Despite a litany of forum posts arguing in favor of taking care of your own mental health first, we (here at Rethink Wellbeing) still often encounter an aversion many EAs have towards self-care. In the EA community, 74% of those affected by poor mental health report unmet needs, which could reduce productivity by up to 35%, limiting their ability to tackle the world's most pressing problems. This is why we developed the CBT Lab, empowering altruists and amplifying their impact on the world.
Last year, CBT Lab participants reported:
For the third year running, we replicated these results across all primary measures. Applications for 2026 are now open!
Apply nowThe CBT Lab is an 8 week online program teaching evidence-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy tools, designed specifically for people working on EA causes. Each week, groups of 5–6 participants meet online for 90-minute sessions led by a trained volunteer facilitator, working through a tailored workbook and supporting each other between sessions through an online community.
The program is supervised throughout by a clinical psychologist, who trains and oversees all facilitators. It runs on about 5 hours per week, costs whatever you can afford (including $0), and has been shown to produce improvements comparable to 1:1 psychotherapy at a fraction of the cost.
The techniques taught, drawn from third-wave CBT, ACT, and Mindfulness, are particularly relevant to the psychological pressures that come with EA work: perfectionism, motivational slumps, anxiety about impact, and burnout.
If you'd like to hear what the program is like in practice, here are two participants from 2025:
"This program helped me get my motivation unkinked and make the decision to start doing the things I wanted to do. If you feel like your brain is holding you back from getting happy, getting what you want done, or managing both at once, I cannot recommend it highly enough. It's like discovering you have more agency than you thought." — AI Safety Quest board member
"I've gained some very valuable tools and have noticed I can flexibly use them when I need them. This helped me navigate difficult emotions and make a very scary, big but good career decision." — Jan, PhD student in technical AI Safety
The program is designed for ambitious altruists — people working at EA organizations, earning to give, or actively pursuing EA-aligned careers — who feel their mental health or productivity isn't where they want it to be. About a third of our past participants were students. We serve people across 35 countries, and our pay-what-you-can model means financial constraints aren't a barrier.
You can also apply to become a facilitator rather than a participant. Facilitators go through our expert-led training before guiding a peer group through the program, learning the tools alongside them. It's a meaningful commitment and, by the numbers, one that participants rate very highly — 9.3/10 for facilitator quality across nearly 1,000 weekly session evaluations.
Applying takes under 10 minutes. We'll review your application, match you to the program that fits your goals and circumstances, and invite you roughly a month before your cohort starts. Once you accept, you'll complete a short matching form so we can place you in the right peer group, then confirm your place with a program payment or motivational deposit.
Apply as an applicant📌 Time commitment: ~5h/week for 8–12 weeks, plus a reunion session at week 12
📌 Format: Online peer groups of 5–6, led by trained volunteer facilitators
📌 Cost: Pay what you can, starting at $0
We're also looking for facilitators! If you're interested, please sign up with this link:
Apply as a facilitatorQuestions or want to learn more? Reach out at [email protected].
