Counslr Launches in Texas to Increase Access to Mental Health Support for Staff and Students
Counslr Provides Unlimited Text-based Mental Health Support and Wellness Resources As Need Grows in Texas School Communities
NEW YORK, June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Counslr, a leading B2B mental health and wellness platform, announced today that it has expanded its footprint into the State of Texas starting with a partnership with Colorado Independent School District (ISD) in Colorado City, TX. This partnership will empower students and staff to prioritize their mental health by enabling them to access unlimited live texting sessions with Counslr's licensed and vetted mental health support professionals, who are available on-demand, 24/7/365 and also utilize the app's robust and curated wellness resources. By increasing accessibility to Counslr's round-the-clock support, Colorado ISD aims to empower those silent sufferers who previously did not or could not access care, whether due to cost, inconvenience, or stigma.
Texas is facing a critical mental health care crisis, with over 95% of its counties officially designated as Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas. This alarming statistic underscores the severe lack of access to mental health services across the state, particularly in rural, border, and frontier communities. This resource scarcity underscores the urgent need for additional resources and innovative solutions to bridge this critical care gap for school communities.
'We're excited to partner with Counslr to bring innovative, accessible mental health resources to our school community,' said Alison Alvarez, Family and Community Engagement Coordinator, of Colorado ISD. 'This partnership empowers our 6-12 grade students and staff with the support they need to thrive—both in and out of the classroom.'
As factors such as academic pressures, social media influence, burnout and world events contribute to an increase in mental health challenges for young people, schools throughout the country are recognizing the growing need to offer more accessible, prevention-focused resources. A recent study found that digital mental health apps like Counslr can play an important role in expanding access to mental health support, especially for school communities. Most users turned to Counslr through on-demand sessions, showing just how valuable it is to have someone available in the moment when support is needed most. Interestingly, more than 80% of sessions happened between 7 PM and 5 AM, a time when traditional counseling services are usually unavailable. This suggests that Counslr helps fill a critical gap, offering students and school community members a reliable way to talk to licensed counselors around the clock. The app was also used for a wide range of concerns, highlighting its potential to meet diverse mental health needs through both immediate and scheduled support.
'As we expand across the country, we're proud to partner with new school communities to ensure that every student, regardless of location or background, has access to the mental health support they deserve,' said Josh Liss, Counslr CEO. Adding that, 'With most of Counslr's users being first-time care seekers, we're excited to help reach those traditionally unreachable, who need help but do not or cannot access it, no matter where they are located.'
ABOUT COUNSLRCounslr is a text-based mental health support application that provides unlimited access to robust wellness resources and live texting sessions with licensed professionals, 24/7/365. Users can access support on-demand within two minutes of opening the app, or by scheduled appointment. Through real-time texting, users enjoy one-on-one, private communication with a licensed counselor that can be conducted anytime, anywhere. Counslr was designed to help individuals deal with life's day-to-day issues, empowering individuals to address concerns while they are 'small' to help ensure that they stay 'small'. Counslr partners with organizations of all shapes and sizes (companies, unions, nonprofits, universities/colleges, high schools, etc) so that these entities can provide Counslr's services to their employees/members/students at no direct cost. For more information, please visit www.counslr.com.
CONTACT:Kristen Nihamin(917) 509-9028
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Kennedy's HHS sent Congress ‘junk science' to defend vaccine changes, experts say
Vaccines Federal agencies Congressional news Respiratory virusesFacebookTweetLink Follow A document the Department of Health and Human Services sent to lawmakers to support Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to change U.S. policy on covid vaccines cites scientific studies that are unpublished or under dispute and mischaracterizes others. One health expert called the document 'willful medical disinformation' about the safety of covid vaccines for children and pregnant women. 'It is so far out of left field that I find it insulting to our members of Congress that they would actually give them something like this. Congress members are relying on these agencies to provide them with valid information, and it's just not there,' said Mark Turrentine, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine. Kennedy, who was an anti-vaccine activist before taking a role in the Trump administration, announced May 27 that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would no longer recommend covid vaccines for pregnant women or healthy children, bypassing the agency's formal process for adjusting its vaccine schedules for adults and kids. The announcement, made on the social platform X, has been met with outrage by many pediatricians and scientists. The HHS document meant to support Kennedy's decision, obtained by KFF Health News, was sent to members of Congress who questioned the science and process behind his move, according to one federal official who asked not to be identified because he wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The document has not been posted on the HHS website, though it is the first detailed explanation of Kennedy's announcement from the agency. Titled 'Covid Recommendation FAQ,' the document distorts some legitimate studies and cites others that are disputed and unpublished, medical experts say. HHS director of communications Andrew Nixon told KFF Health News, 'There is no distortion of the studies in this document. The underlying data speaks for itself, and it raises legitimate safety concerns. HHS will not ignore that evidence or downplay it. We will follow the data and the science.' HHS did not respond to a request to name the author of the document. One of the studies the HHS document cites is under investigation by its publisher regarding 'potential issues with the research methodology and conclusions and author conflicts of interest,' according to a link on the study's webpage. 