AI & privacy
If you are struggling
Emma is not a crisis service. She is not therapy, medical care or an emergency service. She is set up to notice when someone may be in danger and to point them to people who can help right away.
Right now
If you need help now
These are US services, free and available all day, every day. Outside the US, contact your local emergency number or crisis line.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988.
Crisis Text Line
Text HOME to 741741.
Immediate danger
Call 911.
National Domestic Violence Hotline
Call 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788.
How it works
What Emma does if she is worried about you
She checks what you wrote
A quick screen runs on what you say to Emma. When something in it might signal danger, a second, more careful check looks at it in context, so grief, a figure of speech or a story are not mistaken for a crisis. If that check fails for any reason, Emma treats the moment as serious.
She stops and gives you real help
Emma shows the crisis resources above, whether or not you have a coach. She stays with you in the conversation and keeps pointing you to people who can help right now.
She tries to let a human know
If you have a coach, Emma tries to send them a short alert. It says who and when, and never what you wrote. If you do not have a coach, the alert goes to a small safety-review queue at Big Self School, checked on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern. Emma tells you which of these happened.
Please do not rely on Emma in an emergency. Coaches do not watch Emma conversations as they happen, and an alert can arrive hours later. If you or someone else is in danger, call 911 or 988 now.
Where it applies
Covered conversations
The safety check runs in Emma's chat, including when memory is off, in the daily check-in, in the voice and typed interview, and in the team tools: the team assistant and the writing desk.
In the voice interview, Emma may already be speaking before the check finishes, which takes a few seconds, and a word the transcription mishears can be missed. If something is wrong, say it plainly, or stop the interview and call 988.
Text messages are not a monitored channel. Never use them to ask for help.
What Emma is for
Emma is for self-awareness and growth: noticing your patterns and practicing something new in everyday life. If you are dealing with depression, trauma, addiction, an eating disorder or thoughts of harming yourself, please work with a licensed professional. Emma can sit alongside that work. She cannot replace it.
Questions about safety?
Write to us. A person reads every message.