Open AccessThe More We Are Together, The Happier We Are: Peer Music in Mental Health Treatment in Zimbabwe
Author(s) -
Jeffrey Robert Angell,
Ruth Verhey
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
voices
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1504-1611
DOI - 10.15845/voices.v15i3.837
Subject(s) - friendship , empowerment , mental health , psychology , music therapy , group process , applied psychology , psychotherapist , social psychology , political science , law
Ruth Verhey is a clinical psychologist involved in developing and running the Friendship Bench, a comprehensive, group based mental healthcare initiative in Harare, Zimbabwe. In 2013, she invited Jeffrey Angell, a music therapist from New York City, to facilitate one of weekly Zeebag support groups at Harare Hospital. The Zeebag group is comprised of eight women who suffer from depression. The essay provides Jeffrey's first person accounts of this experience, as well as describing the music, music process, and how these intergrate into the peer empowerment model of the Frienship Bench.