Your (Unofficial) Guide to State-Sponsored Therapy in New Hampshire
There’s a way to get affordable mental health care that you might not know about. That’s New Hampshire’s mental health system.
If you qualify, you can get mental health care at a community mental health center for a small co-pay or a low sliding-scale fee. But even if you don’t qualify for services at a state-funded provider, the mental health system in New Hampshire can still give you information, referrals to affordable local providers, and other essential help for free.
![](https://blog.opencounseling.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/bh-therapists2.jpg)
Are You Thinking of Online Therapy? Start Here to Get Matched with a Licensed Therapist Right For You.
Therapy with No Waiting Rooms or Driving. Take a quick quiz about your preferences and needs and get matched to a therapist in as little as 48 hours.
Have you been in therapy before?
If you’re in a hurry and want to get the most important information about what’s available in the New Hampshire mental health system and who it’s for, you can read our quick start guide below.
Quick Start Guide
Quick facts about New Hampshire’s mental health system:
- New Hampshire has recently made significant investments in its mental health system by increasing community mental health funding, launching the statewide 988 crisis line, expanding mobile crisis services, and opening new inpatient facilities.
- Public outpatient mental health services in New Hampshire are provided by programs called community mental health centers.
- All New Hampshire community mental health centers accept Medicaid and offer low sliding-scale fees to people without insurance coverage.
What services are available?
- New Hampshire’s mental health system offers specialty and intensive mental health services that can be hard to find anywhere else, like case management, day treatment, and community-based support services.
- Outpatient mental health services including psychiatric evaluation, medication, and therapy are also available at most community mental health centers.
Who’s eligible?
- Some services, such as the statewide mental health crisis line, are available to any New Hampshire resident without exception.
- Some services are only available to people who have severe conditions like major depression or schizophrenia. However, more people have one of these conditions than realize it! In fact, 1 in 10 Americans experience major depression each year.
Where can you get started?
- You can reach local mental health crisis and information services from anywhere in New Hampshire by calling (833) 710-6477 or 988.
- You can find contact information for your local community mental health center by scrolling to your region in the directory below.
To learn more about public mental health services in New Hampshire, keep reading. We’ve done the research to uncover essential facts about who’s eligible, what services you can get, when to go, where to call, and how it works so you can decide if New Hampshire’s mental health system might be right for you.
Who Is Eligible?
You should consider looking into the New Hampshire mental health system if you (or a loved one) are having a mental health crisis, have a severe mental health condition, have Medicaid, or have a limited income.
Everyone in New Hampshire can use the state-funded mental health emergency response system. If you or someone you love is in crisis, you can call the state crisis line to get the help you need, quickly.
PRO TIP
Use the State System When You're in Crisis
Public mental health services are usually the best option if you’re having a mental health crisis and need help right away.
State mental health programs are required to provide mental health crisis response services and are one of the fastest ways to get care when you’re having a mental health emergency.
The people who answer the New Hampshire crisis line can provide caring attention and support as they help you determine the best response to a crisis, whether it’s inpatient treatment or an appointment with a counselor.
Even if you’re not in crisis, you can call the state mental health hotline for information about affordable mental health services in your area. When you call, you can find out whether you might qualify for state-funded mental health services, schedule an assessment or intake appointment, or get free information about other affordable local providers.
Other parts of the system have stricter eligibility requirements. You need to have a serious mental health condition (a diagnosable condition that affects your daily functioning) to qualify for public outpatient mental health care in New Hampshire. However, more people have a qualifying condition than realize it. Don’t assume you’re not eligible!
PRO TIP
Fast Facts About Eligibility in New Hampshire
The New Hampshire Bureau of Mental Health has fairly strict clinical eligibility criteria for public outpatient mental health services.
To receive services at a New Hampshire CMHC, you must meet criteria for one of the following conditions listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders:
- Schizophrenia or another psychotic disorder
- Depression, bipolar disorder, or another mood disorder
- Dementia with comorbid psychiatric symptoms
- Anorexia, bulimia, or another eating disorder
- Borderline personality disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Panic disorder
Your mental health condition must also impact your ability to function in daily life and cause significant difficulty with any of the following (or noticeable difficulty with all of the following):
- Activities of daily living;
- Interpersonal functioning;
- Adaptation to change; and
- Concentration and task performance.
Note that these eligibility criteria are for outpatient mental health services at a CMHC. You do not have to meet any of these criteria to receive emergency mental health services in New Hampshire, which include hotline support, crisis intervention, and assessment. You simply need to be experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New Hampshire.
