Where to talk to a psychologist for free

• 8 800 2000-122 — the Children's Helpline: for children, teenagers, and parents. Round-the-clock, anonymous, and free; run with the support of the Fund for Support of Children in Difficult Life Situations.
• 051 from a landline and +7 495 051 from a mobile — emergency psychological help from the Moscow Psychological Aid Service. For Moscow residents.
• +7 495 989-50-50 — the round-the-clock emergency psychological helpline of the EMERCOM of Russia Centre for Emergency Psychological Aid. Free and anonymous.
• 112 — the single emergency number if there's a threat to life or health.

Regions run their own helplines — their numbers are published on the sites of regional ministries of health and social protection.

• A school or college psychologist. A staff position; you can come yourself, without a parent — it's worth checking the rules with the specialist directly.
• Psychological-pedagogical centres (PPMS). Municipal centres helping children and parents: assessment, counselling, sessions — free.
• A university's psychological service. Most large universities have free consultations for students.
• A sports school, sport-reserve school, or Olympic-reserve college. Some organisations have a staff psychologist — ask the coach or a methodologist, even if it's not announced anywhere.
• State psychological-aid centres in your region. They work by place of residence, usually by appointment.

The limitation is roughly the same everywhere: a queue, a cap on the number of meetings, and no way to choose a specific specialist.

Part of the work you can start on your own, with no payment and no appointment:

• The breathing trainer — one run a day is available without registration: a working way to lower arousal before a start.
• State tests — after free registration: anxiety, motivation, psychological readiness for competition.
• The state journal — log your state, load, and starts to see patterns rather than isolated bad days.
• The AI coach in your account — a limited number of messages a month is free; it answers using the platform's methods and does not replace a specialist.
• Tools and exercises — pre-start routines, work with attention, recovery after a mistake.

What to expect: quick contact, relief of an acute state, anonymity, an initial orientation — whether you even need a specialist and which kind.

What not to expect: long-term work with the same psychologist, choosing a specialist for your sport, preparing for a specific start, reviewing competitions, or season support. Crisis lines aren't meant for that — and that's fine.

If the task isn't "get through a hard moment" but to systematically build psychological skills — keeping nerves in the working zone, getting back into the game after a mistake, passing selections and injuries — you need your own psychologist on the team, not a one-off conversation.

Such a specialist — with a sports background, for your sport and age — can be found in the Sports Talk catalogue. It makes sense to start with the free tests: with them the first meeting will get straight to the point.