Council
Safety · written carefully

Council is a journal,
not a therapist.

We've built Council to be reflective, not clinical. It cannot diagnose, treat, or replace care from a person trained to help. If something you're carrying is acutely heavy, the resources below are the right place to start.

Council is a journal, not a therapist. The voices reflect your own words back; they can't diagnose, treat, or stand in for a trained human. If something feels acutely heavy, the crisis lines below are the right place to start — Council is built to sit alongside that kind of help, not replace it.

Council is a tool for thinking out loud — not a substitute for medical, psychological, or emergency care.

§ 01What Council is, and what it isn't

Council helps you reflect on your own writing through ten distinct voices. The voices are designed to ask good questions, name things gently, and occasionally push back. They are not licensed practitioners and they don't know your history.

If you'd benefit from a real conversation with a real person — a friend, a doctor, a therapist, a crisis line — we'd rather you have that conversation than open the app.

§ 02If you're in crisis right now

If you are thinking about hurting yourself or someone else, please reach out to a crisis service. The following lines are free, confidential, and answered by trained humans. Inside the app, if a session ever suggests you might need it, a single quiet screen opens findahelpline.com directly — the international directory listed below, which surfaces the local lines for your country.

United States
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Call or text 988
24/7. English and Spanish.
United Kingdom & ROI
Samaritans
Call 116 123 (free)
24/7. jo@samaritans.org if you prefer email.
European Union
EU emergency line
Call 112
Routes to local emergency services.
International
Find a Helpline
findahelpline.com
A directory of vetted crisis lines in 130+ countries.
Inside the app

If a session contains language suggesting acute risk, every voice steps aside, and a single quiet screen takes their place — a direct link to findahelpline.com, and nothing you have to do.

§ 03How the voices behave

Each voice is shaped by a written prompt that defines its register and its limits. They are designed to:

  • Reflect what you wrote, not invent facts about your life.
  • Ask, when uncertain, instead of guessing.
  • Step out of role when someone is at risk and point to help.
  • Never claim to be a person or a therapist.

If you ever feel a voice crossed a line — gave bad advice, was unkind, claimed expertise it doesn't have — write to contact@artiomleo.com. Every note is read, and shapes the next revision of that voice's prompt.

§ 04Young people

Council is intended for people 13 and over. We recognise younger teenagers may use it anyway, so we've made the safety messaging gentle but unambiguous, and kept the crisis resources easy to surface when a session calls for them. Council's replies are written for older teens and adults — they can be direct. Read with care. If you are under 18 and using Council, please also talk to an adult you trust.

§ 05Tell us when we get it wrong

If you've experienced something inside Council that felt unsafe or unhelpful, please write to contact@artiomleo.com. Every note is read by a person and shapes the next revision of that voice's prompt.