Chat Support FAQs

What Is a Crisis Chat? This is any chat where the user expresses thoughts of self-harming or suicide. Recently it has come to our attention that some Listeners have been asking whether the thought or feeling is passive or active, this is not something we should be asking. Please do not ask for this information. Passive suicidal thoughts (also known as suicidal ideation) are more appropriate for someone with advanced education and training. As a Listener we are not trained to judge the situation, we are not there, and we do not have the full facts. Please understand that at 7 Cups,9 we want the best for everyone, but we need to set clear limits on what is and is not appropriate for a volunteer Listener to handle.

At 7 Cups,99 we cannot continue any talk about suicide or suicidal ideation; therefore we will always refer ANY suicidal talk to this page: 7cups.com/crisis

Long version https://help.7cups.com/hc/en-us/articles/360026238093-Crisis

How do I know if I should refer someone to this page or not?

Any talk of suicide, suicidal thoughts, or crisis should be referred to this page.

https://help.7cups.com/hc/en-us/articles/360026238093-Crisis

In a 1:1 chat, please kindly end the chat after you’ve sent the referral
In group support chats for Members, please use the blue crisis referral tool next to their name
In group support chats, for Listeners please inform a volunteer Mod or Community Moderator
In a forum please flag the post

Self-harm ideation and suicidal ideation

We consider individuals who are not actively self-harming but who have thoughts or urges not to be in immediate crisis.

Is it okay to talk about self-harm ideation with a Listener?

Self-harm is a sign of emotional distress. In many cases, it is because the individual cannot tolerate the emotions they are experiencing or they are unable to express those feelings. Self-harming intends to distract oneself, not to end one's life. At 7 Cups we consider it to be an unhealthy coping mechanism, much like substance abuse.

Suicidal ideation may seem harmless, but it can quickly escalate into a real crisis. Volunteer Listeners are not equipped to differentiate or know the signs of when a passive thought becomes active and starts to sound like a possible action. This is why we do not support any discussion or chat of suicidal ideation. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, we encourage you to reach out to a trusted and known human, a crisis line, or a licensed mental health professional.

What if I say something sarcastically and don’t mean it?

We will refer any talk, sarcastic or not, to ensure we are giving everyone the utmost support. Please be thoughtful about the language you use to describe your situation and refrain from making unserious or sarcastic comments about crisis topics. It is not always possible for listeners to know when you are joking or being sarcastic and any references to suicidal ideation will be referred.

But I want to offer crisis support

This is a noble path and we support your dedication to helping those in crisis. Please look into local crisis organizations that offer training and support platforms. You will not be able to utilize your crisis training and skills on the 7 Cups platform, as we are not a crisis support organization.

Links to bookmark:-

7 Cups Crisis Policy https://help.7cups.com/hc/en-us/articles/360026238093-Crisis

This page can also be reached by clicking 'Chat' on the top blue bar and then clicking on the dropdown 'Crisis Resources'.

Crisis and thoughts of self-harm clarification Here

Suicidal Ideation: https://www.7cups.com/experts/what-is-suicidal-ideation-and-what-can-you-do-about-it

Once they are no longer experiencing suicidal thoughts, feelings, or intentions, they are welcome to come back and chat with a listener.

Some resources for reference only-

imalive.org - an online crisis chat service, for anyone anywhere in the world.
suicidestop.com - helps you find online chat, emergency numbers, and crisis hotlines for many different countries in the world.
befrienders.org - helps you find helplines by country
suicide.org - List of suicide helplines
http://www.metanoia.org/suicide/
http://www.yourlifeyourvoice.org/Pages/home.aspx
Get crisis help online right now via chat: www.crisischat.org
On your smartphone: www.crisistextline.org
Or through a telephone call: www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org, www.hopeline.com, www.suicideforum.com

Chat related questions

Chat Help

If you would like guidance for a chat you are in, you can

Visit Listener Support Chat (Adults) and Teen Listeners (Teens)
message a chat supporter to support you through it.
You can find them in the currently participating list with the chat support tag next to their names in the listener support chat.
Or you can refer the chat to another listener by stating the topic in 5 or fewer words here and see if anyone can take it.

Before referring to a chat please ask the member/guest if they are okay with it.

Blocked by a member

I’m sorry to hear you were blocked by a member, there isn't anything you can do once they block you. The next listener would have to do something about it. Such situations can hurt us, or bring up negative thoughts about ourselves, if you’d like to express how the situation left you feeling there are peer supporters who’re there to listen to you.
(In situations where the listener asks to report the member who’s blocked them, you may suggest that they send an email to community@7cups.com explaining the situation while providing the username)

Member not responding

If your member is not responding, you can leave them a message after a few minutes to check on them and if they still don’t respond you can end the chat letting them know that they can reach out to you when they would like to chat. The recommended wait time is 10 minutes.

