Originally published in print in February 2026. View print issues here.

Students walking around campus might see purple posters scattered throughout the hallways and the Wellness Center advertising Soluna. Accessible through the website and app, Soluna offers free, safe and confidential mental health support for students.

According to Kooth, the company behind Soluna, the app is a part of the California Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI), a five year-plan to improve the mental health of young people with a $4.7 billion investment. According to Soluna, 50% of Soluna users consider it their first source of professional mental health support, and 1 in 3 would not have access to mental health help without Soluna. 

According to Soluna, 49% of these coaching sessions occur outside traditional school hours. Trained professionals are accessible through text, phone or video call through Soluna’s website and app. 

Wellness Coordinator Lashonda Eagels, who helps facilitate the Wellness Center by connecting school admins to their student population, believes Soluna provides convenience to students. 

“If students have an outside therapist, and it’s once a month, it helps fill in the gap,” Eagels said. “There’s another portion of Soluna that allows the student to actually talk to someone, so they can help them set and achieve goals similar to their therapist, but on their own time.”

Soluna can also provide therapy to those who don’t have access to enough sessions but still need to talk to a professional.

“I have a lot of families who have Kaiser or other health insurance providers, and they just don’t get enough time. It’s not weekly like they want, or it’s not long enough,” Eagels said. “This really can help fill in the gap because [Soluna therapists] can chat privately with them for five or 45 minutes, and there’s no limit on this.” 

Eagels emphasizes the customizability that Soluna brings to its users, as it creates age-appropriate menus that gather minimal information from minors utilizing the app. Soluna also offers additional resources in a subpage for housing, food and shelters.

Junior Hector Montes, who used the Soluna app for five months, says that the confidentiality of the app creates an atmosphere where users can feel safe expressing their emotions.

“Through this app, it’s helpful that you don’t have to be ashamed of trying to get help or get your story out there and see if you can get professional help from other people,” Montes said.

Montes reviews the Soluna app and would recommend it to others for its convenience and private chats.

“If you’re going through something, you should always talk to someone, but in general, if you want to get help but have that fear of trying to receive it, this app is very helpful.” Montes said. “It’s probably one of the best apps you can get for helping you with your mental health.”

Soluna can also help households that do not support traditional mental health resources.

“There are some cultures or communities that don’t believe in mental health,” Eagels said. “[Students] may not feel uncomfortable or not want to go against their family’s traditional views of what mental health is and how they access support.”

Eagels explains the therapy styles Soluna provides, tailoring them to different learning approaches and users. Soluna offers educational videos and stories tailored to the user’s age group, which cover topics like anxiety, peer pressure and loneliness.

“If you’re a person who prefers someone giving you a lecture and the audio component, you can do that, or you can watch [a one to five minute video] and look at the story related to anxiety,” Eagels said.

Eagels highlights how Soluna’s outreach opens up the opportunity to get help without needing to visit the Wellness Center or even be on campus.

“That’s the best part because we’re not here all day. We’re only here until school ends, so [Soluna] helps fill in after hours because a lot of things happen when we leave school,” Eagels said. “I just love giving students more resources than just what we have here.”

Montes explains that many of Soluna’s features helped him through various situations.

“It has a lot of stuff that can help you calm down a bit. If you’re having a panic attack or having trouble breathing, it will try to guide you to think about, instead of the problem, other thoughts that are out of your control,” Montes said.

Khalil Curry, a school psychologist who supports students through crises and counseling evaluations, notes that in some cases, in-person therapy methods are needed, depending on students’ situations.

“Counseling sessions, therapy sessions, check-in sessions will look really different based on what you need,” Curry said. “You can have a crisis, and we might have to do a crisis plan. You can have suicide ideation, [and] we have to do a safety plan, or you can be very high in anxiety or very [heightened] emotions, and we might need to do counseling.”

Curry highlights the other mental health resources given to students and the variety they provide.

“Each app has its [own] different functions. With Calm, Headspace, Daybreak and Soluna, they all have different functions and support different things,” Curry said. “It gives a variety of tools to students who use it for free.”

Montes said Soluna has improved his mental health and helped him change his mindset.

“I started looking at things in a more positive light,” Montes said. “I stopped seeing the bad in things, or I stopped worrying a bit, overthinking constantly.”

Montes believes it is important to make mental health resources more accessible for those who need them.

“One of the biggest priorities for teenagers and young adults should be mental health,” Montes said. “It should be a priority to have it be very accessible to everybody.”

Illustration by Amelia Martorano/Bear Witness