If you meet these clinical eligibility criteria, you don’t have to meet any specific income criteria.
New Hampshire’s mental health system prioritizes people who are uninsured or underinsured (as well as people who have or qualify for Medicaid). However, the Bureau of Mental Health does not list any insurance or financial criteria as requirements on their official list of mental health eligibility criteria.
This means you can receive services at a New Hampshire CMHC regardless of your ability to pay as long as you have a qualifying mental health condition. And if you do have a serious mental illness, it’s worth looking into your local community mental health center.
In addition to basic outpatient services like medication and therapy, New Hampshire CMHCs offer specialty and intensive services that can give you the support you need to regain or maintain stability while living at home in your local community.
PRO TIP
Check Out the State System If You Need Specialized Services
Community mental health centers in New Hampshire are great places to find specialized and intensive mental health services like case management and day treatment that can be hard to find anywhere else. These specialty programs can give you extra help when you’re dealing with severe symptoms.
You can find the number for your local CMHC in the directory below. You can call to learn more about what services they offer, whether you’re eligible, and whether there’s a waitlist. We encourage you to call even if you think a CMHC might not be the right fit for you.
Even if you’re not eligible, or if the program doesn’t offer the service you want, they can probably still help you. Community mental health workers are knowledgeable about local resources and will often give you free information or even referrals to other affordable providers nearby, including local non-profits that provide free or low-cost counseling.
Where Do You Call to Get Started?
The easiest way to learn more about state mental healthcare in New Hampshire is to call your local CMHC or to call the statewide mental health hotline. You can find contact information for your local CMHC in the directory in the next section.
There are also many numbers you can call for help no matter where you are in New Hampshire. You can find the numbers for statewide helplines and hotlines in the information box directly below.
PRO TIP
Important Numbers in New Hampshire
The national mental health crisis hotline is 988.
The Crisis Text Line for the state of New Hampshire is 741741.
The statewide New Hampshire mental health crisis line is (833) 710-6477.
For help and referrals for mental health and many other needs, you can call 211.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Helpline is 1-800-950-NAMI (6264).
You can reach the non-emergency NAMI New Hampshire Helpline by calling (800) 242-6264 or (603) 225-5359.
If you just need to talk to someone, you can talk to a peer any time between 8AM and 8PM daily by calling the Stepping Stone Peer Support Warmline at (888) 582-0920.
You can speak to a peer between 5PM and 10PM daily by calling the Connections Peer Support Warmline at (800) 809-6262.
You can find listings for region-specific peer support agencies and warmlines on this page.
You can contact the New Hampshire Bureau of Mental Health Services by calling (603) 271-5000.
You can contact the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services by calling (844) 275-3447.
Public mental health services in New Hampshire are managed on the state level by the Bureau of Mental Health Services in the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. For general information about New Hampshire’s mental health system, you can contact BMHS at (603) 271-5000 or DHHS at (844) 275-3447.
However, you’ll probably get the best results by calling the New Hampshire mental health hotline or your local CMHC. You can find the numbers for all New Hampshire CMHCs in the directory below.
New Hampshire CMHC Directory
Public outpatient mental health services in New Hampshire are provided by community mental health centers. These comprehensive programs specialize in both outpatient and intensive community-based mental health services.
Each CMHC serves a geographic region defined by the counties and towns it serves. There are 10 mental health regions in New Hampshire and 10 CMHCs that serve them. You can find a list of the specific towns each CMHC serves on this page. (The counties they serve are listed below.)
Each CMHC has a main phone number you can call to get information about mental health services as well as a crisis line you can call to get help in a crisis. Most CMHCs advise you to call the statewide crisis hotline at (833) 710-6477, but some have their own local crisis lines.
You can find the contact information for all New Hampshire CMHCs, clinic locations, and local crisis lines in the directory below.