Referring a chat

To transfer a member to another listener who has accepted the chat, you will send the link of the listener to the member, everyone’s link here is “7cups.com/@Username”. You will let the member know they can message that listener and end the chat politely.

If no one can take your chat here, please refer the member to this page: https://www.7cups.com/BrowseListeners/

The member seems to be making things up

At 7 Cups, we treat all chats as genuine. If you are uncomfortable in a chat you can always refer them to another listener by stating the chat topic in 5 or fewer words here and asking if anyone can take it. If you are unsure about how to proceed then feel free to contact any present chat support here.

Rude Member/Guest

You are a volunteer here, you have every right to be treated with respect. If your member is being rude towards you, please remind them that you are a volunteer and you are not comfortable being treated this way, if they proceed even after several reminders, you can block them, although ending the chat first would be a better option.

Inappropriate Chats:

At 7 Cups we treat all chats as genuine.
If you are uncomfortable in a chat you can always refer them to another listener by stating the chat topic in 5 or fewer words here and asking if anyone can take it in the Listener Support Chat.
If you are comfortable with the topic then you can proceed to support them making sure to focus on their feelings and not the graphic details and keeping in mind that we don’t engage in any role play and such chats the focus will always be in the emotions/feelings and not the explicit details.
If you are unsure about how to proceed then feel free to contact any available chat supporter in the Listener Support Chat or fill out a Listener Support Request.

Therapy Referral

We refer members to therapy only if they asked for it or they are interested in it. It costs 150 USD a month and the therapist will answer them once a day for business days, it is an offline messaging format. If they are interested, you can send them this link: https://www.7cups.com/online-therapy/. 7Cups Therapy is not available for teens.

Teen Member/Guest

If you have a Member below the age of 18 (13-17) and showing on the adult side of the community.
They need to email community@7cups.com to inform them they are on the wrong side with 1-2 social media handles proving their age.
As an adult listener, you can take chats with members who are aged 18 or above.
Below 18, they are teens and need to receive support from the teen listeners and the teen side of the community.

Self-Harm

You can support your member/guest as long as they are not actively self-harming while they are chatting with you.
If they are actively doing so then you can refer them to this page https://help.7cups.com/hc/en-us/articles/360026238093-Crisis

and politely end the chat explaining that you can’t support them at the moment as you are not trained for such chats but they are more than welcome to chat with you when they are safe. For info - see http://www.selfinjury.com/

Homicidal

If you have a member who has a plan to harm someone or is actively harming someone then please ask them to call the police and politely end the chat. We can’t support people who are harming humans/animals.

I keep getting personal requests! Why is that so?

That indicates that your profile is set to online, Sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming, since you may receive more than one personal request, but that's when the "Busy" and "Offline" are good. "Busy" indicates that your response time will be slower, setting it to offline won't allow people to send you personal requests, you still get messages, but you aren't obliged to respond unless you're available to listen.

All my chats disappeared! Where can I find them?

Chats disappear after 7 days but don’t worry, you can find all the members you have spoken to under “My Impact” → https://www.7cups.com/listener/myImpact.php In case you don’t see the name there, then the only possible explanations are the member might have deactivated, was suspended, or might have blocked you.. But you can never be sure. It’s important to note, that listener and guest chats do NOT appear on “My Impact”.

The member is talking about illegal activities, am I allowed to continue listening?

It’s not against the rules to provide emotional support to somebody who may have been involved with illegal activities in the past, as long as they are not actively breaking the law while connected to you or the rooms, it's okay to support them.

How do I end my conversations?

I like to tell a member 10 minutes before I end a conversation, that I may need to leave soon so we can have good closure to the chat, and when it's time I say something like "I enjoyed conversing with you, I know life may seem like a struggle at this moment, but you have built the courage to come to seek support, thank you for trusting me, and sharing your thoughts and emotions openly, I would love to reconnect with you, and maybe follow up on how you're doing sometime next week, do let me know if you wish to do so, take care of yourself!"
If you need further suggestions for ending conversations, you can check this out → https://goo.gl/iqdaVi

A listener needs personal support

I would express this to the listener needing personal support:

"Seems like you’re going through a hard time right now, and you deserve and need the support, It would be best to log into your member/guest account, that way you can connect with a listener and personally discuss the situation with them. Please remember that we use our listener's accounts to support others, and our member accounts to receive support. Hope you receive the support you best deserve."

Member is in Labor, how do I handle this correctly?

Please let the member know that they need to contact medical assistance. And then you can stay with them until they have been reached out by medical professionals. Please keep in mind that we can only emotionally support people, stay away from advice, and give them the space to reach out to real-life support.

