Idevsa.com explains how psychotherapy works, what the main types of therapy involve, who provides them and how to choose someone. That is useful preparation. It is not care, and this disclaimer sets out the difference in plain terms.
Please read it before you act on anything you find here, particularly if you are making a decision about treatment for yourself or for someone you care about.
Educational information only
Everything published on this site is general information for a general audience. It is not medical advice, psychological advice, a diagnosis, a treatment plan, a clinical opinion or legal advice, and it is not a substitute for any of them.
We have no knowledge of your situation. We do not know your history, your symptoms, your medication, your risk level or what has already been tried, and none of our pages are written with any individual in mind. A licensed professional who can ask you questions will reach a better answer than a web page can.
Always talk to a qualified health professional before you start, stop or change any treatment, including therapy and prescribed medication. Never delay or ignore professional advice because of something you read here. The National Institute of Mental Health keeps a plain guide to finding help for mental illnesses if you are not sure where to begin.
No therapist-client relationship
Reading this site, emailing us or sending a message through our contact page does not create a therapist-client, doctor-patient or professional relationship of any kind.
We do not provide therapy, assessment, diagnosis, second opinions, referrals, crisis counseling or case management, and we cannot take you on as a client. We also do not answer questions about your personal circumstances: if you write to us describing a situation and ask what you should do, we will point you back to a qualified professional rather than answer.
Nothing you send us is covered by the confidentiality that applies between a therapist and a client, and we are not a health care provider. Our privacy policy explains what happens to messages, and asks you to keep health details out of them.
In an emergency
This site is not monitored around the clock and cannot help in a crisis.
If someone’s life is in danger, or there is an immediate risk of serious harm, call your local emergency number now. NIMH’s guidance is direct about this: in life-threatening situations, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Outside the United States, use the emergency number for your country.
If you are in the United States and struggling, but not in immediate danger, you can call or text 988, or chat online. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is free, confidential and available 24/7/365.
Our crisis help page lists helplines for the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, with the hours and contact methods each one offers.
Accuracy and how current this is
We work hard to get things right. Our process is to check every statistic, licensing rule, helpline number and research claim against an authoritative source and link it in the sentence where it is used, and pages carry the date they were last updated. Our editorial policy describes the whole process, including how we handle corrections.
Even so, we cannot guarantee that everything here is accurate, complete or current at the moment you read it. Mental health guidance changes, research is revised, laws and licensing rules differ by country and state and are amended without notice, costs move, and services close or change their hours. Where a page describes rules or systems, treat it as a starting point and confirm the detail with the official body concerned.
If you spot an error, tell us at hello@idevsaa.com and we will check it. Corrections are published once verified, and the page’s update date moves with them.
External links and endorsement
Our guides link out to organizations such as the American Psychological Association, the National Institute of Mental Health, SAMHSA, the NHS and the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, so you can read the underlying source yourself.
Those sites are not ours. We do not control their content, their availability or their privacy practices, and we are not responsible for what they publish or for anything that happens as a result of using them. A link means we found the page useful and credible on the day we cited it, not that we endorse the organization, its services, its views or anything else it publishes. Sources sometimes move or go offline after we cite them.
We do not endorse, recommend or vouch for any individual therapist, clinic, practice, app, directory or therapy platform. Where a page explains how to check credentials, the checking is yours to do.
About the photographs
Photographs on this site are licensed stock images showing models, used for illustration. They do not depict real clients, real therapists, real staff or real therapy sessions, and nobody pictured is connected to Idevsa.com.
The site does not publish client stories, testimonials or reviews.
No affiliate links or sponsorship
At present Idevsa.com carries no advertising, no sponsored content, no affiliate links and no paid placements. Nobody can pay to be mentioned, linked to or recommended.
If that ever changes, the arrangement will be disclosed clearly on the page where it appears, in line with the Federal Trade Commission’s guidance that a site earning money from links should disclose that relationship clearly and conspicuously, as close to the recommendation as possible.
Limits on our responsibility
You use this site, and act on what you read, at your own discretion and risk.
To the fullest extent the law allows, the operator of Idevsa.com is not liable for any loss or harm arising from your use of this site or reliance on its content. That includes decisions made about treatment, money spent, care delayed, outcomes that disappoint, and any indirect or consequential loss.
Nothing here limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud. Our terms of use set out the full legal terms on which this site is offered.
Questions about this disclaimer
Write to hello@idevsaa.com or use our contact page. We answer questions about our sources and our process gladly, and we will always decline questions about your personal situation, because answering them properly is a professional’s job rather than ours.