Get Better, Together
Group therapy in Cuba, without the twenty-week wait.
Cuba's public mental health system is admired for its community focus, but demand outpaces the 0.44 mental health workers per 100,000 people that WHO counts on the island. Grouport connects Cubans who have reliable internet to a licensed therapist and a small English-language group of 6 to 12 peers, usually right away of signing up, at $32 a session.
Consistently Recognized as the #1 Online Group Therapy pick
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The State of Mental Health in Cuba.
Understanding the landscape of mental health care access and the challenges
residents face across the state.
Mental Illness Prevalence
17.9% of Cuban adults live with a mental health condition each year, reflecting the ongoing need for accessible therapy options.
Wait Time
6 weeks the average wait to secure a first mental health appointment in Cuba's public system, an interval during which symptoms often deepen.
Median Household Income
$14,200 median household income in Cuba, shaping what households can allocate to private mental health care.
Percentage Who Need Therapy
55.0% of Cuban adults with a mental health condition do not receive formal specialist treatment.
Provider Shortage
99% of Cuba's mental health workforce falls short of what is needed to fully meet population demand for specialist care.
Mental Health Providers per 100k Residents
0.44 per 100,000 mental health workers in Cuba, a density that shapes availability, wait times, and access across the country.
These figures come from the WHO Global Health Observatory and PAHO's Americas region tracking. Cuba's workforce number, 0.44 psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and social workers per 100,000 combined, is one of the lower ratios in the Caribbean despite the country's investment in primary care. With a population of roughly 10.98 million and regional prevalence patterns, the working assumption is that well over a million Cubans could benefit from talk therapy in any given year, while only a fraction reach a specialist.
UNDERSTANDING THE CHALLENGE
Understanding Mental Health Access in Cuba.
The Problem
Cuba built its mental health model around the family doctor and polyclinic system, which handles first contact well but funnels specialist demand to a very thin bench. WHO records 0.44 mental health workers per 100,000 people, so roughly 48 specialists for the entire 10.98 million. The economic squeeze of the past few years, the 2021 monetary reform and shortages of imported psychotropic medication have added pressure at exactly the moment household stress has risen. Provincial hospitals in Santiago, Camaguey and Pinar del Rio report the longest queues.
The Impact
For a person in Havana or Holguin trying to see a psychologist, the twenty-week wait is not an abstraction. It usually means several polyclinic visits, a referral, a hospital appointment weeks later, and then a first session that may be brief because the clinician is running a full daily list. Rural patients frequently travel to a provincial capital by guagua or shared taxi, adding cost and lost work hours. Many people simply stop pursuing care after the second or third delay and rely on family support instead.
The Solution
Online group therapy sidesteps most of the friction points in the Cuban pathway. There is no polyclinic referral, no provincial hospital visit, no queue behind hundreds of other names. A Grouport member fills out a short intake, is matched with a licensed therapist who runs a specific weekly group (anxiety, depression, relationships, DBT skills, grief and others), and joins from a laptop or phone. Groups run in English, which is workable for the growing share of Cubans, particularly younger urban professionals and returning migrants, comfortable in a second language.
99% of Cuba's mental health workforce falls short of what is needed to fully meet population demand for specialist care.
Concretely, Grouport replaces the 140-day public wait with an immediate therapist match, replaces the trip into Havana's Hermanos Ameijeiras or a provincial hospital with a video call, and replaces the specialist shortage with access to the wider licensed workforce. The service is HIPAA-compliant, groups cap at 12 so each voice gets airtime, and sessions are $32 each on a $140 monthly plan. What it needs from the member is a reliable connection, which in Cuba usually means an ETECSA Nauta Hogar line, a mobile 4G plan with enough data, or a stable Wi-Fi zone.
Access and Availability Across Cuba.
Mental health access in Cuba is a story of two systems running in parallel: a public network that is universal on paper but rationed in practice, and, for those who can pay, a very limited private consulta. Grouport fits neither mold. It is a third path, delivered over the internet, priced in US dollars, and available to any Cuban resident who can join a video call at the scheduled time each week.
Geographic Barriers
Extended Wait Times
Systemic Challenges
Urban-Rural Divide
Affordable Group Therapy Costs for Cuba Residents.
Affordability and Income
Against WHO's regional GNI per capita PPP figure of roughly $14,200 for the Americas, the $140 monthly cost is about 7% of a monthly share of that income. In Cuba's own peso terms the picture is more nuanced, since state salaries and remittance-fed household budgets sit at very different levels. For families receiving regular remittances from Miami, Madrid or Mexico City, a $140 line item is comparable to a modest data plan. For state-salary-only households it is a larger commitment and the shared group model, rather than one-to-one therapy at multiples of the price, is what makes it feasible.
Hidden Cost and Barriers
Public therapy is nominally free but rarely costless. A rural resident may spend 200 to 500 pesos per round trip on shared transport to a provincial hospital, plus a full day away from work or caregiving. Repeated visits during the assessment and follow-up phase compound quickly. Urban patients avoid the travel bill but often lose half a workday per appointment. Online group therapy removes the travel, the waiting-room hours and the informal cost of getting a cita, and replaces them with a scheduled hour on a device you already own.
Immediate Availability
The financial argument only holds if the service is actually available, and this is where the model diverges most sharply from local pathways. Grouport matches members to a therapist and group right after intake. There is no waitlist, no referral, no medical justification form. The trade-off is the format: group rather than individual, English rather than Spanish, weekly rather than on demand.
Private therapy inside Cuba, when it exists at all, is quietly priced in dollars or MLC and varies widely between provinces. Public therapy is free but slow. Grouport sits between those two realities at $32 per weekly session, billed as a $140 monthly membership that includes weekly group sessions with a licensed therapist.
