This site discusses love obsession and love addiction, compulsive sexual behavior, and sexual trauma directly. If any of it lands harder than expected, the are available at any time, or it is always all right to . Every quoted reflection and every personal account on this site is fiction. Dr. Lapite-Garrett writes them from her own clinical knowledge and expertise. She uses AI as a drafting tool and approves every word. They are never a client’s words and never a client’s history, and no client information of any kind was used to make them.

Crisis Resources

If you are in immediate physical danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. 911 is answered locally, around the clock, from anywhere in the United States. The federal program behind it publishes at 911.gov, which explains how 911 works and what happens when a call is placed; it is a reference site and not a way to reach help, so in an emergency place the call rather than opening the page.

Alafiora is an outpatient psychological practice and is not a crisis or emergency service. Calls, messages, voicemail, and the forms on this website are not monitored around the clock and are not equipped for crisis intervention. Anyone in immediate danger, or thinking about harming themselves, is better served by one of the lines below.

The resources below are free to contact, and you do not need to be a client of this practice, or of any practice, to use them. All of them are staffed continuously except Trans Lifeline, which keeps its own hours. What each one does with what you tell it varies: some will contact emergency services if they believe someone is in danger, and some will not without your consent. Where that is known, it is noted below. Find the one that matches what is happening, and reach out.

What This Page Covers
  1. If You Are Thinking About Suicide or Self-Harm
  2. If You Have Experienced Sexual Assault
  3. If You Are Experiencing Domestic Violence or Intimate Partner Abuse
  4. If You Are Being Trafficked or Are Concerned Someone Else Is
  5. If You Are an LGBTQ+ Young Person in Crisis
  6. If a Child Is Being Abused, or You Are an Adult Who Was Abused as a Child and Need to Talk Now
  7. If You Want to Talk to Someone Who Shares Your Experience of Race and Racism
  8. If You Are a Veteran, Service Member, or Military Family Member
  9. If You Are Transgender or Nonbinary
  10. If You Are Native or Indigenous
  11. If You Are Deaf, DeafBlind, or Hard of Hearing
  12. If You Are Struggling With Substance Use, or a Mental Health Crisis That Is Not Immediately Life-Threatening
  13. If You Would Rather Write Than Speak
  14. For General Guidance on Caring for Your Mental Health
Also in Alafiora

If You Are Thinking About Suicide or Self-Harm

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Call or text 988. Available 24 hours a day, every day, in English and Spanish. Chat is also available at 988lifeline.org.

If You Have Experienced Sexual Assault

RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline Call 1-800-656-4673 (1-800-656-HOPE). Online chat is also available at hotline.rainn.org. Available 24 hours a day. You will be connected with a trained staff member from a local sexual assault service provider.

If You Are Experiencing Domestic Violence or Intimate Partner Abuse

National Domestic Violence Hotline Call 1-800-799-7233 (1-800-799-SAFE), or text START to 88788. Online chat is available at thehotline.org. Available 24 hours a day, every day, in more than 200 languages through interpretation services.

If You Are Being Trafficked or Are Concerned Someone Else Is

National Human Trafficking Hotline Call 1-888-373-7888, or text HELP to 233733. Online chat is available at humantraffickinghotline.org. Available 24 hours a day, confidential, and able to connect callers with local emergency, social service, and law enforcement resources.

If You Are an LGBTQ+ Young Person in Crisis

The Trevor Project Call 1-866-488-7386, text START to 678-678, or chat online at thetrevorproject.org. Available 24 hours a day for LGBTQ+ young people under 25.

If a Child Is Being Abused, or You Are an Adult Who Was Abused as a Child and Need to Talk Now

Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline Call or text 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-CHILD). Available 24 hours a day, in more than 170 languages, staffed by professional crisis counselors.

If You Want to Talk to Someone Who Shares Your Experience of Race and Racism

Call BlackLine Call or text 1-800-604-5841. More at callblackline.com. A peer-support and counseling line created for Black, Black LGBTQ+, Brown, Native and Muslim callers. Call BlackLine describes its focus as including the reporting of mistreatment by police or vigilantes, and states that callers may remain anonymous.

If You Are a Veteran, Service Member, or Military Family Member

Veterans Crisis Line Dial 988 then press 1, text 838255, or chat at veteranscrisisline.net. Available 24 hours a day to veterans, service members, National Guard and Reserve members, and their families. You do not need to be enrolled in VA benefits or registered with the VA to use it.

DoD Safe Helpline Call 877-995-5247 or visit safehelpline.org. Confidential, 24-hour crisis support specifically for members of the Department of Defense community affected by sexual assault, including a service that does not report to the chain of command.

If You Are Transgender or Nonbinary

Trans Lifeline Call 1-877-565-8860. More at translifeline.org. A peer-support line staffed by trans operators. Trans Lifeline states that it does not call emergency services or law enforcement without a caller's explicit request. This is the one line on this page that is not staffed around the clock; its current hours are on its own site.

If You Are Native or Indigenous

StrongHearts Native Helpline Call or text 1-844-762-8483, or chat at strongheartshelpline.org. A culturally appropriate, anonymous and confidential line for Native Americans and Alaska Natives affected by domestic, dating, or sexual violence.

If You Are Deaf, DeafBlind, or Hard of Hearing

National Deaf Domestic Violence Hotline Videophone 1-855-812-1001, or visit thedeafhotline.org. Support by Deaf advocates in American Sign Language for Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled and hard-of-hearing survivors of domestic and sexual violence.

If You Are Struggling With Substance Use, or a Mental Health Crisis That Is Not Immediately Life-Threatening

SAMHSA National Helpline Call 1-800-662-4357 (1-800-662-HELP). Available 24 hours a day, confidential, free, in English and Spanish. This line provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community organizations, and does not provide counseling directly.

If You Would Rather Write Than Speak

Crisis Text Line Text HOME to 741741. Available 24 hours a day, free, in English and Spanish, staffed by trained volunteer crisis counselors. For anyone who cannot speak safely, or who finds it easier to type than to talk.

For General Guidance on Caring for Your Mental Health

CDC: Caring for Your Mental Health The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains a general resource on recognizing signs of stress, coping strategies, and when and how to seek support: cdc.gov/mental-health/caring. This is a general informational resource, not a crisis line; if you need to talk to someone right now, use one of the hotlines above instead.

None of the organizations listed above are operated by Alafiora LLC, and reaching out to any of them does not create a relationship with this practice. Alafiora LLC is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of them, and all names and marks referenced are the property of their respective owners. They are listed here because they are established, they are free, and they are reachable from anywhere in the United States.