headspace Family chat and SMS counselling

The chat is for you if you are a parent or close relative of a young person aged 12–25 and feel the need to share your thoughts about the frustrations and challenges you experience as a relative of a young person who is struggling. In the chat, you can talk through your thoughts, your family’s situation, your role as a relative, and the challenges that can arise when your child is having a difficult time.

You can also use our anonymous SMS counselling, which is available 24/7. SMS messages are answered during our opening hours.

Send us a message at this number: 47 47 10 20

Opening hours for chat

Tuesday: 9:00-15:00

Thursday: 18:00-21:00

Opening hours of SMS-counselling

Tuesday: 9:00-15:00

Wednesday: 9:00-15:00

Thursday: 15:00-21:00

Don’t forget—you can also book a face-to-face or online session at one of our centres.

The chat is free and anonymous. Read more about this below in the section “What can you see about me?”. When you start a chat, you will be directed to a short questionnaire where you can provide your relationship to the young person, your municipality, the topic you wish to discuss, and later, how you felt about the chat experience. Your answers are completely anonymous and confidential. When a counsellor becomes available, you will be connected to a conversation. There may sometimes be a waiting time.

If there is a wait, you will be told your place in the queue. When a counsellor becomes available, a sound will play, and you can start the chat. In urgent or life-threatening situations, we always refer to calling 112.

All our counsellors are bound by confidentiality, and they cannot see or store your IP address or email. For more information about how we handle your data, you can read more here: Privacy Policy – headspace

The chat is for you as a caregiver of a young person aged 12-25 who needs someone to talk to about the frustrations and challenges you experience as a caregiver.

You are also welcome to chat if you are a professional and would like to discuss anything related to a young person you are in contact with or questions about services for them.

On the chat, you will meet a volunteer counselor who is ready to talk to you about whatever is going on in your life. The volunteer advisor has been in a difficult situation with their own child or has been closely related to a child in distress and can therefore put themselves in your shoes. All our volunteer counselors have completed mandatory training, and there is always a staff member present to support our counselors in all conversations.

In the chat, you can always be anonymous. This means we can't see who you are, where you are or what you are doing.

During the chat conversation, you may provide us with information about yourself. We use this information to provide you with the best and most effective support and advice possible. Therefore, we always ask for your consent to process the personal data you provide during the chat conversation before you can chat with us.

If you do not want us to process your personal data, please be aware of what information you choose to share with us during the chat conversation.

When you start a chat, you will be asked to fill out a questionnaire. We use this information to better serve you and others who use our chat.

At the end of a chat conversation, you will also be asked to fill out a questionnaire. Your answers will give us an insight into the concerns of those who use our chat.

For more information about our processing of your data, read more Privacy policy - headspace

Duty of confidentiality, duty to notify and duty to prevent   
In the chat, we want to create a safe space where you can share your thoughts without worrying about it being passed on. That's why all our volunteer and paid youth counselors are bound by confidentiality, which means they are not allowed to share what you say with anyone outside of headspace.

Under the law, confidentiality may be overridden in certain situations. Staff and volunteers in the chat are therefore required to notify the municipality if we become aware of, or have reason to believe, that a child or young person under 18 needs special support, or if we learn that a child or young person under 18 is being neglected or subjected to degrading treatment by their parents or other caregivers, or is living in conditions that endanger their health or development. The purpose of this is to ensure that the child or young person receives the necessary help.

All adults in Denmark have a duty to prevent harm according to the law. This means that in certain cases, if we assess that you are a danger to yourself or others, headspace may ask for your identity to ensure you receive the right help. This applies, for example, if you are at risk of suicide or have plans to harm another person.

A chat conversation often lasts between an hour to an hour and a half.

In the chat you are always welcome again - and as many times and as often as you need.

It’s not possible to request specific counsellors, but we can guarantee that no matter who you talk to, you remain anonymous, and we will always do our best to help you.

If, after our chat, you’d like to book a conversation at one of our many headspace centres, you’re very welcome to do so.
You can find addresses and contact details of our centers here.

It’s important to us that you have a positive experience using our counselling services.

If you feel that you have had a bad experience with headspace Family, we encourage you to submit a written complaint and tell us about your experience.

What you can do here.