New Hampshire Clinics and Crisis Lines
- Region 1: Northern Human Services
- Serving Carroll County, Coos County, and Upper Grafton County
- Main Number and General Intake: (603) 447-3347
- Emergency Services Numbers:
- Statewide: (833) 710-6477
- Berlin: (603) 752-7404
- Colebrook: (603) 237-4955
- Conway (Daytime): (603) 447-2111
- Conway (After Hours): (603) 356-5461 (Memorial Hospital)
- Groveton: (603) 636-2555
- Littleton: (603) 444-5358
- Wolfeboro (Daytime): (603) 569-1884
- Wolfeboro (After Hours): (603) 569-7500 (Huggins Hospital)
- Woodsville: (603) 747-3658
- Adult Mental Health Office Locations:
- Berlin Community Services Center: (603) 752-1005
- Berlin Mental Health Center: (603) 752-7404
- Colebrook Mental Health Center: (603) 237-4955
- Conway Mental Health Center: (603) 447-2111
- Conway Administrative Office: (603) 447-3347
- Groveton Mental Health Center: (603) 636-2555
- White Mountain Mental Health (Littleton): (603) 444-5358
- White Mountain Mental Health (Woodsville): (603) 747-3658
- Wolfeboro Mental Health Center: (603) 569-1884
- Region 2: West Central Behavioral Health
- Serving the Upper Valley (Lower Grafton County) and Sullivan County
- Main Number and Administration: (603) 448-0126
- New Client/Intake Line: (603) 542-5128
- Emergency Services Number: (833) 710-6477
- Adult Mental Health Office Locations:
- Administrative Office (Lebanon): (603) 448-0126
- Lebanon Adult Outpatient Services: (603) 448-5610
- Claremont Adult Outpatient Services: (603) 542-2578
- Newport Adult Residential Services: (603) 863-1785
- Region 3: Lakes Region Mental Health Center
- Serving Belknap County and Southern Grafton County
- Main Number and Appointments: (603) 524-1100
- Emergency Services Number: (833) 710-6477
- Adult Mental Health Office Locations:
- Main Office (Laconia): (603) 524-1100
- Plymouth Office: (603) 524-1100
- Region 4: Riverbend Community Mental Health
- Serving Merrimack County and Upper Hillsborough County
- Main Number and Appointments: (603) 228-1600
- Emergency Services Number: (833) 710-6477
- Adult Mental Health Office Locations:
- Counseling Associates (Concord): (603) 228-1600
- Emergency Services Office (Concord): (833) 710-6477
- Community Support Program (Concord): (603) 225-0123
- Franklin Adult Services Office (Franklin): (603) 934-3400
- Region 5: Monadnock Family Services
- Serving Cheshire County and Western Hillsborough County
- Main Number and Administration: (603) 357-4400
- Emergency Services Number: (833) 710-6477
- Adult Mental Health Office Locations:
- Keene Office: (603) 357-4400
- Peterborough Office: (603) 924-7236
- Adult Care Center (Jaffrey): (603) 532-2427
- Region 6: Greater Nashua Mental Health
- Serving Lower Hillsborough County
- Main Number: (603) 889-6147
- Teléfono Principal (Interpreter): (844) 245-4458
- Emergency Services Number: (833) 710-6477
- InteGreat Health: (603) 402-1501
- Adult Mental Health Office Locations:
- New Client Intake (Nashua): (603) 889-6147
- General Adult Services (Nashua): (603) 889-6147
- Older Adult Services (Nashua): (603) 889-6147
- Region 7: The Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester
- Serving Central Hillsborough and West Rockingham Counties and Hooksett
- Main Number and Appointments: (603) 668-4111
- Emergency Services Number: (833) 710-6477
- Adult Mental Health Office Locations:
- Main Office (Cypress Street, Manchester): (603) 668-4111
- Bedford Counseling Associates (Manchester): (603) 623-1916
- Community Support Services ( Manchester): (603) 668-4111 x5326
- North End Counseling (Manchester): (603) 668-4111 x5355
- ProHealth Integrated Care Clinic (Manchester): (603) 668-4111
- Region 8: Seacoast Mental Health Center
- Serving Eastern Rockingham County
- Main Number: (Exeter): (603) 772-2710
- Main Number (Portsmouth): (603) 431-6703
- Emergency Services Number: (833) 710-6477
- Adult Mental Health Office Locations:
- Portsmouth Office: (603) 431-6703
- Exeter Office: (603) 772-2710
- Region 9: Community Partners of Strafford County
- Serving Strafford County
- Main Number: (603) 516-9300
- Toll-Free Number: (800) 454-0630
- Emergency Services Number: (833) 710-6477
- Adult Mental Health Office Locations:
- Main Office (Dover): (603) 516-9300
- Crosby Community Office (Dover): (603) 516-9300
- Dover Behavioral Health Office (Dover): (603) 516-9300
- Behavioral Health and Community Office (Rochester): (603) 516-9300
- Region 10: Center for Life Management
- Serving Southwestern Rockingham County and Pelham
- Main Number and Access to Care: (603) 434-1577
- Emergency Services Number: (603) 434-1577 x1
- Statewide Emergency Number: (833) 710-6477
- Adult Mental Health Office Locations:
- Main Office (Derry): (603) 434-1577
- Salem Office: (603) 434-1577
If you need information after hours or aren’t sure whether you’re experiencing a mental health crisis, it’s okay to call a crisis line for help. The staff who answer are trained to quickly figure out what you need and can tell you what steps you need to take to connect with the right services.
