From a single wooden bench in Harare to campuses and communities around the world, the Friendship Bench model has transformed how we think about mental health. Dixon Chibanda’s book, The Friendship Bench: How Fourteen Grandmothers Inspired a Mental Health Revolution, has just won the 2025 OWL Award in the First-Year Experience category, recognizing its impact in shaping conversations about wellbeing and community.

As the world faces increasing crises, access to mental health care has never been more critical. The 2025 World Mental Health Day theme, “Access to Services – Mental Health in Catastrophes and Emergencies,” echoes the need for practical, community-based solutions. The Friendship Bench model, developed in Zimbabwe, now replicated globally, offers an evidence-based approach that brings hope and healing to people through simple, meaningful conversations led by trained community elders.

On a recent episode of "Healing Through Stories," which aired just today, host Dixon Chibanda sat down with Tracy and Lata, to discuss how sharing their experiences transformed their lives. Their powerful conversation revealed a profound truth: we find strength not by fighting our battles alone, but by sharing them.