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GXC 2025 Online Virtual Conference - Mental Health Without Borders

The Friendship Bench: Lessons from a Thousand Grandmothers

Dixon Chibanda, PhD, MPH, M.Med Psych 🇿🇼
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Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Describe the concept of task shifting and its application in addressing the mental health care gap globally.

  • Explain how structured storytelling and intergenerational connection can be used as tools for collective healing in community mental health.

  • Identify appropriate screening tools for detecting common mental health disorders in low-resource settings.

  • Discuss strategies for supporting community health volunteers and lay counselors in emotionally demanding roles.

Educational Goal

This presentation aims to enhance clinicians’ understanding of task-shifting strategies in global mental health by exploring how non-professionals can effectively deliver community-based psychological support using evidence-based tools. Attendees will gain insight into the core components of the Friendship Bench model, fostering improved clinical adaptability, intergenerational connection, and culturally responsive care in both low-resource and high-resource settings.

Description

The global burden of mental disorders and the shortage of trained professionals call for alternative approaches to closing the care gap. One such approach is training non-professionals in basic Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) skills to address common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. This session will focus on how community volunteers can be equipped with these skills, drawing on lessons from the Friendship Bench model and insights from more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications, including clinical trials.


Participants will learn about the benefits for both those receiving and providing support, including intergenerational connectedness and the use of storytelling as a platform for healing. The session will also highlight the importance of expressed empathy and nonverbal communication—such as eye contact and body language—as part of the three pillars of the Friendship Bench and its work in Zimbabwe and beyond.


Examples from Washington, DC; New Orleans; Vietnam; El Salvador; and other countries will illustrate how the model operates and how it can be adapted to new settings.


Presenters

Dixon Chibanda, PhD, MPH, M.Med Psych 🇿🇼
Dixon Chibanda, is the founder of Friendship Bench. He is a leader in the global conversation to democratize mental health care, published researcher, and author of 'The Friendship Bench: How Fourteen Grandmothers Inspired a Mental Health Revolution'. He is a medical doctor and professor of psychiatry & global mental health at the University of Zimbabwe and The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He is the Director of the African Mental Health Initiative (AMARI) and a founding member of Coalition for Scaling Mental Health. Dixon started the Friendship Bench in Mbare, Zimbabwe, in 2006 and which has since scaled nationwide and has been replicated in over 10 countries. He has been for over a decade a key player in bringing the various stakeholders from health authorities, health professionals, international researchers, and donors together to form successful collaborations. In his role as PI, he has led the team through the rigorous exercise of randomized control trials (RCT), including a randomized controlled trial published in JAMA. In addition, over 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications of the program are accessible online. Dixon has explored the intersection of indigenous knowledge and western models of care to develop sustainable interventions in global health. His TED talk has been viewed over 3.2 million times, and the Friendship Bench project has been featured in major media like The PBS News Hour, CBS, New York Times, LA Times, BBC World Service, and more.