Cover photo by Don Idio
Bassnectar is the latest artist to join in on the conversation about mental health and the importance it carries, even when it’s hard to speak up. Teaming up with nonprofit organization Be Interactive and online counseling portal BetterHelp, Bassnectar announced on September 1st that he’d be sponsoring 1,000 months of therapy to anyone who was ready to sign up. Registration to the program instantly caught fire, booking full in less than 20 hours after being announced. Now, Bassnectar is doubling up on his promise.
Proceeds from Bass Center XII over Labor Day Weekend funded the first round of therapy sessions introduced. On Thursday, Bassnectar announced that the team is pre-emptively taking $2 from every ticket sold to the upcoming Freakstyle event and putting it towards another 1,000 sessions, totaling 2,000 free months of therapy.
2,000 fans will each get one month-long session of therapy through BetterHelp’s online e-counseling services. Digital therapy services are gaining in popularity as a more convenient way to incorporate counseling into our already hectic lives, and BetterHelp’s site lists that 98% of clients felt they made significant progress after some time with e-counseling. It’s not always easy to take the first step towards bettering ourselves or admitting that we need help; Bassnectar’s initiative is not only encouraging his fans, but also alleviating the stress of knowing where to start or how to pay for it.
If you want to donate to the cause but don’t plan on buying a Freakstyle ticket, you can donate to the nonprofit making this all possible: Be Interactive carries the mission of raising money to “fund creative campaigns, catalyze giving, good deeds and volunteer DIY charity activism,” according to their site.
The application pool for the therapy sessions is closed, having already reached 2,000 by the time the second wave of sessions was announced. Overwhelmed by the response, Bassnectar said the team plans to do more in the future. He asks that you stay tuned and check in on @BeInteractiveHQ for updates on the initiative, or, text the Crisis Text Line if you need to at 741741.
Someone is also on the other end of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24/7 waiting to take your call. 1-800-273-8255.
Sometimes life is not all music, pashminas and Island Noodles, and talking out your problems, feelings or worries to a third-party is more helpful than just getting them off your chest. Counselors are there to give you tools to change the way you think so you can be ready for anything life throws at you, and you can bounce back and grow stronger.
Bassnectar said it best in closing his post: “We love you. We support you. YOU ARE NOT ALONE.”