Also Consider: Federally Qualified Health Centers
Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) are another great way to get affordable publicly-funded mental health services in New Hampshire.
These federally-funded programs provide cutting-edge care in places where good primary healthcare was once hard to find. Most provide integrated care so you can get primary medical and mental health services at the same location.
Each FQHC accepts Medicaid and Medicare and offers low sliding-scale fees if you don’t have insurance. Their eligibility requirements are generally less strict than the requirements for the state-funded system.
You can search for FQHCs near you by using the online search tool on the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration website.
Troubleshooting Guide
The state mental health system is complicated and can be confusing to navigate. If you’re having any issues, we’re here to help. Here are some of our solutions to common problems you might experience.
Problems and Solutions
1. You can’t get through to someone on the phone.
Except in extremely rare circumstances, someone should answer a crisis line any time you call. But if you’re not in crisis, the person you talked to gave you another number to call, and you’re having a hard time getting through, you can try going to a walk-in clinic instead.
Many community mental health centers in New Hampshire run walk-in centers where you can be seen during regular business hours on Monday through Friday. Some let you walk in and wait without an appointment. You can often be seen the same day. If the wait is long or they don’t have availability, you can schedule an appointment and come back.
We recommend checking your CMHC’s website for walk-in locations and hours.
2. There’s a long waiting list.
State-funded services are often in high demand. New Hampshire is working to shorten waiting times and make sure you can get seen for essential services right away. However, if you’re not in crisis, you may still have to wait before you can be seen by a therapist or other mental health provider.
Sometimes, it’s worth it to wait if you’ve found a good therapist or service. You can read our article on what to do before your first therapy session for tips on how to maintain your mental health while you wait.
If your symptoms are getting worse and you’re worried you can’t wait, you should call a crisis line. The caring people who answer can help you figure out if you need help right away and tell you where and how to get the level of care you need.
If you’re not in crisis but don’t want to wait, you can call a state or local mental health hotline, an intake worker, the main number, or your contact person at the agency to ask if there are other options. There may be another affordable local program they could tell you about that could meet your needs but has a shorter waiting list.
3. You’re not eligible for state-funded services.
If you’re not eligible for services at your local CMHC, you’re not eligible for the service you want, or your local CMHC doesn’t offer that service, the people who work there should still be able to help you.
Intake workers usually keep lists of affordable local mental health resources for people who aren’t eligible or would prefer to go somewhere else. Ask for information, a printed resource list, or even a direct referral to another provider.
4. The state system doesn’t offer the service you want.
State mental health programs sometimes have to change or limit the services they offer based on their current funding. If you’re admitted to a CMHC but it doesn’t offer the service you need, you have two options.
One is to try an alternative service that they do offer. The other is to ask if they can recommend an affordable alternative provider who does offer that service.
If they do offer the service you want, but it’s limited, stand up for yourself if they try to get you to do something else. Don’t accept getting pushed into something you don’t want just because it’s easier for them or because they can get you in faster.
If you’re willing and able to wait, tell them you would prefer to wait for the service you want, whether that’s therapy, medication, or something else.
5. You don’t like your therapist.
You should never accept bad therapy—or bad mental healthcare of any kind—for any reason. This is just as true in the public system as it is anywhere else. If you have a bad therapist, ask for a new one. Tell your main contact person at the agency, an intake worker, or a manager that you want to try a different therapist.
If you’re not sure whether you have a bad therapist, you can read our articles on how to spot an unethical therapist and how to do a background check on a therapist. If you don’t like your therapist but wonder if it the problem might be fixable, you can read our articles, “What If I Don’t Like My Therapist?” and “How to Fix Problems with Your Therapist.”
If you don’t like the first therapist you’re assigned, ask someone at the agency if they have a webpage or list of therapists you can review. You can read their bios and see if you think one might be a better match. Not all agencies do this, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. You can read our article on how to choose a therapist for information on what to look for.
If you’ve run into a problem that we haven’t addressed, don’t give up. Call someone at the program (or the state mental health hotline) and tell them what’s going on.
