NEW YORK, NY, Jan. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Counslr, the text-based mental health support platform, announced today that it has expanded into Pennsylvania with a partnership to support Allentown School District. The partnership will provide access to live texting sessions with licensed counselors, available on-demand or by appointment, for the district’s nearly 6,000 high school students. This initiative aims to increase accessibility to round-the-clock support in order to address issues as they arise and to minimize the emergence of crisis situations.
“We are working collaboratively to ensure that we create the conditions where all members of our learning community feel safe, valued, empowered, and loved,” said Dr. Carol D. Birks, Superintendent. “The benefits of on-demand communication through this app, support the District’s ongoing commitment to increasing students' mental health services and bolstering their affective developmental skill sets.”
The demand for Counslr’s services by school communities has increased significantly over the past year. In addition to the Allentown School District, the Counslr app is being utilized by high schools and universities throughout the United States. As factors such as academic pressures, social media influence, and world events contribute to heightened stress levels and mental health challenges among adolescents, schools are recognizing the growing need to offer more accessible resources and preventative mental health services.
In addition, while the nationwide provider shortage impacts an already-strained mental health support system, many high school students seeking support often face long wait times or insufficient access to crucial mental health services. This resource scarcity underscores the urgency for additional resources and innovative solutions to bridge this critical gap in mental health care for adolescents.
“In order to meet the increasing need for mental health services within high school communities, forward-thinking districts like Allentown are looking for more accessible and affordable resources that help to reach their traditionally unreachable students,” said Josh Liss, Counslr CEO. “With 83% of students who use Counslr having never previously engaged with school mental health resources, we look forward to helping Allentown reach this population by meeting students where they are and making it simple to prioritize their mental well-being.”
ABOUT COUNSLR
Counslr is a text-based mental health support application that provides unlimited access to live texting sessions with licensed professionals, 24/7/365. Users can access support on-demand within two minutes of opening the app, or by scheduled appointment. Through real-time texting, users enjoy one-on-one, private communication with a licensed counselor that can be conducted anytime, anywhere. Counslr was designed to help individuals deal with life’s day-to-day issues, empowering individuals to address concerns while they are “small” to help ensure that they stay “small”. Counslr partners with organizations of all shapes and sizes (companies, unions, nonprofits, universities/colleges, high schools, etc) so that these entities can provide Counslr’s services to their employees/members/students at no direct cost. For more information, please visit www.counslr.com.
