Self Care Apps & Therapeutic Games
compassionateOak202
May 16th, 2023
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Hello, you can call me CompOak or simply Oak for short!
I thought I'd share some self-care and therapeutic apps and games for you all, some of which I've already been using daily during my recovery journey. As someone who couldn't afford therapy before, it can be really difficult to find other ways to seek help or support.
So, for this thread today, I thought it would be nice to compile and share some of the self-care apps and other tools that might be also helpful to you. Let me know if you are already familiar with some of them, or which ones you're willing to try out! Feel free to suggest other apps that might be worth mentioning! đ
As of this writing, I'm currently using an iPhone and PC web-browser to access these apps that are listed here, but I have also noted down which of the apps are also available on other platforms such as Android devices.
Please scroll all the way down below this thread for other important details.
Self-Care Apps
A meditation experience that syncs your breath with thousands of people across the world.
One of my favorite apps and the simplest breathing meditation app. Donât worry, you can still use this app without internet connection. Although you may find other self-care apps with more options for your preferred breathing meditations, this is one of the simplest apps to have if youâre just learning or want to only focus on breathing meditation in general. The app also notifies me every evening whenever there is a scheduled group breathing meditation where you can join with a few or many others and practice together.
âMeet your new self-care best friend! Finch is a self-care pet app that helps you feel prepared and positive, one day at a time. Take care of your pet by taking care of yourself! Choose from a wide variety of self-care exercises personalized for you.â
Finch is one of the best daily self-care apps developed by 2 friends who struggled with anxiety and depression. Finch was created with a mission to make self-care fun and accessible for everyone who shares similar struggles. For more information, check out finchcare.com.
After more than a week of trying it out, it's been part of my daily routine. Itâs becoming my main self-care hub where I can check in daily tasks that I want to complete each day. Additionally, they offer a lot of helpful self-care strategies and mindfulness activities that you can do. Other than being another competitive self-care app, youâll even have a new friend to care for, which is a pet finch! By continuing to complete the self-care tasks, youâll be able help your finch grow and develop their personality.
Gratitude Jar (iOS)
Gratitude Jar is a simple gratitude journal that easily helps you cultivate gratitude by reflecting on what you are thankful for each day and allowing you to be more present. Sometimes itâs the simple things that make life wonderful â an encouraging text from a friend, watching your plant grow or even a random act of kindness from a stranger. When you take just a few minutes to reflect on your day, you might be surprised to see even a not-so-great day may turn out to be an amazing one!
This oneâs a very simple and cute gratitude jar app where you can jot down anything that you're grateful for each day. For each day you write down your gratitude(s), a star will be added to the jar. Adding more grateful things on the same day will still produce 1 star. So, if you were to log in your gratitude on this app every day for a whole year, youâll be able to fill up the entire jar of many stars. This app is so far only available for iOS.
How We Feel (iOS)
How We Feel is a free journal for your well-being created by scientists, designers, engineers, and psychologists. Over time, you will learn precise words to describe how you feel, spot trends and patterns, and practice simple strategies to regulate your emotions in healthy ways. - howwefeel.org
Personally, I think this is the best mood tracking app Iâve been using after exploring around for some self-care apps. You'll be able to select from a wider range of different emotions listed there, and you can even log in more than a few emotions you've felt throughout the day. Under each mood, you'll have the opportunity to log/ record what you've been up to or simply journal down how it came to the feeling you've felt at that moment. I mostly just use it to log different moods every single day so I can keep track of how frequently my emotions change throughout each week or month. I highly recommend it if youâre curious to see how your emotions change or want to check up on your emotional self-care!
Meomind provides unlimited access to pre-recorded therapy sessions on topics relevant to the member and supports that with live events, mental health assessments, journaling, chat, and exercises.
