StrongMinds
StrongMinds makes mental health care available to adults and adolescents in low-income countries who are affected by depression.
Working with governments, it offers group talk therapy sessions in which patients learn to prevent and manage depressive episodes and to develop long-term coping mechanisms. .
strongminds.org | Partner since 2018
Challenge
Mental health remains a neglected health problem in less-developed countries. In Africa, 185 million people suffer from depression, yet 85% of affected people do not have access to mental health services. The World Bank considers mental health disorders “the greatest thief of productive economic life”.
Response
StrongMinds offers free group interpersonal psychotherapy to people in low-income countries living with moderate to severe depression. It focuses in particular on women and adolescents, who face depression at disproportionally higher rates.
Through 6-week group talk therapy, individuals learn to identify depressive triggers, manage depression episodes, and develop long-term coping strategies. Sessions are facilitated by paid volunteers - trained community health workers, state school teachers and peer facilitators – with StrongMinds providing training, technical assistance and monitorin.
StrongMinds' approach follows the principles of Group Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT-G), using a streamlined approach specifically developed to treat depression in resource-poor settings and approved by the World Health Organization.
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