If they are actively in labor then we can’t support them, read more about medical emergencies on this link goo.gl/kkwaa1

Reporting

All reports are to be reported through the Helpdesk. You can visit the helpdesk here: help.7cups.com
Learn more about how to do the reporting here: https://www.7cups.com/community-guidelines/Safety-Reporting-c97e53621f924398b1db1088c9def307

Getting A Mentor:

You can get a mentor, they can help you grow as a listener and achieve your listener goals. You can get a long-term mentor by browsing mentors' bios here: https://www.7cups.com/listener/listenerMentors.php. Please keep in mind the time zones and their focus to find yourself the best match. You can get a short-term mentor by filling out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd7iMwmOfMPM1KTSjFz3OTPFDOF30agKeBeahUl5cj5f8ahKQ/viewform .

Random Info

Sexual Assault/Sexual Abuse

http://www.pandys.org/crisissupport.html

If it isn't happening right now we can just listen to them, often victims are not ready to reach out for appropriate help and we need to respect that, we just listen to them, validate their feelings, and offer emotional support just like any cha

7 Cups Academy

The 7 Cups Academy is a tuition-free institution that trains members, listeners, and researchers to develop skills and better care for our community. These are professional skills that are of great use even outside of 7 Cups. We believe in practice-driven learning and all of our courses have in-field experience at the core. Learn more about it here!

Personal Issues

For personal issues please switch to a member/guest account. We keep the listener account for providing support and our member account for receiving it. We want you to get the best support that you truly deserve but through the right account <3

Accessing Different Rooms

To learn more about how to enter member rooms and listener community rooms, read here!

Roles/Rooms Explained

Listener Support Room / Teen Listeners

This room is used for supporting listeners, giving support with chats, learning from one another, sharing links to help us out as listeners as well as our chat people, getting mentor help for ongoing chats, and also talking to our lovely peer support if you have had a difficult chat.
It is commonly referred to as “LSR” (for adults) and “TL” (for teens).
It should be noted that this room is only for support regarding your listener role, random chit-chat when no one needs support, and NOT for support regarding one’s issues.
Join them here!

Listener Community Room

This room is used for relaxing and engaging in fun random convos, as the name suggests, it is a place for listeners to hang out and get to know each other although it is worth mentioning that you are still expected to remain professional as a listener in any room including Listener Community Room. It is often referred to as “LCR”.

Peer Support

Peer supporters are experienced listeners who you can contact after a difficult chat to talk about how it made you feel; other than that you can also talk to them about anything that is bothering you related to your listener role. They are the people to vent to related to your listener issues. They are abbreviated as “PS”.

Chat Support

Chat supporters are experienced listeners who you can contact for ongoing chat support during a difficult chat with a member, other than that you can also ask them to share any relevant resources to help you handle the chat. They are abbreviated as “CS”.

Forum Supporter

Forum supporters are active in the forums, especially in the section which they chose to focus on, they ensure there is enough engagement in the forum section and members are supported (if it's a member support forum), etc. They often know their way around forums and enjoy spending time there.

Group Mod

Group Moderators make sure that the group support rooms stay supportive and welcoming towards the participants. They make sure that the rooms are conflict free and everyone is getting the support they deserve. Some group mods also lead weekly group discussions as part of certain support teams.

Community Mod

Community Moderators are here to support volunteer mods and the community and ensure this is a safe space for anyone who reaches out. Community mod is a paid role, there is always a community mod around to respond to group support emergency requests.

Mentors/Teen Stars

Mentors are highly experienced listeners. They are here to support you regarding your listener role. They can provide ongoing chat support, provide you with links and help answer your questions/concerns related to the website and your role here. They can also do mock chats with you to determine what are your strongest and weakest listening skills and work with you on growing as a listener. You can read more about what a mentor is, how to approach one and how to become one, from HERE.
Teen Stars are the teen version of mentors.

Mentor Leaders/Teen Star Leaders

Mentor Leaders are experienced mentors. They have been mentors for a while and they have dedicated time and effort to the project/track in which they are a mentor leader for. They are the go-to listeners for mentors in their tracks when they need guidance.

Ambassador

Ambassadors are high-level listeners who have shown impeccable judgment and individual growth by demonstrating innovative leadership and becoming 7 Cups experts. Ambassadors work closely with the community team to oversee community morale, help train new mentors, and lead community-building projects. They represent 7 Cups through their experience and the work they do for the site.

Learn more about various roles here!

7 Cups Helpful Links and Resources:

External Links:

Crisis resources:

For all:

USA crisis resources: Call 988 or go to:

International crisis resources:

Other support/self-help resources:

General:

USA:

For Teens:

Please provide link corrections and suggestions to @JustSophia (links last updated 5/14/26)

Access Chat Support here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc2yFIiL6az6UEOc5LNqOOERpM7D0g8F49x0qjbIq7QwhJOBQ/viewform

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