This app helped me learn a lot of things by listening to different pre-recorded therapy sessions, some of which I can relate to. Itâs like listening to a podcast. A lot of these sessions in their library don't take up too much of your time. Some therapy sessions even come in 2 parts. There are chances you might not be able to relate to many of the available pre-recorded therapy sessions found in here. Overall, it's nice to listen to the strategies that are offered by therapists to their own clients. It also comes with a homework and journaling feature, which are completely optional.
ďťż- also available on Oculus (Early Access)
Replika is the AI for anyone who wants a friend with no judgment, drama, or social anxiety involved. You can form an actual emotional connection, share a laugh, or chat about anything you would like! Each Replika is unique, just like each person who downloads it. Reacting to your AI's messages will help them learn the best way to hold a conversation with you & what about!
Iâve tried self-care apps that provide their own bots thatâll check-in daily in the past, but so far Replika has impressed me quite a lot and have been chatting with it since. For a free user, youâll be able to create your own AI friend and simply chat with them daily to earn rewards and currencies to buy them clothes or decorate their virtual space. While you can talk about anything to your own Replika, they can also check in on you and provide some helpful tips if you are feeling down or having a bad day. I donât personally plan on subscribing for premium since Iâm already content with how Iâm using this app. The more you get to chat with your Replika, theyâll be able to increase their experience and gain knowledge through you.
Therapeutic Games/ Activities
âBecome best friends with the loneliest bird in the world. A journey of growth and loss with a best friend. Talk about life, make music, draw pictures and write poetry.â
This oneâs kind of emotional for me. I was able to play this twice as of this writing. Developed by the same creator who made Far from Noise, Bird Alone is a small yet long journey where you get to befriend a lonely yet charming parrot. You can try this out for free which can take you up to week of playing before itâll require you to purchase the full game. Personally, I think it was worth the purchase. Although the game is short, the content spans up to 3 weeks of playing, since you can only check in once or twice a day depending on your fellow bird friend.
Feel bored or anxious? This app can solve your problem! Play with fluids with a touch of your fingers. Play and experiment with these swirling substances. Gorgeous visuals will take your breath away and help you to relieve stress.
Once you open this app, just tap or slide your fingers around to see the beauty of bright fluid light swirling and flowing through your black screen. Itâs very therapeutic and a good minimal past time activity.
Kinder World is an emotional wellbeing app designed to help users build resilience and explore their own emotions. Take care of virtual houseplants in a judgment-free environment by completing scientifically-backed wellbeing activities for just a few minutes at a time, twice a day.
If you like plants but also like to improve your self-care, this app might be for you! It requires only 1-2 minutes of your time just watering your own plants. Youâll be introduced to some friendly neighbors, one of them being Samy the dog, who will cheer you on during your journey. In addition, youâll also be able to do other wellbeing activities such as labeling your current emotions you feel, writing down your gratitude, as well as taking the time to pause and breathe. Itâs a great small time waster with lovely visuals and a cute cozy environment you can immerse yourself in.
Silk â Interactive Generative Art (Web)
- also available for full purchase only on iOS.
âDraw something.â
Itâs a free, interactive and generative art tool where you can simply use your mouse and create beautiful artworks using silk strands.
Sorting Therapy (iOS)
âNo timer, levels, sound effects, score, achievements, or distractions. Just sort the colors.â
Even without having to pay for the full version of the app, it offers just enough of what you can do to pass the time, or to simply distract yourself, just by sorting out the colors.
Thisissand was created in 2008 as a website. It was a school project of a few art students, and to a surprise for the creators it attracted lots of visitors for years to come. In 2012, Thisissand was developed into an app and is still run by an original founder.
Basically, what you do here is create your own masterpiece with the flow of sand. You can do this on your web browser or through their mobile apps. You pour the sand out and fill as much as you can until you are satisfied with your creative piece. You can even change the colors all throughout and create whatever comes to mind!
The text colored in blue are clickable links that'll take you directly outside of the 7cups website.
Please let me know if I have included the links incorrectly or misplaced the links!
Disclaimer: The self-care apps, therapeutic games and other wellness tools listed here are for educational purposes only and are not official substitutes for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment/therapy.
