10 Best Mental Health Apps in 2022 (Licensed Professional Counselor-Reviewed)

Sanvello offers a four-pronged approach to help you take control of your mental health and handle stress, anxiety, and depression in a healthy way. Practice self-care with mood tracking, meditations, guided journeys, and CBT-based coping tools. Get support from peers in the Sanvello community.

In addition to these self-guided methods, the app also offers coaching and therapy. Coaches come from health and wellness backgrounds and can provide support via text conversations or group classes. Therapy from licensed clinicians is available in some states via video sessions. 

Some reviewers were unhappy with the free version of this app, saying that the most helpful tools required a subscription, but this may be covered by your insurance. Others were frustrated by how long the onboarding process takes. Some found the user interface to be slow or not intuitive.

However, most reviewers were impressed by this app, saying that it was a tremendous help in managing their mental health. They found it to be very comprehensive, with extensive tracking capabilities and a variety of tools, like articles, meditations, motivational quotes, and mood boards, to help cultivate a positive mindset.

One of the things that makes Shine stand out among mental health apps is that it's created by women of color, and thus takes a more explicitly inclusive approach to self-care. Shine aims to make caring for your mental and emotional health a habit through self-care strategies and community. 

Start each day with the Daily Shine, a mantra or message for reflection and inspiration. Listen to episodes of their podcast-meets-meditation. Keep a gratitude journal and receive recommended articles, meditations, and exercises based on your mood. And discuss self-care topics with the rest of the Shine community.

Some reviewers were turned off by this app's pushing of subscriptions on free users and were disappointed that much of the content requires a subscription. Others found that the interface felt cluttered and said there were sometimes too many options. Some experienced lagging or glitching.

However, most reviewers found this app to be motivational while still being kind, inclusive, and nonjudgmental. They liked that they could choose to do the Daily Shine in under 10 minutes or spend more time doing guided meditations, journaling, responding to reflection prompts, or interacting with the wonderful community. 

Youper is a new way to take care of your mental health using modern technology. Created by doctors and therapists, it uses artificial intelligence to understand your needs and guide you through difficult emotions using evidence-based approaches from mindfulness and various psychotherapy treatments.

Youper attempts to mimic the feeling of having a conversation with a real person without needing to wait for a reply. But if you don't feel like talking, you can also use the app for things like guided meditation, calming sleep sounds, and monitoring symptoms of depression and anxiety. 

Some reviewers didn't like the way this app interacted with them. They found the AI to be repetitive and sometimes frustrating and found that it took more time than they wanted. Others were upset that some of the free features could only be used a few times before needing to pay for them.

However, most of the reviews for Youper are overwhelmingly positive. Reviewers appreciated the conversation format and liked the AI's kind and empathetic tone, which helped them dig deep and reflect on their emotions. They also praised the app for being well-designed, aesthetically pleasing, and easy to use.

Gain insight into how your mood affects your overall wellbeing and actively work to improve it with Moodfit. This app helps you set daily goals for things like gratitude, nutrition, and exercise and tracks them in relation to your mood. You might be surprised at the patterns that emerge.

The app also includes a host of tools you can use to improve your mood fitness, like a gratitude journal, mindfulness meditation, and breathing exercises. It also has a tool that uses cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help you break out of negative thinking patterns. 

Most of the negative reviews for this app were due to the users experiencing glitches, issues logging in, or problems loading certain aspects of the app. The developers responded to the majority of these reviews to provide technical assistance. 

Otherwise, most reviewers gave this app top marks. They praised it for being intuitive and user-friendly and loved that they could customize the goals to fit their lifestyle and needs. They found the charts to be insightful and many of them said the low mood tools had been really helpful for them during difficult times.

Unlock your heroic potential with SuperBetter, an app that activates the psychological strengths of gameplay to build resilience and strength. By challenging yourself in a game, you can build a mindset that better reacts to challenges in the real world. 

SuperBetter's games will have you complete real-life tasks to collect power-ups, battle bad guys, complete quests, recruit allies, and go for epic wins. Created by a game designer, SuperBetter's effectiveness is backed by clinical trials that you can read about on their website.

