Reno residents will have access to free virtual mental health counseling services for the next year, announced City of Reno officials Thursday.
The services will be provided through a partnership between Talkspace, a digital mental health counseling service, and the City of Reno. Services will include unlimited private messaging and once monthly video meetings with a therapist.
“The reality is that therapy, that services are accessible to anyone who needs them at this point, throughout the city of Reno, whether it’s a little bit of stress that you’re experiencing or perhaps more severe sort of anxiety or sadness or loss or loneliness,” said Dr. Rachel O’Neill, a doctor from Talkspace.
To sign up, Reno residents should complete an access request form at talkspace.com/reno and then complete their registration when they receive an email response within 1 to 2 business days.
“I think that no one has been immune to some of the challenges that we’ve all been seeing,” said Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve. “And in a pandemic it’s especially challenging, because we want to stay safe and and going into a physical location certainly can cause other stress and we wanted to keep people as safe as possible during this time.”
Schieve also said there were plans for outreach on the University of Nevada, Reno campus to connect students with the service.
The partnership is being funded through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, a stimulus bill passed in March 2020.
Taylor Avery can be reached at tavery@sagebrush.unr.edu or on Twitter at @travery98.