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Whole Child Counseling

Apps for Anxiety, Stress Relief and Relaxation for Kids and Adults

Updated: 3 days ago



Breathe 2 Relax: Android, Apple


  • Description from the developers: This app is a stress management tool, which will help you learn how to perform and use diaphragmatic breathing techniques for stress control. It also provides you with education about the biology of stress, the effects of stress on the body, how to do diaphragmatic breathing, and the biology of breathing. Using this app can be helpful to your meditation practice as well. Even though this app was developed by the Department of Defense (DoD) and T2, it is not restricted to use by military or veterans.



  • Description from the developers: Sleep more. Stress Less. Live Better. Join the millions experiencing better sleep, lower stress, and less anxiety with Calm.


Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame: Android, Apple


  • Description from the developers: Laugh and learn as you help a Sesame Street monster friend calm down and solve everyday challenges. This bilingual (English and Spanish), research-based app helps your child learn Sesame’s “Breathe, Think, Do” strategy for problem-solving. Tap and touch to help the monster friend take deep breaths, think of plans, and try them out! Your child will enjoy silly animations and playful interactions as she is exposed to important emotional vocabulary, a calm breathing technique, personalized encouragements, and more!

Headspace: Guided Meditation and Mindfulness: Available here

  • Description from the developers: Meditation has been shown to help people stress less, focus more and even sleep better. Headspace is meditation made simple. We'll teach you the life-changing skills of meditation and mindfulness in just a few minutes a day.


Stop, Breathe, and Think Kids: Available here

  • Description from the developers: Help kids discover their superpowers of quiet, focus and peaceful sleep with our easy-to-use app! Check in with how you are feeling and choose one of our missions to help create your very own force field of calm. For children ages 5 – 10.


Stop, Breathe and Think: Available here


  • Description from the developers: Check in with how you’re feeling, and try short activities tuned to your emotions.


Breathing Bubbles: Android, Apple


  • Description from the developers: Emotional well-being is critical for children. Breathing Bubbles is an app specifically designed for Samsung Tab 4 and Samsung Note 8 tablets that helps kids practice releasing worries and focusing on good feelings. Select an emotion and rate how strongly you are feeling that emotion. Choose to either release a worry or receive a joy. When releasing a worry, type it into the bubble and watch it float away as you breathe deeply with Manny the Manatee. When receiving a joy, type it into the bubble and watch it float toward you as you breathe deeply with Manny the Manatee. We are not our worries and sometimes it helps to get some distance from them. Spending time thinking about the things that bring us joy shifts our mood and improves overall well-being.


Smiling Mind: Available here

  • Description from the developers: Practice your daily meditation and mindfulness exercises from any device. Smiling Mind is a unique tool developed by psychologists and educators to help bring balance to your life. We suggest 10 minutes a day. What are you waiting for?


Sanvello: Android, Apple


  • Description from the developers: On-demand help for stress, anxiety, and depression. Formerly Pacifica, Sanvello offers clinically validated techniques and support to help you relieve symptoms. Upgrade through your health plan: Sanvello is now covered for millions.


Antistress: Android, Apple

  • Description from the developers: When you need relaxation, diversion or just a moment of distraction enjoy this collection of toys: hear the sound of a bamboo chime, play with wooden boxes, swipe gently your finger in the water, tap buttons, draw with chalks and so on! Are you waiting for something and you need a diversion? Open Antistress app and start playing with a Newton's cradle! Are you furious with someone? Have some relaxation with the never-old fifteen game! Do you need distraction from study? Open Antistress app and choose one of 50 (fifty!!!) toys to play!


Relax Melodies: Available here

  • Description from the developers: Discover Relax Melodies: the soothing app that makes sleep easy.


  • Description from the developers: Tiny conversations to feel your best. Get hundreds of expert-crafted tools to learn about yourself and improve your mood whenever you need them.


3 Minute Mindfulness: Apple


  • Description from the developers: 3 Minute Mindfulness was designed to make Mindfulness as quick, easy and accessible as possible. The app contains meditations, breathing exercises and courses help you relax, reduce anxiety, improve sleep and much more.

Happify: Android, Apple


  • Description from the developers: Overcome negative thoughts, stress, and life’s challenges! Happify is the single destination for effective, evidence-based solutions for better mental health.


Insight Timer: Available here


  • Description from the developers: number one 1 free app for sleep, anxiety and stress.

Virtual Hope Box: Android, Apple

  • Description from the developers: Contains simple tools to help patients with coping, relaxation, distraction, and positive thinking. Patients and providers can work together to personalize the VHB content on the patient's own smartphone according to the patient's specific needs.


Colorfy: Android, Apple


  • Description from the developers: Coloring therapy for adults now on your mobile. The secret against anxiety. Let the colors fill your mind in a relaxing painting experience. Time flies by and problems fade away while you chill out and have fun.


iSleepEasy Free: Android, Apple


  • Description from the developers: A calm voice helps you manage anxieties, relax and sleep, in an array of guided meditations and nature sounds.


Mindshift CBT: Android, Apple


  • Description from the developers: Free Evidence-Based Mental Health Relief: Is anxiety getting in the way of your life? MindShift™ CBT uses scientifically proven strategies based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help you learn to relax and be mindful, develop more effective ways of thinking, and use active steps to take charge of your anxiety.


Mood 24/7: Available here


  • Description from the developers: Get to Know Yourself - Developed by HealthCentral based on technology licensed exclusively from Johns Hopkins University to help you track your daily mood. Sign up for free and pick a time of day to receive a text message. You can even share your results with doctors, family and friends in your trusted circle.


Mood Meter: Android, Apple


  • Description from the developers: A gift of self awareness for yourself, and for others. Based on decades of research from Yale. Tell your Mood Meter mobile app how you feel and build emotional intelligence that lasts a lifetime.


iChill: Android, Apple


  • Description from the developers: Are you stressed out, not feeling like yourself or worried about a family member? iChill can help by teaching you the Community Resiliency Model, a set of self-help skills. You will learn simple info about how stress affects the mind and body.


Calm Harm: Android, Apple


  • Description from the developers: Calm Harm provides tasks to help you resist or manage the urge to self-harm. If you want to you can set a password so that it's completely private. You can also personalise it if you wish, by choosing the background colour theme and deciding on whether you would like some company using a variety of friendly characters.


DreamyKid: Apple


  • Description from the developers: The DreamyKid meditation app offers meditation, guided visualization and affirmations curated just for children & teens. It uses proven techniques that teach your kids methods to guide them towards a happier life through mindfulness.


Super Stretch Yoga: Android, Apple


  • Description from the developers: Super Stretch is an educational yoga tool to use and teach the fun of physical activity and breathing to children. They will use the skills of self-awareness, self-esteem and self-regulation that they learn from this app as a foundation for the rest of their lives.


There are many mental health apps and websites which are rated at https://psyberguide.org/



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