In Montana, public mental health services are run by the Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Division (BHDD) of the Department of Public Health and Human Services. Calls to 988 from Montana are answered by one of three in state Lifeline centers in Great Falls, Bozeman, and Missoula, which together cover every county. NAMI Montana, based in Helena, runs free support groups and classes such as Family to Family and Peer to Peer.
If you're not in crisis but want to talk with someone who's been there, the Montana Warm Line at 1-877-688-3377 connects you with a trained peer.
Montana is big and sparsely settled, and much of its care runs through a statewide network of licensed adult mental health centers, most of which list telehealth on the state's directory. Crisis stabilization is concentrated in a handful of towns: Western Montana Mental Health Center runs 24 hour crisis stabilization facilities in Kalispell, Polson, Missoula, Hamilton, and Bozeman, and the Community Crisis Center in Billings is open 24 hours a day. Because 988 calls stay with Montana counselors who know local resources, people in rural counties can still get a referral close to home. Montana State University's Human Development Clinic offers telehealth counseling across the state on a sliding fee scale. Billings Clinic, which trains psychiatrists for rural practice, serves Montana, northern Wyoming, and parts of the western Dakotas.
Crisis lines
- 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Call or text 988 anywhere in the United States, including from Montana. Free and confidential, 24 hours a day. For chat, visit 988lifeline.org.
- Montana 988 (DPHHS). The state's page for Montana's 988 Lifeline, answered by Voices of Hope in Great Falls, The Help Center in Bozeman, and Western Montana Mental Health in Missoula. It includes a map showing which center covers your county.
- Montana 211. A free, confidential line that connects you with local health and human services, 24 hours a day. Dial 211 or search the directory online by keyword or city.
- Montana Warm Line (Mental Health America of Montana). A peer support line for people in mental health recovery, staffed by trained people with their own lived experience. Call 877-688-3377 when you want to talk but aren't in crisis.
Crisis care and mobile crisis
- Crisis Services (Montana BHDD). The state's list of crisis lines, crisis stabilization facilities, and mobile crisis information, including Montana Crisis Recovery at 1-877-503-0833. It names Western Montana Mental Health Center's 24 hour stabilization sites and the Community Crisis Center in Billings.
State mental health authority
- Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Division (BHDD). The DPHHS division responsible for Montana's statewide system of mental health and substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery services. Start here for adult and children's mental health programs and suicide prevention.
- Adult Mental Health Services (Mental Health Services Bureau). The bureau that oversees publicly funded mental health services for adults, including Medicaid services. Use it to learn about programs and partners in adult mental health.
NAMI Montana
- NAMI Montana. Montana's NAMI organization offers free NAMI Connection and Family Support Groups, in person and online, plus classes such as Family to Family, Peer to Peer, and NAMI Basics for parents of kids with mental health symptoms. Call (406) 443-7871 to ask about programs near you.
Community mental health centers
- Montana Adult Mental Health Centers (state list). The state's county by county list of licensed adult mental health centers with services, hours, phone numbers, and whether they offer telehealth. Find your county and call the center directly to ask about an intake.
Treatment locators
- FindTreatment.gov. SAMHSA's confidential locator for mental health and substance use treatment. Search by ZIP code to find licensed programs in Montana.
University and academic medical centers
Montana's medical school is Montana WWAMI, run with the University of Washington School of Medicine and based at Montana State University. The state's psychiatry residency is at Billings Clinic.
- Billings Clinic Psychiatry Residency Training Program. Montana's psychiatry residency, which began as a University of Washington track and now trains psychiatrists for rural and underserved communities. Billings Clinic's Behavioral Health Clinic patients can call 406-238-2500 for appointments.
- Montana WWAMI Medical Education Program (Montana State University). Montana's medical school partnership with the University of Washington School of Medicine, with early training in Bozeman. It's a training program rather than a clinic, so it won't see patients directly.
Other state programs
- Montana Warriors Forward. The state's suicide prevention effort for service members, veterans, and their families. It links to an interactive map of veteran resources across Montana.
- MT Farm and Ranch Stress Resource Clearinghouse (MSU Extension). Montana State University Extension's list of crisis lines, counseling, and stress resources for farmers, ranchers, and rural families. It also lists MSU's Human Development Clinic, which offers telehealth counseling statewide on a sliding fee scale at (406) 994-4113.