Dial 988, press 1, or text 838255 — responders trained specifically in military culture, 24/7.

Vet Centers are community-based VA centers offering confidential counseling, support groups, and referrals to veterans and their families — often more accessible and less formal than a VA hospital.

The VA built this specifically for veterans working through PTSD — grounding skills, symptom tracking, and crisis links, all in your pocket.

Call 855-838-8255 (or use their web chat) for free, 24/7 peer support from fellow veterans — active duty, Guard, Reserve, any era — built to reach you before things turn into a crisis, not just after.

Call the 24/7 Talk Line at 845-617-6164 to reach a Peer Leader who's served themselves — veteran, military, or first responder. Not a crisis line, just someone who gets it, whenever you need to talk.

Free programs, clinics, and peer support built for what veterans carry after combat. Its programs are open to post-9/11 veterans, active-duty service members, and their families, who register to take part.

Free counseling from volunteer licensed clinicians who donate their time, running since 2005, open to active duty, reserves, guard, veterans, and in some cases spouses and caregivers. You fill out an intake form and they match you. It is not instant, but it costs nothing and does not run through the VA.

Weekly interviews about surviving the after of military service, hosted by an Army veteran and Gold Star brother, not a clinician reading a script. Free on every major podcast app, no account needed, with hundreds of episodes covering everything from insomnia to identity loss after leaving the service. It is conversation and shared experience, not treatment, so pair it with the VA or a therapist if what you are carrying needs more than listening.

Life after service comes with specific challenges — work, relationships, transition, purpose — and Moving Forward gives veterans practical problem-solving skills for navigating that terrain.

A workbook written by VA psychologists specifically for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, built around what reintegration actually looks like, the sleep that will not come, the anger that surprises you, the distance that creeps in at home. Real exercises, not just chapters to read. It runs $17 to $32, which is worth knowing since most of what we list for veterans is free.

Real recovery stories from veterans who've been exactly where you are and made it through.

Kander was an Army captain in Afghanistan and a rising political name when he walked away from a mayoral race and said publicly that PTSD and suicidal thoughts had him in crisis. This is that story in full, someone with everything to lose choosing treatment over hiding it.

Written by a military psychiatrist for anyone who has come home from a war zone, it takes the things that kept you alive over there and explains why they do not switch off here. The reintegration material holds up. It was published in 2010, so treat the sections on navigating services and treatment as dated.

Shay put veteran testimony next to the Iliad to make a case that changed how people talk about combat trauma, it is not weakness, it is what happens when the moral order you trusted collapses. It is a dense, literary read rather than a set of exercises, but for the right person it is the book that finally makes it make sense.

Short-term, evidence-based therapy for post-9/11 veterans, service members, and military families — PTSD, anger, grief, family strain. Insurance is accepted and cost is not meant to be a barrier, with care sometimes available free if you are uninsured. Twenty-three clinics across fourteen states, with telehealth reaching further.

Thirty free therapy sessions with a real clinician, no VA enrollment, no referral, no diagnosis required, and nothing that touches your record. A twenty-minute intake call is the whole front door. Currently available in twenty states plus DC, so check whether yours is on the list.

24 hours a day, by phone, text, or chat — real, trained people ready to help.

Text HOME to 741741 — when speaking out loud isn't possible, 24/7 in English or Spanish.

If calling feels like too much, the 988 Lifeline's online chat connects you with a trained crisis counselor in real time — text-based, confidential, and available right now.

Day or night, in the language that feels most like home.

24/7 support that affirms LGBTQ+ young people at their most vulnerable.

Peer support run by trans people, for trans and questioning people — full anonymity, no non-consensual active rescue. Hours vary by region and it's weekdays only, so check before you call.