LogoHealingCircles
Present in 47 countries

Healing happens
where you already are.

Safe conversation circles in school gymnasiums, temple courtyards, and community halls — wherever stigma has kept people silent.

↳ Nairobi, Kenya
47 Countries·12,400+ Circles Held·Free to Attend·Trained Facilitators·All Faiths Welcome·No Referral Needed·47 Countries·12,400+ Circles Held·Free to Attend·Trained Facilitators·All Faiths Welcome·No Referral Needed
Women sitting in a circle on woven mats in a community hall in Accra, Ghana, during a HealingCircles session
Abena Mensah, circle facilitator

Abena Mensah

Lead Facilitator, Accra East

Labone Community Hall
Accra, Ghana

Labone Community Hall

"The hall smells like chalk and old wood. That smell means safety now."

Every Saturday morning at 9am, the chairs come out and the circle forms. Abena has run 214 circles at Labone in the past three years — she knows the names of every participant who has ever walked through the door, and the names of their children.

214

Circles held last year

1,840

People reached

People writing on colourful sticky notes on the wall of a dimly lit church hall in Bogotá, Colombia
Camilo Restrepo, circle facilitator

Camilo Restrepo

Peer Listener Coordinator

Parroquia San Marcos, Kennedy
Bogotá, Colombia

Parroquia San Marcos, Kennedy

"Here, nobody asks you to be okay before you sit down."

Camilo started as a participant in 2021, two months after his brother's death. By 2022 he had completed facilitator training. The Kennedy circle now runs three evenings a week, drawing in construction workers, mothers, and teenagers from the same block.

178

Circles held last year

1,320

People reached

A counsellor speaking gently with a group of women seated outdoors under a tree in rural Bihar, India
Sunita Devi, circle facilitator

Sunita Devi

ASHA Worker & Circle Facilitator

Panchayat Bhavan, Raniganj Block
Araria District, Bihar, India

Panchayat Bhavan, Raniganj Block

"I used to think sadness was something you kept inside. Now I know it needs air."

Sunita runs her circles in Maithili and Hindi, seated under the neem tree outside the Panchayat office when the hall is in use. Farmers, women from the local self-help groups, and adolescent girls all come. The district health officer now refers to her circles in his quarterly reports.

96

Circles held last year

740

People reached

What happens in a circle

Unhurried. Unscripted. Unexpectedly warm.

01

Someone arrives

No intake form. No referral letter. You walk in — a school gym, a church hall, a community centre — and someone hands you a cup of tea. The circle hasn't started yet. That's intentional.

02

The circle opens

A trained facilitator welcomes the group in the local language. There are no chairs arranged in rows. Everyone sits in a circle — equal, unhurried. A single question is offered, not imposed.

03

Listening without fixing

Peer listeners — community members trained in active listening — hold space without offering solutions. The goal is not advice. It is the felt experience of being genuinely heard.

04

The circle closes

The facilitator gently closes. Participants leave with a card listing local mental health contacts, a date for the next circle, and — most importantly — the knowledge that this place exists.

Who this is for

Whoever you are, there is a door open.

Institutional

Municipal Health Coordinator

Deploy circles across your district

We work with city health departments to embed HealingCircles into existing community infrastructure — no new buildings, no new budgets. We train your staff.

Education

School Principal

Give students a space before they go silent

A weekly peer listening circle in your school hall costs nothing except a facilitator's time. We provide the training, the structure, and the safeguarding protocols.

Community

Diaspora Volunteer

Bring it back to where you came from

You know the village. You know who the elders trust. We know how to run a circle. Together, we can start something that outlasts your visit.

Participant

Community Member

You don't need a reason. You just need to come.

Circles are free, open to all, and held in the language of the neighbourhood. No diagnosis required. No story you have to tell. Just a seat in a circle.

Global reach

The circle keeps growing. Quietly, everywhere.

0

Countries

Active program presence

0+

Circles held

In the last 12 months

0+

Trained facilitators

Across all regions

0%

Would return

Participant satisfaction

"I had not spoken about my son's death to anyone for three years. I walked past the community hall every week. One Tuesday evening, I walked in. That was eight months ago. I still go every Tuesday."

— Adaeze O., participant, Enugu, Nigeria

Free to attend · No referral needed · All languages