 9-1-1. Reaching out for help is a sign of incredible strength. You deserve support, compassion and care.
Click the logos to visit the websites.
IN ONTARIO
Visit the Distress and Crisis Ontario website for a list of distress centres in Ontario.
What's Up Walk In offers free walk-in mental health counselling in Toronto from 9am-7pm Monday to Friday
Dialing 211 or visiting their website can connect you with a vast array of social and community services
Via their website or over the phone, ConnexOntario will connect you with mental health, addictions, and gambling resources.
CAMH's Collaborative Learning College offers free groups such as mindfulness and peer support.
This service offers 10 structured online sessions, at your own pace, with scheduled check-ins with a therapist along the way
CANADA-WIDE
Reach a trained counsellor via phone, text, or chat. KHP offers support to kids, youth, and young adults; however, they can redirect people above their age of service to other services
Visit their website for a variety of suicide prevention resources
Visit their website for a variety of mental health resources for youth
A directory of therapists offering low-cost and sliding scale rates across Canada
USA
Visit their website or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor
Visit their website or call 1-800-273-8255 to connect with a crisis counsellor
Visit their website or call 1-800-950-NAMI. 10 am-10 pm Monday to Friday to connect with a crisis counsellor
LGBTQ+
Click this logo to access their LGBTQ+ specific list of resources
Click this logo to access their LGBTQ+ specific list of resources
USA - The Association of LGBTQ+ Psychiatrists
Visit their website to find a chapter near you, in Canada or the USA
Visit their website or text LGBTQ to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor.
USA - Visit their website to call, text or chat with a trained responder
Visit their website for the helpline numbers for Canada and the USA.
A POWERFUL DOCUMENTARY
"My Dad's Tapes"
This award-winning 2024 film by Kurtis Watson, a friend of Validate Mental Health, approaches the topic of suicide with authenticity, humanity and curiosity.
Kurtis Watson is a Toronto-based documentary filmmaker originally from Courtice, Ontario. His short films have been selected at film festivals such as Durham Regional International Film Festival, Scout Film Festival Vermont, and Kingston Canadian Film Festival. Kurtis’ music videos have premiered on sites such as Exclaim!, Canadian Beats, Gold Flake Paint, and Digital Tour Bus. Kurtis is a 2020 graduate of Humber College’s Bachelor of Film and Media Production program. Having cut his teeth in a small town, much of Kurtis’ work and interest is counter to the mainstream. He strives to highlight self-awareness and expression in his films to allow others to see themselves within his work. His latest project ‘My Dad’s Tapes’ is his first feature-length documentary film which premiered at Hot Docs 2024.
THERAPY OPTIONS
Here are therapists we know to be compassionate, non-judgmental, and competent.
Durham Region, ON
California & Colorado
Durham Region, ON
Toronto & GTA, ON
Toronto & GTA, ON
Toronto &
Ontario (Virtual)
Toronto & GTA, ON
Organizations We Support
Since 1999, The Refuge has been working with youth who are experiencing homelessness or are at-risk of experiencing homelessness, or who are struggling. More than just a place to find breakfast, lunch, showers, laundry facilities, access to clothing and personal hygiene products, as well as housing help, The Refuge is a place where youth can find community, safety, belonging and a renewed hope for their future.
During the mid-1990s, a group of parents whose children had been diagnosed with BPD met weekly with Dr. John Gunderson and other clinicians at McLean Hospital and decided to create an organization that could provide mutual support, education, and advocacy. NEPDA came into existence in December 1996 and has sponsored support groups, now known as Home Meetings, conferences about BPD featuring a wide range of experts, and various social gatherings of parents and other loved ones of those with lived experience of the disorder. NEPDA meetings have been a place where participants share their stories and find acceptance, understanding, and hope.