Mental Health Resources

Crisis Hotlines

  • Texting hotline: Text “TALK” to 741-741 to chat with a crisis counselor
  • National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Call 988 if you’re in crisis and need someone to talk to
  • National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233
  • LGBT National Hotline: Call 888-843-4564 for support and local resources
  • Trans Lifeline: Call 877-565-8860 for support for people who are transgender by people who are transgender
  • MD Youth Crisis Hotline: 800-422-0009
  • Rape Crisis Hotline: 301-662-8800
  • National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-HOPE (4673)

Emergency notice

If you are in crisis/this is an emergency, please call the Frederick County Hotline at 301-662-2255, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.

Support Groups

  • NAMI of Frederick — (240) 379-6186 Family and Friends Support Group — 3rd Wednesday of each month. For any family or friends of someone dealing with mental illness.
  • Maryland Coalition of Families — (410) 730-8267 [ext. 1] offers Family Peer Support, support groups, and webinars to help support family members who have loved ones with mental health issues.
  • Umbrella Project — (301) 606-0539 offers backpacking trips for young adults who have experienced recent loss of a parent, caregiver or sibling.

Books

  • Positive Parenting: An Essential Guide by Rebecca Eanes
  • The Highly Sensitive Child: Helping Our Children Thrive When the World Overwhelms Them by Elaine N. Aron
  • Smart But Scattered: The Revolutionary “Executive Skills” Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential by Peg Dawson (also available in adult and teen editions!)
  • Stopping the Noise in Your Head: the New Way to Overcome Anxiety and Worry by Reid Wilson
  • What to Do When Your Brain Gets Stuck: A Kid’s Guide to Overcoming OCD by Dawn Hueber
  • Brain Lock: Free Yourself from Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior by Jeffrey Schwartz

Apps & Podcasts

  • Insight Timer — guided meditation
  • Calm — guided meditation
  • Headspace — mindfulness, meditation
  • Self Help Anxiety Management (SAM) — anxiety management, tracking and anxiety reduction techniques
  • Breethe — guided meditation
  • Calm Harm — self harm reduction/coping skills
  • Stop, Breathe & Think Kids — guided meditation and self regulation skills for children
  • The Tapping Solution — guided tapping (EFT)
  • RAINN — support, tools, and information for survivors of sexual assault, and their loved ones
  • Bedtime Explorers — guided meditation podcasts to help children identify emotions, practice coping skills, and fall asleep
  • Kindred Tree’ple
  • Big Life Kids — growth mindset podcast based on the Big Life Journal

Websites & Blogs

  • The Not-So-Secret Anxiety Diary — a blog by Laura Rippeon, LCSW-C, a therapist specializing in anxiety
  • International OCD Foundation — information about OCD
  • PANDAS Network — information for families about PANS/PANDAS, including research, resources and referrals
  • Frederick County 211 — a website with local resources for a variety of problems, like legal services, getting utilities paid during times of financial distress, food pantries and much much more

Bright Horizons Family Counseling in the Media

  • Making the Transition: Getting Support — by Kari Martindale, Urbana Town Courier
  • When Worries Take Over — by Kelsey Casselbury, School Nutrition Association
  • Meet Kristine Boehmer of Frederick MD — by Voyage Baltimore
  • Podcast: Raising Kids in an Age of Anxiety: Krissi Boehmer on Boundaries, Screens, and Compassionate Parenting – on Reclaimed with Silvia Hazel