Some reviewers felt that the design of this app felt dated. Others found that some of the suggested activities weren't inclusive of all abilities or were triggering for those with eating disorders. Some reviewers were frustrated with the app's lack of updates in the past, making it less likely to work properly on all operating systems.

However, most reviewers found this app to be a lighthearted but effective take on self-care. They appreciated that the app prioritizes fun, and found that it helped them feel motivated to stay on track with their goals. Many said it was great for both kids and adults dealing with depression or anxiety.

Most people think of social media as being bad for mental health, but The Mighty is a different kind of app. It's the world's largest digital health community, bringing people together to discuss what it's really like to live with everything from mood disorders to chronic illness. If you ever feel like you're alone, The Mighty can remind you that you're not.

With the app, you can join groups based on specific topics like rare diseases or self-care goals. You can post thoughts or questions for advice, encouragement, and support, and do daily check-ins with other members of the community. You can also read others' stories and follow people and topics to create a personalized home feed. 

Some reviewers mentioned that there are no trigger warnings and no ability to hide specific tags or topics, making this potentially unsuitable for vulnerable users. Others experienced lagging or glitches when trying to access content in the app that made it difficult to use.

However, most users said this app is an amazing resource for people living with chronic conditions, whether it's anxiety, depression, or physical health issues. They said that the ability to connect with others going through the same things made them feel less alone, and having that community right at their fingertips was invaluable.

Whether you're struggling with depression or anxiety or just want to be more aware of your mental state, Moodpath can help you keep track of your feelings and identify patterns. The app will check in with you throughout the day and provide resources to help, including courses, guided meditations, and sleep aids.

It also creates mental health reports detailing your symptoms, as well as statistical reports that provide a snapshot of your mood over time to help detect triggers. Moodpath was developed with help from therapists and doctors and they continuously conduct clinical studies to validate the effectiveness of the app.

Some reviewers were disappointed in the features available in the free version of the app. Others had issues with the questions the app asked, saying that some of them weren't relevant, were difficult to answer, or began to feel repetitive. Some had technical issues with the app resetting and not saving their progress.

However, most reviewers gave this app high scores, saying that it's a great tool for daily mood tracking. They appreciated that the check-ins are fairly quick and that you can choose when they pop up. And they really liked the bi-weekly reports, which allowed them to see their progress and recognize patterns.

Overcome stress, negative thoughts, and life's curveballs using Happify's science-based games and activities. Choose from different tracks like conquering negative thoughts, building self-confidence, or fueling career success, and Happify will provide daily activities to help you achieve your goal.

The activities are developed by scientists and experts in the fields of psychology, mindfulness, and CBT, and they include everything from phone-based games to guided meditation. If you choose to upgrade to Happify Plus, you'll get unlimited access to 30-plus tracks, a 20-page character strength report, and the ability to track your progress over time.

Some reviewers found that there were too many ads for the premium version, making the free version frustrating to use. Others didn't like the gamification aspect of this app, saying that happiness shouldn't be a competition. Some reviewers said that this app wasn't ideal for those with disorders.

However, many reviewers thought this app was a great way to remind them to check in on their mental health. They appreciated the reminders and quick daily tasks, which helped them integrate self-care into their everyday routine. And many of them said that they felt a positive difference in their mindset after using this app.

Talkspace is a subscription therapy service. Once you sign up, they'll match you with a licensed therapist who you can talk to from your device via text, audio, pictures, video messages, and live video chats. Their network includes thousands of therapists across the U.S. with experience treating depression, anxiety, stress, PTSD, and more. 

While the app itself is free to download, using Talkspace does require a paid subscription. Talkspace partners with some health plans and companies, so you can also check with your insurance provider to see if you might qualify. Note that Talkspace is not a replacement for in-person therapy.

Some reviewers complained that this app didn't provide the type of communication they had expected. Responses from therapists via Talkspace are not immediate and can feel more like emailing than texting. Others found it difficult to schedule live sessions with their assigned therapist.

However, many reviewers found that this app was a helpful addition to their self-care practice. They appreciated having a safe space to share their thoughts and problems, knowing that someone would listen and respond. For some of them, it took some trial and error to find the right therapist, but once they did, they saw a significant improvement in their mental health.