Physical & Mental Health Resources
To the best of my knowledge, all resources listed here are explicitly sex worker-friendly.
Crisis Hotlines
U.S.& Canada National Suicide Prevention Hotline
(800) 273-8255 english (accepts VRS calls)
(or) text to 838255
888-628-9454 español
800-779-4889 TTY/caption phone
Free, anonymous, confidential. 24-hour national hotline connecting you to a trained counselor in your area. Pick up the phone and call. You deserve support when you're feeling sad.
***Canadian Citizens: Please note this is number is the same as the U.S. number.
Canada Crisis Text Line - text HOME to 686868
Canada Crisis Text Line - French language text PARLER to 686868
U.S. Disaster Distress Helpline
800-985-5990 (or) text TalkWithUs to 66746
Disaster Distress Helpline provides 24/7, 365-day-a-year crisis counseling and support to people experiencing emotional distress related to natural or human-caused disasters.
U.S. National Domestic Violence Hotline
(800) 799-SAFE (7233)
(or) text LOVEIS to 22522
Free, anonymous, confidential. 24-hour national hotline. Trained services and support for victims of domestic abuse and violence. If you need help, get help. Do not hesitate.
Deaf Domestic Violence Hotline iM: DeafHotline
email: nationaldeafhotline@adwas.org
800-787-3224 TTY
855-812-1001 video phone
National Sexual Assault Hotline
(800) 656-4673
A free, anonymous, confidential phone and chat hotline connects you to a trained staff member from a sexual assault care provider in your area.
Trans Lifeline
U.S.: (877) 565-8860 Canada: (877) 330-6366
Trans Lifeline works to end transgender suicide and improve overall mental health of transgender people through education, advocacy, and direct service. Empowering trans people to help one another, and to shape our collective efforts by drawing upon our wealth of individual experiences.
The Trevor Project
(866) 488-7386
Provides 24-hour crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBT youth. Also available for matters of less pressing urgency, with an online support center for trans* and gender identity questions.
INTERNATIONAL FREE/LOW COST MENTAL HEALTH & EMOTIONAL SUPPORT
(Note: If you are in immediate crisis, please see resources listed above.)
Australia Mental Health Resources
Case workers, food vouchers, a sex-worker-friendly therapist directory and much more!!Thanks to: ugly mugs.org
Sober Sex Workers AA Meeting
Sundays on Zoom— the entire community is welcome. DM @SexWorkersAA on Twitter for access.
Free Speech Coalition
The FSC is the official trade organization for adult performers in the U.S. They offer a host of services, including mental health, as well as conflict resolution, a guide to help new performers, and a digital clearinghouse for tracking adult industry STD testing (PASS). If you make porn, definitely check them out.
Pineapple Support
Providing 24/7 online emotional support as well as free and subsidised professional therapy and advice to all performers and producers who have been active in the adult industry within the past 6 months. Mostly centered on the US and UK. They also have a list of sex worker-friendly therapists here.
AMERICAN GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY ASSOCIATION
Group therapy can be a lower cost option than private sessions, and some of us do our best work interacting with others. Affiliated certified group psychotherapists in most states offer group therapy sessions.
COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS (CHC)
Federally funded non-profits providing health care to the underserved, with or without insurance. Sliding scale.
MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA
Support groups are one way to find safe community; they are often free or very low-cost. National list of every kind of support group imaginable on website.
NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF MENTAL ILLNESS (NAMI)
(800) 950-NAMI (6264)
A helpline with trained staff who can answer questions on your mental health symptoms, treatment options, and resolving legal issues. They don’t provide direct counseling, but can help you find an
St. James Infirmary
San Francisco-based sex worker health collective. They literally wrote the book on sex worker health and safety. Available in its entirety here. Everyone who works should read it.
SWOP Checklist for Finding a Sex Work-Positive Therapist
A helpful guide for questions to screen potential therapists, put out by SWOP USA.
San Francisco Sex Information Hotline
A free hotline for everything you EVER wanted to know about sex but were afraid to ask. Seriously. These folks know all.
Kink Aware Professionals
National directory of theraputic professionals who are proactively knowledgeable about and sensitive to a broad array of sexual expressions and identities.
Pros Network Chicago (Providers and Resources Offering Services to sex workers)
A directory of direct service providers and legal, medical and mental health professionals who are capable of providing non-judgmental, client-centric and harm reduction-oriented services to individuals in the sex industry.
TalkSpace.com and 7cups.com
Online counseling services offering internet therapy with licensed therapists at a fraction of the cost of in-person counseling.
Universities
Universities that offer advanced degrees in psychotherapy, social work, counseling, and therapy produce graduates every year, who need thousands of supervised counseling hours to meet licensing requirements. Interns often charge well below the market rate of fully licensed therapists. Look for university-affiliated mental health clinics near you.
Physical & Sexual Health Resources
Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC)
Check out their “Porn 101” video featuring big name porn stars. It covers basic STD transmission information, along with advice for maintaining safety and sanity on the porn set. It’s worth watching even if porn isn’t your career; for folks who make fantasy for a living, they sure know how to get real!
Center for Disease Control (CDC)
If you don't know about sexually transmitted diseases, or want to refresh, a “just the facts” website. Transmission, symptoms, prevention, and treatment for all STDs, along with useful statistics.
St. James Infirmary
Peer-based occupational health and safety clinic for sex workers and their families in San Francisco.
San Francisco Sex Information (SFSI)
(415) 989-SFSI (7374)
The sex ed hotline to end all sex ed hotlines. That crazy out-there sex question that you don’t know who to ask…? SFSI has seen, heard, and done it all.
Scarleteen
Ostensibly for teens and young adults, simply the best sex-ed website around. If you have basic questions about sex or sexual health, Scarleteen will break it all down in a thorough, matter-of-fact, and often funny way that’ll leave you feeling better about the human race.
SWOP Hotline for Adult Workers
(312) 252-3880
A community support "warm-line" (not staffed all the time), for current and former sex workers, activists, organizers, and allies.
Drug Use Harm Reduction
titsandsass.com
Check out Ms. Harm Reduction's column on how to keep on doing what you do as safely as possible.