'This is RFK Jr.'s playbook,' said Sean O'Leary, chair of the Committee on Infectious Diseases for the American Academy of Pediatrics and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. 'Either cherry-pick from good science or take junk science to support his premise — this has been his playbook for 20 years.' Another study cited in the document is a preprint that has not been peer-reviewed. Under the study's title is an alert that 'it reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.' Though the preprint was made available a year ago, it has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal. The FAQ supporting Kennedy's decision claims that 'post-marketing studies' of covid vaccines have identified 'serious adverse effects, such as an increased risk of myocarditis and pericarditis' — conditions in which the heart's muscle or its covering, the pericardium, suffer inflammation. False claims that the 2024 preprint showed myocarditis and pericarditis only in people who received a covid vaccine, and not in people infected with covid, circulated on social media. One of the study's co-authors publicly rejected that idea, because the study did not compare outcomes between people who were vaccinated and those infected with the covid virus. The study also focused only on children and adolescents. The HHS document omitted numerous other peer-reviewed studies that have shown that the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis is greater after contracting covid for both vaccinated and non-vaccinated people than the risk of the same complications after vaccination alone. O'Leary said that while some cases of myocarditis were reported in vaccinated adolescent boys and young men early in the covid pandemic, the rates declined after the two initial doses of covid vaccines were spaced further apart. Now, adolescents and adults who have not been previously vaccinated receive only one shot, and myocarditis no longer shows up in the data, O'Leary said, referring to the CDC's Vaccine Safety Datalink. 'There is no increased risk at this point that we can identify,' he said. In two instances, the HHS memo makes claims that are actively refuted by the papers it cites to back them up. Both papers support the safety and effectiveness of covid vaccines for pregnant women. The HHS document says that another paper it cites found 'an increase in placental blood clotting in pregnant mothers who took the vaccine.' But the paper doesn't contain any reference to placental blood clots or to pregnant women. 'I've now read it three times. And I cannot find that anywhere,' said Turrentine, the OB-GYN professor. If he were grading the HHS document, 'I would give this an 'F,'' Turrentine said. 'This is not supported by anything and it's not using medical evidence.' While members of Congress who are physicians should know to check references in the paper, they may not take the time to do so, said Neil Silverman, a professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology who directs the Infectious Diseases in Pregnancy Program at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. 'They're going to assume this is coming from a scientific agency. So they are being hoodwinked along with everyone else who has had access to this document,' Silverman said. The offices of three Republicans in Congress who are medical doctors serving on House and Senate committees focused on health, including Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), did not respond to requests for comment about whether they received the memo. Emily Druckman, communications director for Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.), a physician serving on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, confirmed that Schrier's office did receive a copy of the document. 'The problem is a lot of legislators and even their staffers, they don't have the expertise to be able to pick those references apart,' O'Leary said. 'But this one — I've seen much better anti-vaccine propaganda than this, frankly.' C.J. Young, deputy communications director for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, confirmed that Democratic staff members of the committee received the document from HHS. In the past, he said, similar documents would help clarify the justification and scope of an administration's policy change and could be assumed to be scientifically accurate, Young said. 'This feels like it's breaking new ground. I don't think that we saw this level of sloppiness or inattention to detail or lack of consideration for scientific merit under the first Trump administration,' Young said. On June 4, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Schrier introduced a bill that would require Kennedy to adopt official vaccine decisions from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP. Young said the motivation behind the bill was Kennedy's decision to change the covid vaccine schedule without the input of ACIP's vaccine experts, who play a key role in setting CDC policies around vaccine schedules and access. Kennedy announced June 9 on X that he would remove all 17 members of ACIP, citing alleged conflicts of interest he did not detail, and replace them. He announced eight replacements June 11, including people who had criticized vaccine mandates during the covid pandemic. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.


Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Colon Cancer Cases Are Rising. Here's How To Get Screened.
