Guides
Plain, step-by-step guides for reaching care.
Understand the system
How health care in the US works (for newcomers)
A friendly orientation to how care and coverage work in the United States, so you can find your way to mental health support.
US clinics: what to expect and how visits work
A gentle walk through how US clinic visits usually go, from checking in to picking up a prescription, so the room feels familiar before you arrive.
Is this stress, or something more? Knowing when to get help
How to notice common signs of distress, and to know that these are ordinary, treatable health conditions you can get help for.
Language help: interpreters, plain language, and learning English
How to get language help for your care today, plus free, optional ways to keep learning English at your own pace.
Mental health across cultures: the body, family, and faith
Distress can look different across cultures. Physical symptoms, family, and faith all have a place, and care can fit your background.
What counts as a mental health condition
A plain summary of common mental health symptoms and conditions, from everyday stress to serious illness, and how diagnosis works.
How mental health care works in the United States
A plain map of the U.S. mental health system: the doors in, the levels of care, and how to check the rules in your own state.
Private therapists vs public mental health programs
Two main ways to get care in the US, what each is for, and the key point that private therapy can be covered by insurance too.
What behavioral health services exist, and what each is for
A map of the kinds of behavioral health care in the United States, from a quick check-in to crisis help, and what each one does.
Mental health programs, explained (a New York example)
Program names can be confusing and differ by state. Here is what the main kinds of mental health programs are, using New York as an example.
Finding mental health care in Michigan (a state example)
How Michigan's public mental health system works and how to get care there, as a concrete example of how states differ.
Who's who: the different mental health providers
A plain guide to the people who provide mental health care, so you can choose the right kind of help for you.
Who is a community health worker, and what do they do?
A plain guide to community health workers: trusted people from your community who help you find care, understand the system, and get to your appointments.
Getting mental health help for your child or teen
If your child or teen is struggling, you have many doors to help, and you do not have to find them in English or alone.
Kinds of therapy and treatment, explained simply
A plain guide to talk therapies, medication, and other treatment options, so you know what your choices are.
Can I get mental health care? Your rights, whatever your status
Fear about immigration status stops many people from getting help; here is what is true about your access to care.
Mental health support for refugees and asylees
If you came here as a refugee or asylee, you may carry stress from what you lived through, and there is real, caring help for it.
The laws behind your language rights in health care
The federal and state rules that give you language access in mental health care, in plain terms.
Helping a family member or friend
How to gently support someone you love through a hard time and help them reach the care they deserve.
Find care
Find a mental health provider who speaks your language
Practical, repeatable ways to find a counselor or therapist in your language, or one who works with a free interpreter.
Your right to a free, qualified interpreter
In the United States you have the right to a free, qualified interpreter for important health care, and asking for one is simpler than it sounds.
Finding a therapist who fits you: language, culture, and identity
Why a provider who shares your language, culture, or background can help, and concrete ways to find one.
Free and low-cost care: community health centers and sliding scales
When money or insurance is the worry, community health centers offer care to everyone on a sliding scale, in your language.
Getting care if you are undocumented or uninsured
You can still get mental health care without papers or insurance. Here is where to go and what it costs.
What care costs, and how insurance works
The cost and coverage basics you need before you book, so a surprise bill never keeps you from care.
Telehealth: getting mental health care by phone or video
How online and phone therapy works, why it can make care in your language easier, and what you need to start.
Mental health help through your job
If you are employed, you may have free counseling, insurance, and job-protected leave you did not know about.
Paperwork & insurance
Make sense of the letters your insurance sends
The letters and statements from your health plan can look scary, but most of them are easy to understand once you know what each part means.
Understanding the forms: intake, consent, and release
Before your first visit you will be asked to fill out and sign several forms; here is what each one means, your privacy rights, and your right to understand every form first.
Your privacy: who can see your mental health records
Your mental health information is protected by law; here is who can see it, what you control, and why a clinic is not an immigration office.
Getting your money back: insurance claims and reimbursement
How to use insurance to get paid back for mental health care, including out-of-network claims and appeals.
At the visit
Getting to your appointment: transport, childcare, time off, and cost
Practical ways to get past the everyday barriers that keep people from care, including free rides, childcare, and time off.
Booking your first appointment: a phone call and an online form
Practice booking your first mental health appointment by phone or online, with a script you can use to ask for a free interpreter.
Getting ready for your first visit
What to bring, what will happen, and the questions you can ask so your first visit goes well, with nothing decided without you.
Working with an interpreter
You can ask for a trained interpreter, it should be free, and a few simple habits make the whole visit clearer.
Repeat it back: making sure you understood
A simple, proven habit for catching misunderstandings: say important information back in your own words and ask if you got it right.
What actually happens in therapy
A friendly walk through what a first therapy session is really like, so it feels familiar before you go.
What stays private, and what a provider must report
Worry about who might find out keeps many people from getting help, so here is what stays private in mental health care and the few narrow times a provider may have to act.
Using AI safely
Using AI safely for your health
AI tools can help you get ready, but they can be wrong. Here is how to use them safely for your health and your language.
AI gets things wrong: why, when, and how to check
AI can sound sure and still be wrong. Here is why it happens and a simple habit for checking any answer that matters.
Make your own guess first: treating AI answers as drafts
A couple of small habits make AI much safer to use: think about what you expect before you ask, treat the answer as a draft, and confirm the specific, local details like a phone number or who qualifies before you act.
What to ask AI, and what to ask people
A simple green, yellow, and red guide for deciding when a chatbot is enough and when you need a person.
AI may answer worse in your language
AI tools often give weaker answers in languages other than English. Here is why, and what to do about it.
Spotting health misinformation made by AI
AI can mass-produce convincing fake health content. Learn the techniques to recognize it and a simple habit for checking.
Getting the most out of Ask Chatbot
What the LINC assistant can and cannot do, and how to ask so it actually helps.
AI translation and mental health apps: what to trust
When you can rely on AI translation, and how to pick a mental health app that respects your privacy.
How LINC uses AI
A plain, honest account of which parts of LINC are AI, which parts are human, and what we do and do not do with your information.