Top 5 Free Mental Health Apps for Therapy Support and Self-Care
Howdy! Gaia Center Client Journey Liaison Sam here— and today I want to share some apps that can assist you in your therapy journey!
As therapists, we’re big fans of (and have big opinions on 🤓) mental health-related apps. I polled our team and put together a list of a couple of our favorites for you to check out!
Note: We wanted this list to be accessible, and so each of these apps are free but offer additional features with a paid membership. Also, in case you were wondering, neither of these apps paid us to talk about them - we’re just fans 😝
Bearable is a symptom and mood tracker app that is great at helping you get tangible data for how your symptoms (mental health and otherwise) and mood are evolving day-to-day. But that’s not all! You can also track sleep, nutrition, energy levels, and just about anything. We love Bearable because it’s highly customizable, allowing you to choose what you want to track, make custom measurements, and more! It can be a great way to check in with yourself - or your therapist, as you can always report your findings to them in session! Bearable is free, but some features are available only with a premium subscription at $6.99 per month (or $34.99 per year).
Insight Timer is a meditation app with an extensive library of guided meditations, music tracks, courses, and talks from a wide variety of teachers! We love how approachable it makes getting into meditation - and with such a large library you can really zero in on what kind of meditation you enjoy the most. Try one out and hate it? Skip it and try a different one! Insight Timer is very generous with free content, boasting 272,515 guided meditations and music tracks for free members. However, if you’re still hungry for more they offer a membership for $5.00 per month (or $59.99 per year).
Rosebud is an AI-powered journaling app meant to inspire thoughtful reflection and personal growth. If you’ve ever found journaling to be… missing something, then Rosebud may be just what you’re looking for. Rosebud is able to offer a variety of personalized journal prompts along with AI-powered insights like: emotional patterns based on your journal entries, automatically tagging entries, weekly summaries, and more. Rosebud is free to use, but some of its more advanced AI-driven features are available only to premium members at $12.99 per month (or $107.99 per year).
Cozy Couples is a unique app designed to help romantic partners stay emotionally connected, especially when physically apart. You can use it to share your mood with your partner, send sweet notes to each other, or do fun bonding activities together. You can also collaboratively plan for important dates (birthdays, holidays, etc.) via calendar or milestone countdowns. Also, you can create and love a virtual bonsai tree and.or digital pet! Core features of Cozy Couples are free, but som enhanced functionality is available with a subscription at $4.99 per month (or $29.99 per year).
Finch is a self-care focused app where you care for a virtual pet! Y’all probably have heard of Finch - it’s claim to fame is how it allows you to care for a customizable bird friend who grows as you engage in self-care activities. We love how this can gamify self-care in a way that can be motivating - and cute! Going for a walk for my mental health? Naaaah. Going for a walk so my Finch can have a pirate hat? Heck yeah.
That’s all for today, but before I go - I want to shout out to all the apps out there that aren’t explicitly mental health-related, but are definitely carrying the mental health of many of us. I’m looking at you calendar, library, podcast, and budgeting apps. 😉
