Crisis & Emergency Support
You Get to Choose How You Get Help. Here's What's Availabile.
If you’re overwhelmed or unsure what to do next, peer-led lines, mainstream crisis services, and local options are listed below. Each entry includes notes on what to expect so you can make an informed choice about what feels safest.
BEFORE YOU SCROLL
Side Quest Psychotherapy does not provide after-hours support, crisis intervention, or emergency services. Response to messages sent outside of scheduled business hours is not guaranteed. If you are in immediate danger or experiencing a psychiatric or medical emergency, please call 911 or 988, or go to your nearest emergency room.
NO POLICE INVOLVEMENT UNLESS YOU REQUEST IT
Peer-Led & Consent-Based Lines
Grounded in mutual aid and lived experience. Do not involve emergency services unless you request it.
BEYOND CRISIS SYSTEMS
Community & Collective Care
Looking for a safety plan that fits your brain? Neurodivergent Insights offers a free adapted safety plan — built around your own warning signs, coping strategies, and the people you actually trust.
Download the free safety plan →
Plan Ahead & Build Your Network
Additional Resources:
- Fireweed Collective Toolkit — Community-care and trauma-informed tools beyond diagnonsense
- Mapping Our Madness — Workbook for crisis and dysregulated emotional states
- Psychiatric Incarceration Pocket Guide — Know your rights, know your options.
MAY INVOLVE EMERGENCY RESPONDERS
Mainstream Crisis Lines
These may involve emergency responders, involuntary intervention, or hospitalization.
MD · DC · VA
Local Psychiatric Urgent Care & Mobile Crisis
MORE RESOURCES
Beyond the DMV
Local alternatives directory
dontcallthepolice.com is a vetted, city-by-city directory of community-based crisis resources — housing, mental health, domestic violence, substances, LGBTQIA+, and more. Each listing notes whether and when police may be involved, so you can make an informed choice. Search your city to find local options.
Immediate danger or medical emergency
911·988
Mobile crisis teams available; response times vary.
Whatever brought you to this page today, we’re glad you’re here.
If you’re in crisis, please use the supports on this page.
If you’re sitting with ambivalence, that’s worth bringing to your next session.