Photo of person getting colon cancer screening Colon cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths. It typically begins as a small growth of tissue called a polyp in the lining of the colon or rectum. While not all polyps become cancerous, most colon cancers start as polyps, making early detection and removal critical. Fortunately, colon cancer is highly preventable and survivable. Regular screening plays a key role in identifying and removing precancerous polyps and early-stage cancers, when treatment is most effective. In fact, 9 out of 10 people survive when colon cancer is found early. Without screening, undetected cancers can progress to advanced stages, such as Stage III and IV, which are associated with poorer outcomes. Colorectal cancer is projected to claim 53,000 lives in 2025. Understanding your colon cancer screening options will allow you to make informed choices alongside your clinician. The American Cancer Society now recommends that individuals at average risk begin regular colon cancer screening at age 45, a shift from the previous benchmark of 50. The lowered screening age reflects rising rates of colon cancer in younger adults and historically low screening compliance for older adults. You may need to start earlier than 45 if you have: As an example, if your sibling was diagnosed with Stage 1 colon cancer at age 40, you wouldn't wait until 45 for your first colonoscopy. Instead, you'd start 10 years before their diagnosis—at age 30. Given how risk factors change one's initial screening age it is of critical importance for individuals to know their personal and family history when speaking with their clinician about initial screening. Reminder on to do list to schedule a colonoscopy 1. Colonoscopy What it is: A procedure that uses a flexible tube with a camera to examine the entire colon. If polyps are found, they can be removed during the procedure. 'A colonoscopy is the gold standard and most preferred method because we can examine the entire colon, locate where the early growths (polyps) are, and remove them on the spot. This is what makes a colonoscopy a cancer prevention procedure," says Dr. Austin Chiang, Gastroenterologist and author of Gut: An Owner's Guide. Other details: This procedure requires patients to undergo preparation (e.g. dietary modifications and laxatives) beforehand to clear the colon so that there is adequate visualization. Since it is performed under sedation most people experience little to no discomfort and have no memory of the exam. The entire process usually takes less than an hour. 2. Flexible Sigmoidoscopy What it is: A flexible sigmoidoscopy examines only part of the colon, called the sigmoid colon, where colorectal cancer is commonly found. 'Some prefer this method because it doesn't require drinking a full bowel prep, but the tradeoff is that most of the colon is left unexamined," says Chiang. Other details: Flexible sigmoidoscopy often uses lighter sedation or none at all. Some patients may experience mild cramping during the approximately 20-minute procedure. While less comprehensive than a full colonoscopy, it can be a more convenient option for some. 3. CT Colonography What it is: A CT scan that produces 3D images of the colon and rectum to identify abnormalities. However, 'if any abnormalities are found, a traditional colonoscopy is still required for further evaluation or removal, ' says Chiang. Other details: It exposes patients to a low dose of radiation and is best at detecting larger polyps (>1cm). Thus smaller polyps may go undetected. 4. Capsule Endoscopy (e.g. Pill Endoscopy) Camera capsule for intestinal examination What it is: A swallowable capsule with a tiny camera that takes thousands of pictures as it travels through the digestive tract. 'Capsule endoscopy can be used to visualize the colon only after incomplete or inadequate colonoscopy. Like other non-invasive tests, including CT colonography, no intervention can be performed during the test,' says Chiang. Other details: Capsule endoscopy is painless and does not require sedation, but preparation is similar to that for a colonoscopy. The images are transported to an external wearable device and the capsule does not need to be returned. This test's accuracy can vary based on preparation of bowel. It cannot remove polyps. 5. Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) What it is: A stool test that detects hidden (occult) blood in the stool, which may signal cancer. 'A FIT test is done annually, and is designed to detect hidden blood coming from the colon. It is a noninvasive colorectal cancer detection test, designed to detect colorectal cancer," says Dr. Sophie Balzora, Gastroenterologist at NYU. Other details: FIT does not require any bowel preparation or dietary restrictions, making it a more convenient option. However, it cannot detect precancerous polyps and must be completed annually to remain effective. 6. Guaiac-based Fecal Occult Blood Test What it is: Similar to FIT but uses a different chemical method to detect blood in the stool. 'This has essentially fallen out of favor. There are better screening detection tests available for average-risk individuals," says Balzora. Other details: This test may require dietary changes before stool sample collection. It is recommended annually but is less accurate and largely outdated. 7. Stool DNA Test (e.g. Cologuard) What it is: Stool DNA test combines FIT with a DNA test to detect cancer-related DNA mutations in stool. 'It is done every 3 years assuming a negative test. It, too, is designed to detect colorectal cancer, and not the precancerous growths, or polyps, ' says Balzora. Other details: It requires no dietary restrictions ahead of giving a stool sample. However, positive results necessitate follow-up with a colonoscopy. Colon cancer screening is not a one time event. It needs to be repeated to monitor for interval change in the colon. However, the frequency of screening is variable. 'If someone has many precancerous polyps, even one large polyp (over 1 cm—about the size of a pea), or polyps with certain microscopic features, they are recommended to come in sooner for their next colonoscopy than someone at average risk or with no prior polyps,' says Balzora. Regular screening for colon cancer is a powerful tool in reducing the incidence and mortality associated with the disease. While the gold standard test is a colonoscopy, the right test for you depends on your risk level, personal preferences, and access to testing. Speak with your healthcare provider to determine the most appropriate option and timing. The most important point is to not delay screening.


Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Investigation finds medications were contributing factor in medical flight crash
CHELSEA, Ala. — Federal investigators found that a pilot's medication use may have been a contributing factor in a 2023 medical helicopter crash that killed two in Alabama . The National Transportation Safety Board released the final report this month on the April 2, 2023, accident. The Airbus EC130 medical helicopter crashed near the community of Chelsea in Shelby County with the three crew aboard. The pilot and a nurse on the flight were killed.