Questions people ask

A free app for noticing what’s landing on you, naming it, and working through it one box at a time. You count what hits you (small, big or really big), name the feeling with the wheel and where it sits in your body, then decide what to do with the box: work on it now, put it off, file it away or let it go.

It comes from a way of thinking about feelings Dave Bolt has used for years: we box things up so we can keep going, and the boxes need opening on purpose.

Yes. This five-minute how-to goes through every part in order: getting in, catching a box, naming the feeling, the conveyor, the rooms, sending, Me, privacy and kid mode. It’s also in the app under More, then Videos.

Nothing while it’s in beta. There are no ads, and nobody is selling what you write.

Box of feels is in a small, invite-only beta while it’s tested. Join the waitlist and Dave will send you an invite code or link when there’s room. If someone has already sent you a link, open it and your code fills itself in.

No. It runs in the web browser on a phone, tablet or computer. To keep it on your home screen like any other app:

• iPhone or iPad: open it in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
• Android: open it in Chrome, tap the ⋮ menu, then Add to Home screen or Install app.

The invite page asks once on each device and browser. On an iPhone, Safari and the home screen app count separately, so you may be asked in both. Use the same code or invite link and tick the two boxes. Everything you’ve saved is still there.

Each code works on up to three devices. If you’ve run out, email Dave.

On the invite page, tap Lost your code? and leave your email, or email David@tenxed.community. Dave will send you a fresh one.

Yes. Once it has opened on your device it keeps working offline. If you have an account, your boxes catch up with your other devices next time you’re online.

It’s made for people 16 and over. Younger people can use it with a parent or carer’s agreement, and there are two modes made for them: kid mode for under 11s, best done side by side with a grown-up, and teen mode for 11 to 15 year olds.

Without an account, nobody. Everything stays on your device.

With an account, your boxes are locked on your device before they’re sent, with a key only you hold. The people who run Box of feels can’t read them.

No. An account is only for keeping your boxes on more than one device and having them backed up. You can also save a copy to your device any time from Me.

You can set a PIN or a passphrase, and Face ID where your device has it. Wrong guesses make the lock wait longer each time.

There’s also an Exit tab on the edge of every screen. One tap hides the app and opens an ordinary page like the weather or a recipe site. You can choose where it goes, tuck it away, or hide it. On a keyboard, pressing Escape three times does the same.

Only what you tick. Before you send, the app shows you a short summary of exactly what’s going. Photos and voice notes never leave your device. They can reply, and only their words come back.

Save a copy to your device from Me, and you can bring it back in later. Your boxes live on your device, so clearing the app’s data in your browser removes them. If you have an account and want it gone, email David@tenxed.community.

No. Box of feels isn’t a crisis service or medical care, and nobody is watching what you write. If you’re in danger or thinking about ending your life, call 000 or Lifeline on 13 11 14. Need help now? is in the app whenever you need the numbers.

No. Your boxes are private, so nobody reads them and the app can’t send anyone to help. That privacy is on purpose, but it means you need to reach out yourself. Please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467, tell someone you trust, or call 000 if you’re in danger now.

You never have to open everything. You can stop at the dock, where a box is just heard and kept safe. The hardest ones can go to the basement until you’re ready, and there are calming tools (breathing, coming back to the room, something soft to hold) in every box.

Some boxes are better opened with someone beside you: a counsellor, psychologist, chaplain or a trusted friend. If you feel worse for days, or can’t settle, see your GP.

It can, if the same box gets opened again and again without anything shifting. The app is built to move boxes along: name it, do one thing with it, then shelve it, put it off or let it go. If you notice you keep circling the same box, take a break, use a calming tool, or take it to someone you trust. Going round and round on your own is a sign to get support, not to try harder.

Take it seriously and talk to them directly. Ask how they are, and if you think they might hurt themselves, ask them plainly; asking doesn’t put the idea there. Stay with them if you can, and help them call Lifeline on 13 11 14. If they’re in danger now, call 000. You don’t have to carry it alone: Lifeline and Beyond Blue support worried friends and family too.

Yes, with some care. Set a PIN or passphrase so the app opens locked. Use the Exit tab on the edge of every screen to leave in one tap; it hides the app and opens an ordinary page. Remember the home screen icon says Box of feels, and anyone who knows your PIN can open it.

If someone is hurting you, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, or 000 if you’re in danger. When you tag a box with “People will hurt me”, the app shows these numbers straight away.

Kid and teen mode use plain words and point to Kids Helpline and a trusted grown-up. There are no public profiles, no feeds and no chat with strangers. A box only goes to someone you choose to send it to, and photos and voice notes never leave the device.

For under 11s it works best side by side with a parent, carer or worker.

No. It’s a place to practise noticing and naming what you feel, and to keep what you learn about yourself. It works well alongside a GP, psychologist or counsellor: you can mark boxes to talk about at your next session, and make a one-page summary to take with you. It doesn’t diagnose anything or give medical advice, so keep talking to your doctor about medication and treatment.

