01
What anxiety actually is
Why the body reacts the way it does, and why that reaction is normal even when it feels awful.
Learning What Helps
Anxiety makes more sense once you know how it works.
A free online programme that helps young people understand why anxiety happens and work out what helps them. Made by New Zealand psychologists.
Free. No cost to students, families or schools.
What it is
Five short modules, and a plan that belongs to the young person.
Learning What Helps is a free online programme for rangatahi. It explains what anxiety is, what is happening in the brain and body, and which practical tools actually help. It is made for 11 to 16 year olds as a guide, and anyone is welcome.
Each module takes about 10 to 15 minutes, and young people work through it on their own, at their own pace. Along the way they build a personal plan: the tools that work for them, and the adults they can talk to.
It is education, not therapy. It does not diagnose anything and it does not replace talking to someone. What it does is make anxiety less confusing, and asking for help less awkward.
What's in it
What a young person works through.
02
What happens in the brain
The alarm system, the thinking brain, and why worry can take over when nothing is wrong.
03
What keeps it going
How avoiding something makes it bigger, and what to do instead.
04
Tools that help
Breathing, grounding, muscle relaxation and self-talk, tried out rather than just described.
05
A plan of their own
Their go-to tools, their safe adults, and what to do when things get hard.
How to join
Getting in takes a couple of minutes.
1
Go to the programme.
Scan the QR code on a school poster, or go to tools.3bigthings.co.nz/learn/anxiety.
2
Sign in with any email address.
We send a link and a 6-digit code. There is no password to remember.
3
Enter a school code, or sign up as a family.
Doing it through school? Your school gives you the code. Not through a school? Choose "Sign up as a family" and no code is needed.
4
Under 14? A parent or caregiver taps approve.
They get one email with an approve button. Approving covers taking part only; it does not let them see what the young person does.
5
Work through it at your own pace.
Five modules, about 10 to 15 minutes each. It remembers where you got to.
Privacy
What a young person writes stays theirs.
Some of what the programme holds is health information, so we handle it in line with the Privacy Act 2020 and the Health Information Privacy Code 2020.
- Nobody else can see a young person’s activity: not their school, not their parents, and not our staff.
- Anything typed into the free-writing spaces stays on the device. It is never saved or sent to us.
- Information is stored in Sydney, Australia, and each person can only ever reach their own data. The database enforces this and we test it before every release.
- The programme loads nothing from outside services, so there is no analytics or advertising tracking inside it.
- Accounts unused for about two years get a warning and are then deleted. Anyone can download or delete their data at any time.
- Independently tested by New Zealand security firm Carapace in September 2026, with no significant vulnerabilities found.
If you need someone now
You can talk to someone any time, for free.
Free call or text 1737 to reach a trained counsellor, any time of the day or night. Youthline is 0800 376 633, and you can text 234. If someone is in immediate danger, call 111.
Who is it for?
It is made for 11 to 16 year olds, but that is guidance, not a rule. Anyone can sign up, and nobody is turned away on age.
Is it therapy?
No. It is educational. It teaches how anxiety works and what helps, and it makes it easier to ask for more support. It does not replace counselling or clinical care, and it asks young people to name the safe adults they can talk to.
What does it cost?
Nothing. It is free for schools, students and families, with no contract and no upsell inside the programme.
Do you need a school code?
Only if you are joining through a school. Families can choose "Sign up as a family" instead, and no code is needed.
What can a parent or caregiver see?
Nothing inside the programme. If a young person is under 14, a parent gets one email asking them to approve taking part. That approval does not give any view of their answers, their plan, or what they write. The programme works because young people can be honest in it. The plan at the end is designed to be shared, so asking them about it is the way in.
What can a school see?
Only how many people are using the programme through its code, with small groups shown as "fewer than 10". Never names, never progress, never anything a student wrote.
What if someone needs help right now?
Every screen has a "Need to talk?" button with free 24/7 helplines. You can free call or text 1737 any time to talk with a trained counsellor. If someone is in immediate danger, call 111.
Who made it?
Registered psychologists at 3 Big Things, a New Zealand psychology practice. It is based on the same approaches we use in our in-person work with young people.
Get started
It is free, private, and takes about an hour in total.
Related