You’re much more likely to get the help you need when you advocate for yourself and are persistent. Tell the person you talk to what you need or what problem you’re having.
If they don’t help the first time, call them back and tell them. If you keep calling and keep calm and focused, you should eventually get through to someone who can help you.
Deep Dive: How Does the System Work?
To understand New Hampshire’s mental health system, it helps to understand how it started and how it’s changed since then.
Public mental health services have been around for a surprisingly long time. But for over a hundred years in America, the only way to get them was in a psychiatric hospital.
In the 1960s, Americans started thinking differently about mental health care. Conditions in psychiatric hospitals were getting worse and new medications made it possible to provide mental health treatment on an outpatient basis.
In response, new laws were passed that required state and local governments to establish community mental health programs as alternatives to institutionalization for people with serious mental illness. The most important was the Community Mental Health Act, which President John F. Kennedy signed into law in 1963.
DEEP DIVE
For More Information
To learn more about what the public mental health system was like in the early days—and how psychiatric inpatient care has evolved since then—you can read our article “Do Insane Asylums Still Exist? The Surprising Past and Present.”
To learn more about what inpatient mental health treatment is like now, and the differences between how it works in general hospitals and specialized psychiatric facilities, you can read our article “How Inpatient Mental Health Treatment Works.”
Many state mental health programs trace their origins back to the 1960s when these important changes started to happen.
New Hampshire is no exception. Many of its community mental health centers were established in the 1960s right after the federal Community Mental Health Act was passed. Some were established even earlier—including Greater Nashua Mental Health, which was originally founded a century ago.
Despite founding most of its CMHCs by the mid-to-late 1960s, New Hampshire continued to rely on its state psychiatric hospital for most of its public mental health care throughout the 1970s.
However, in the 1980s, New Hampshire invested money and effort into strengthening its community-based system. By 1990, New Hampshire had been recognized by NAMI and other organizations as having one of the best community-based public mental health systems in the country.
DEEP DIVE
What Is the Structure of the New Hampshire Mental Health System?
Public mental health services in New Hampshire are managed on the state level by the Bureau of Mental Health Services in the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.
Psychiatric emergency and crisis services and community mental health centers are managed by BMHS, while DHHS directly oversees the state psychiatric hospital and other state inpatient and residential mental health facilities.
Unfortunately, funding cuts, especially cuts made since the 2008 recession, have had a significant negative impact on the New Hampshire mental health system.
Mental health workforce shortages and lack of capacity at the New Hampshire Hospital, other inpatient facilities, and community-based providers has made it hard to get in or out of the hospital for mental health treatment. People often wait for days and even weeks for inpatient beds in the emergency departments of local hospitals.
New Hampshire’s practice of placing people who have not been charged with a crime in the state prison for secure psychiatric treatment has been just as controversial as the state’s long waitlist to get into a hospital. In response to these practices, New Hampshire has been sued by advocacy groups, the ACLU, and the Department of Justice.
Fortunately, New Hampshire is taking steps to address these issues. It overhauled its crisis system and launched the statewide mental health hotline, the New Hampshire Rapid Response Access Point, in January 2022, then launched the statewide 988 crisis line in July 2022. It has also been expanding mobile crisis teams and opening new residential and inpatient mental health facilities.
In July 2023, the state resolved the main ACLU lawsuit about its emergency room boarding practices by agreeing to meet the court’s requirements by May 2024. The state is using significant new mental health funding to meet the deadline by opening new crisis stabilization units across the state.
You can use these new state services to get the care you need. If you’re in crisis or need mental health care and aren’t sure what to do, you can start by calling the statewide crisis line at (833) 710-6477 or 988—the people who answer know how the system works and will help you get where you need to go.
Conclusion
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, only 49 percent of people in New Hampshire who have mental health conditions get treatment for them. Many people who don’t get the care they need qualify for public mental health services but don’t know about them.
You can make a difference by reaching out and connecting with local mental health resources to get the care you need. If you’re not sure whether you qualify for New Hampshire state mental health services, call your local community mental health center or the state mental health hotline. You may find out you can get mental health services at a CMHC or that there’s another affordable option nearby.
The most important thing is to get started—the help you need may be only a call or click away.
![](https://blog.opencounseling.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/bh-therapists2.jpg)
Are You Thinking of Online Therapy? Start Here to Get Matched with a Licensed Therapist Right For You.
Therapy with No Waiting Rooms or Driving. Take a quick quiz about your preferences and needs and get matched to a therapist in as little as 48 hours.