Nothing changes. The app is a practice tool alongside your work, not a replacement for it, and it doesn’t alert you to anything a client writes outside a session. Your own duty of care, safety planning and reporting obligations still apply.

It’s built to do the opposite. The crisis numbers are one tap away, the app points you to your people and your GP, and it makes a one-page summary so you can say more in a short appointment. Many people never get to a counsellor because they can’t find the words; this helps them find the words first.

The skills in it aren’t new. The skill cards draw on well-tested approaches such as DBT, ACT and CBT, and naming feelings precisely is one of the best-supported ways to take the heat out of them. Box of feels itself hasn’t been through a clinical trial; it’s in beta, and we’re honest about that. It’s a practice tool, not a treatment.

Fair point. Dave is a chaplain who has worked with people through hard things for years, and the app grew out of the way he helps them. It doesn’t diagnose, treat or claim to be therapy. It’s designed to sit alongside professional care, and practitioners are trying it with the people they support.

It can, if someone is pushed to go over the worst of it alone. Box of feels never asks you to relive anything or tell the whole story. You can name a feeling and stop there, keep the hardest boxes in the basement, and come back when you’re steadier or have someone with you. It isn’t a trauma therapy, and trauma work belongs with a trained professional.

The cartoons, the BAM button and the odd rubber chicken are there because heavy things are easier to pick up when you’re not braced for grimness. The serious parts stay serious: crisis lines, the safety notes and anything about someone hurting you are never played for laughs. If the playful bits aren’t for you, there’s a quieter, plainer look.

A mood tracker records how you feel. Box of feels is about what you do next: name it exactly, notice where it sits in your body, and decide what happens to it. The aim is fewer boxes piling up, not a longer chart.

Agreed. Kid mode is meant for a few minutes side by side with a grown-up, to give a child words for what’s going on, then put the device down and talk. Nothing in it is built to keep them scrolling: no feeds, no ads, no strangers.

Without an account there’s nothing of yours on our servers to take. With an account, your boxes are locked on your device before they leave it, so the copy we hold can’t be read without your key. Nobody at TenXed can read them either.

It’s made by a Christian, and it’s for everyone. Faith content is off unless you turn it on, so nobody gets Bible verses they didn’t choose. Churches can use it with that turned on, and schools and services can use it without.

A box holds one thing that landed on you: the feelings, where you felt it, what happened, photos, voice notes and letters. Boxes move between rooms as you work on them:

• The dock for a new box. You can stop there, just being heard.
• The conveyor for the ones you’re working through.
• The desk for serious thinking and writing letters.
• The bookshelf once a box is done. It becomes a book you can read back.
• The overflow to put one off until tomorrow.
• The basement for the very hard ones, and the shed to store one away.
• The incinerator to let one go.

It goes from your shelves, but what it held is kept, so it still counts in what the app notices for you, and you can bring it back from the ash heap. If you’d rather a burned box is gone for good, change that in the incinerator’s settings.

Only if you turn it on. Faith is off unless you choose it. With it on you get a Bible verse each day and verses alongside some of the tools.

Turn on Arachnophobia mode in My data, under The look of it. The shed spider becomes a yo-yo.

In the app, open More and tap Send feedback. You can say which screen and add a screenshot. Or email David@tenxed.community.

Yes. Kid mode uses plain words and pictures and is best done side by side. Teen mode talks straighter and has skills for real teen stuff. Parents can keep a shelf for each child, and kids can ask for help telling a grown-up something. Watch the kid and teen mode videos.

Yes. Practitioner mode lets you run a session on your own device: the person makes their boxes, you end the session with your own exit PIN, and the boxes are filed in their record rather than left on show. It’s a practice tool to use alongside your work, not a replacement for it.

For a talk, a workshop or bringing it to your school, church or team, email David@tenxed.community, or see the pages for pastors and charities.

Box of feels is a practice tool people use alongside your work, not therapy, and it doesn’t diagnose. Nothing reaches you unless the person shows you, usually their Appointment summary or the boxes they kept for their next session. Read the page for clinicians.

Client records have their own passphrase, separate from your app lock, and a Recovery Key in case you forget it. They’re scrambled on your device, lock themselves after a few idle minutes or when you put the app away, and any cloud copy is scrambled before it leaves. Dave can’t read them.

A client session only starts when your device is locked, so if someone closes the app mid-session it opens to your passcode, not your own boxes. Your exit PIN can be 4 to 8 digits, and wrong guesses make it wait longer each time. Boxes from a session are sealed straight into your records and only open when you unlock them.

You’re still responsible for the device itself: keep it locked, use a longer PIN or a few words, and follow your own organisation’s rules for keeping client information.

Dave Bolt, a chaplain, author and illustrator in Western Australia, through TenXed, with technical advice from Phixx Creative. Book Dave for a talk.