Child Mind Institute launches Mirror mental health journaling app for teens
Developed with California’s Department of Health Care Services, the Mirror app offers teens a secure space for emotional reflection using mood tracking and guided prompts.
The Child Mind Institute, in partnership with California’s Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), has launched Mirror, a free mobile app created to help teenagers manage their mental health through journaling.
The app is available in English and Spanish and incorporates features that allow users to track mood, create journal entries, and reflect on emotional patterns in a private setting.
Mirror is part of California’s broader Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI), which seeks to expand access to behavioral health tools across schools, homes, healthcare, and digital platforms.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom, California’s First Partner, said: “Mirror offers an alternative to social media — an evidence-based, private space for self-reflection and emotional processing without the noise and judgment of traditional social platforms.”
The app allows teens to create journal entries in multiple formats, including text, voice, images, and video. It includes guided prompts to support emotional processing and creative expression, as well as a mood check-in feature that enables users to log their emotions daily. The app also provides insights by summarizing entries and visualizing mood patterns over time.
Privacy, crisis support, and user input drive app development
Crisis support is built into the app, with users having access to emergency contacts and helplines. The system uses clinician-recommended language in its notifications and summaries. According to the Child Mind Institute, all data is encrypted, and journal entries are deleted from servers immediately after processing. Entries are not monitored or stored by app developers or staff.
Harold S. Koplewicz, MD, president and medical director of the Child Mind Institute, added:
"The youth mental health crisis is ongoing, and there's a clear need for accessible mental health support for teens. We understand that journaling can serve as a tool for self-expression, emotional regulation, and personal growth, especially when paired with mood tracking.
“With Mirror, teens have an accessible and private space to express themselves freely in writing, videos, or voice recordings to explore their emotions and develop self-awareness without fear of external judgment."
The app was developed with input from adolescents, including members of the Child Mind Institute’s Youth Mental Health Academy, who contributed to app design, feature selection, prompt creation, and user feedback during testing phases.
Sophia Hartwell, a UCLA student athlete, commented:
"I use the guided journaling as an outlet and to hone my focus in on the specific question that I need to answer. Then I can finally organize all of my thoughts and feel ready to go into the day with a goal and a plan to achieve it. I feel like the guided journaling helps me with that."
