7 Cups

I am both a "listener" and a "member". I will be offering a review respective of each account.

Member: overall, not very good at all. Once, a listener literally replied with "lol" when I gave them my reasoning for reaching out. Additionally, they all offer horrible advice (when this is not okay and is against the rules) which they then get offended if you don't take it or listen to them. I have only ever had 1 or 2 good listeners out of the whole year I've been a member.

Listener: I'm conflicted. Many of the listeners are nice, whereas others are rude, disrespectful and impertinent. I rarely get greeted into a room unless I say hello to someone else first. I was turned down for getting support in regards to my confidence, which of course made my confidence a lot worse.

HOWEVER. I have had a good learning experience, and 7 Cups has taught me ways on how to truly listen to a person - for this, I am forever thankful.

7 Cups works to connect teens to trained and caring listeners that not only provide helpful resources and comfort but also a new bonding friendship. There are many great assets about this free platform. Such as being able to connect to a listener from the same timezone as yours through the specified search menu or joining group support chats to connect with multiple people on this lovely platform. Listeners and members on 7 cups work together in improving their livelihoods and overall enjoyment of life. Join this platform if you would like to meet many new caring friends and check out the self-help guides (available to listeners) as well as the community paths to better your everyday.

I started as a listener (volunteer) and was in love with the site until I tried it from a client perspective and found there are extremely harmful and hateful people who are there strictly to hurt people who are already hurting. When this was brought up to management with suggestions on improving quality by implementing mandatory training to be completed prior to "helping" others, I was banned from the website. This is a common practice of the owner/paid staff as I read on Reddit. As well as tricking people into subscriptions by saying it is $x. Xx per month and taking the whole year up front and refusing refunds.
Obviously money motivated and not meant in any way to help others.

I spoke to a listener on here and I had a friend who was very suicidal and depressed and is currently saying suicidal things online. The listener told me "just let it be and their partner will take care of it even though their relationship is unstable". This listener also didn't listen to a thing I said they kept telling me there is nothing I can do and let it be. They proceeded to keep giving advice or making assumptions instead of listening. Suprisingly they were a high ranked listener.

I used 7cups since I was like 16, helped a lot with anxiety. Now though? Everything is confusing and disorganized. Nobody has good grammar or follows the listener training (I was a listener for a couple years so I should know). Nothing happens when I click chat now with listeners, so it's impossible to tell when someone is actually chatting with you. The censorship has also gone haywire as well, even the word hell is censored now (not even capitalized) and anything extremely vaguely relating to sex. That makes it difficult when you're trying to talk about your throat tightness during a panic attack for example. As an adult talking to adult listeners I feel there should at least be an option to turn off censorship on my end if I want to.
So yeah... would not recommend.

Been a listener for three years and there are members who will connect and start sexual conversations, you calmly turn down and they block and instead of the admins following up, they suspend your account

As a member. The worst ever. One time I got connected to a listener and we talk about my issue which was bullying at work and she was like "am thirteen and I have never been bullied. How dumb are you" what annoyed me most was the fact that I was chatting with a 13 year old. I can't go back to 7 cups

I have been a 7 cups member and listener off and on since 2015. My recent experience as a member- I have attempted to connect with a competent listener for the last 2 months. The quality of the listeners has been appalling. I was bullied by one, who told me that if I was not senile to f***k myself. Many did not even respond to my issues at all. Finally found a great listener that encouraged further contact. We set up a time and she ghosted me. When I told her that I felt insignificant, and did not view the site as a safe place for vulnerable people, she blocked me. As a listener, I was in a month long relationship with a listener/ member who implied that she was in the act of suicide. I had to refer her on to a crisis site. This was very triggering for me. I had members that tried to engage is sexting. This is not a safe site for anyone who is in a vulnerable state. At best, you will get an untrained and unhelpful listener. At worst, you will get a bully that may cause you significant distress. Protect your mental health and avoid this site. The only good thing is the listener support feature, which is helpful after a difficult chat. But why expose yourself to this abuse in the first place? Run, don't walk, away.

My biggest problem with this site is how everything is neatly categorized, and how so many things are left out. The concept is entirely anti-humanistic at its core, despite how it uses volunteer listeners.

Additionally, the site is set up to anonymously share data on your conversations by default("anonymously share my mental health data" option, which prompts you with a warning message when you uncheck it...), something which seems like it should be more of an opt-in than anything.

I've seen some beyond strange behavior already on this site - some of which seemed almost like it could've been gaslighting based on the peculiarity, unless I was somehow talking to someone beyond the grave (lol). I would avoid if you're in a rough spot... sometimes, it's better to suffer a bit if you don't have someone you can truly rely on than to trust strangers like a few of the ones I've seen here and on similar sites.

Most people say 7 cups was able to help them. I wish it was able to help me too. I guess I really was just a horrible person that even the listener got sick of me. Why should I be surprised. The people I know are sick of hearing it from me, it shouldn't be a wonder that a stranger of 7 cups just let me ramble on and asked me "what's the worst that could happen", "what the best that could happen" "is it perfectionist thoughts" and "why are you scared" > oh yes. I feel much better and understood. I wonder why other people seemed to have gotten so uplifted. I don't know what I expected. But I wish the listener i got could've shown a little more empathy or at least pretended that they cared.

There is little or no support for listeners and even though we have the ability to block ppl it does absolutely nothing.
In fact all it does is make them more determined to annoy other listeners and the only support that is offerd is a peer supporter.
The badges look pretty but mean absolutely nothing and yet ppl use them as power to mock or be little other listeners.
The bigwigs are all neo natzis and if u dare question them they make u fell like $#*!.

I have been both a member and a listener for almost two years and 7 Cups has serious quality issues. If you are lucky you find the sweetest and kindest listener as a member, but unfortunately many listeners have low quality and are not well enough educated. Becoming a listener is way too easy. Only thing you have to have is an e-mail address and then do a simple test and then you are set to go.
As a listener you have the opportunity to grow and help out with many things. However there is a clique of listeners that stick together and watch each other's back. If you by any chance report one of them it will come back to you. The admin team probably do their best, but they have way too much on their plate and sit in different parts of the world which complicates things. Another thing I've noticed is the fact it's very American in how it's constructed with titles and hierarchies and it's tricky to figure everything. Also the website is almost impossible to manage when it comes to finding things again. And there are many old outdated posts. The rules are constantly changed which is very confusing for many members and listeners. Finally, 7 Cups is highly addictive, so if you want to become a listener on the site, make sure to set boundaries on how many and how much time you want to spend there and stick to it.

The best application and site. I always get out of it with a feeling of reassurance in myself. I encountered great people that were sincerely willing to assist me to get through ANY challenges I had. God bless them as you feel like at least someone truly cares.

7 Cups has been a life saver, to say the very least. With so many websites out there (Still not enough) 7 Cups manages to prioritize the goal of restoring mental health, without limiting it's users to "free versions" of guided help. Though professional therapy is available, the exercises, forums and support groups are all incredibly useful. The community here is wonderful.

I love 7 Cups of Tea - so many resources and help to be found here. This is the site that taught me how to actively listen and take care of my mental health. I've had an account since 2014, and although I take breaks, I always return back to it somehow. I have recommended it to friends on several occasions. There are lots of great listeners as well. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of bad harmful listeners and the wait times are horrendous. It seems many do not take the listening courses seriously. I have been snubbed by some listeners without any explanation during a distressing time. Some leave suddenly in the middle of a chat with no warning. Some listeners have also guilted or shamed me when I was going through a hard time, making me feel worse. Therefore, this site is a great starting resource with plenty of potential, but needs tighter controls and tests on who its listeners are.