Things you can use in the next five minutes.
Each of these ends in something you can act on today, without hearing from us afterwards.
Is what I’m feeling actually depression?
The nine-question screening clinics use, scored on your own device as you answer.
- A score with a plain-English band
- What that band does and does not mean
- Three next steps, and 988 if the score is severe
Is this anxiety, or is this just my life right now?
Seven questions about the last two weeks. Nothing is sent anywhere.
- A score with a plain-English band
- The line between ordinary stress and a disorder
- Where to take the result next
I don’t know what this is. Can I just check?
Both screenings in one pass, because low mood and anxiety usually arrive together.
- Two scores side by side
- A plain-language reading of the pair
- Two scores you can choose to share with a doctor
Is what happened still showing up like trauma?
Our local PTSD screen is unavailable. Find the VA’s public self-screen and California support routes.
- A link to the official VA tool
- A clear notice before leaving this site
- California routes to support
What would this actually cost me?
Every route from Medi-Cal to private pay, with the arithmetic shown rather than summarised.
- A fee range per session and per month
- The superbill worked line by line
- The four things nobody tells you about the price
They said the wait is three months. Is that legal?
California gives you a first non-urgent appointment within 10 business days. Most people are never told.
- The statute, quoted
- What to say on the phone, word for word
- The DMHC complaint route if they still refuse
Do I need $3,000 of testing, or just an appointment?
The one corner of California mental health where nobody publishes a price — and where most people are quoted a battery when they need an interview.
- What an hour of testing is actually worth
- The four routes that pay for it
- The free school route with both legal deadlines
LMFT, LCSW, PsyD — does the difference matter for me?
Eight sets of letters, what each trained in, and the two cases where the letters decide everything.
- A decoded table of every licence type
- Who can prescribe in California (nobody on this list)
- What "associate" means for price and for care
A tool has to end in something you can act on with no follow-up from us.
If it ends in "and then contact us", it is not a tool — it is a lead form with a progress bar. Anything that fails this test becomes a guide instead.
This is also why there is no "find your perfect therapist" quiz here. Matching a person to a therapist from six questions is a claim we cannot support, so we do not make it. The four questions on the directory filter a list; they do not judge a fit.
The screenings are the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 — public-domain instruments developed with an educational grant from Pfizer Inc., used unmodified and unlicensed. No questionnaire can diagnose anyone, including these: they measure how often you have had certain experiences over two weeks, which is a starting point for a conversation and nothing more. Nobody has reviewed these pages yet — the collective is not open — and the 10-day right guide is awaiting a second legal review. What that means, and what is being built →