How it Works
Choose your online therapy group
Choose your desired online therapy group and sign up for our weekly plan. Most of our groups are $35/session, but our skills groups are $25/session.
Personalized match
We’ll ensure you're matched to an online therapy group that best fits your mental health challenges and schedule. Don’t worry if you’re not entirely sure which group is right for you, as after signing up, a care coordinator can help make sure you get started in the group that’s right for you. We typically match you to a group right away!
Meet weekly with your group
Join your group over video chat at the same time each week for 60-minute sessions. You’ll meet with the same members & therapist with a group of up to 12 members. Additional membership perks can include weekly handouts, symptom tracking, and one-off workshops.
Mental Health Conditions We Treat in Cuba.
Grouport runs weekly groups across most of what a Cuban member would go to a psychologist for: generalized and social anxiety, depression, grief and bereavement, relationship and family conflict, trauma and PTSD, and DBT skills for emotional regulation. The migration and family-separation stress that shows up in many Cuban households, whether from a partner in Uyuni or a child in Tampa, is a common thread across the anxiety and depression groups. Members choose the group that matches their reason for signing up and can switch as their focus changes.
Get Help for:
Anxiety Disorders
Mood Disorders
Trauma & Stress Related Disorders
Obsessive-Compulsive & Related Disorders
Personality Disorders
Eating & Body Disorders
Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Life Challenges
Relationship Issues, Codependency, Attachment Issues, Divorce, Loneliness, Anger Management, Self-Esteem, Grief & Loss, Chronic Illness, Gender Dysphoria, Infertility, Fertility Treatment & IVF Support, Pregnancy Loss & Miscarriage, Couples Issues, Parenting, Supporting a loved one, LGBTQIA Support
Other Disorders
Self harm
Self-Harm, Suicidal Ideation, Self-injury, Suicide Survival
Common Treatments
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure Response Prevention (ERP), Exposure Therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR), Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), Psychodynamic Therapy, Motivational Interviewing (MI), Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), Trauma-Focused CBT (TF-CBT), Narrative Therapy, Schema Therapy, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), Somatic Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Prolonged Exposure (PE), Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), Behavioral Activation
Meet Our Therapists
Our therapists represent a wide range of clinical specialties & diverse backgrounds. They all undergo the most stringent credentialing process. Grouport therapists are caring, expert mental health professionals with years of experience helping people get the tools they need to see long-lasting change.
Every Grouport group is led by a licensed therapist, most commonly holding an LCSW, LMFT, LPC or PsyD credential. They work in English and are experienced with international members, including Cuban members navigating the specific texture of life on the island: dual-currency budgeting, family split across borders, and the daily rhythm of resolviendo. Therapists are not expected to have lived in Cuba, but they are briefed to work with cross-cultural context rather than assume a US framework applies wholesale.
a healthier future starts right here
Grouport’s Results
80% of our members start with moderate to severe mental health symptoms
70% of our members feel significantly better within just 8 weeks
50% of our members achieve remission levels within just 8 weeks
80%
of our members start with moderate to severe mental health symptoms
70%
of our members feel significantly better within just 8 weeks
50%
of our members achieve remission levels within just 8 weeks
Find your Group
Affordable Group Therapy & Care Options in Cuba.
Group, individual, couples, family, IOP, and teen therapy — all online, all therapist-led. Mix and match care options to fit your needs — and get discounted pricing when you bundle.
Group Therapy
$35/session
billed at $140/month
Get Started
Individual Therapy
Couples Therapy
Family Therapy
IOP Therapy
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Teen Therapy
Meaningful Results
Check out how our services have helped our members see life-changing results
Stephanie
“Grouport is time flexible and affordable and if it didn’t exist, I don’t know where I would go. I had looked into other places before Grouport and there really wasn’t any option like it.”
Michael
“I highly recommend this to anyone who is struggling with anxiety or depression. The therapists are top notch and have made me feel really comfortable and my anxiety has improved tremendously in only a few sessions!”
Isabel
"I joined Grouport to work on myself and to heal. I’m learning so much at every session! The change I see not only in myself but in my fellow group members is abundantly encouraging and profoundly fulfilling. Group therapy with Grouport is a powerful healing tool."
Sheldon
“I was feeling very down at the end of 2020 and I was ready to do something drastic that I know I'd likely regret. The group definitely helped show me that there are people who feel the same way as I do.”
Nancy
“The therapy from Grouport is high quality and convenient. I am becoming much more self aware and am liking myself more. My relationships at work are better and I’m much happier.”
Emily
“I like the connection you can make with total strangers and the confidentiality it comes with.”
Danielle
"Grouport can help you with your issues. Their therapists are well trained to work with you on your issues. I felt my anxiety greatly improve after only a few sessions. I highly recommend it!"
Glenn
"Grouport's approach to DBT is a real strength. This approach provides tools and methods for working with difficult emotions and getting a handle on them. It has given me hope where other approaches have failed."
Common Questions About Group Therapy in Cuba.
Yes. Grouport's licensed therapists work with Cubans whose spiritual lives range from practicing Catholicism to Santeria and Palo traditions to fully secular worldviews shaped by decades of state atheism. Faith is treated as personal context, never as something to argue with or convert. Weekly video groups of 6-12 members focus on evidence-based skills like CBT and DBT, applied to your own life and language of meaning. Sessions are HIPAA-secure and confidential, so you can speak openly without concern about neighbors, workplaces, or CDR-level community networks in Havana or Holguin.
Yes. Cuba Standard Time sits on UTC-5, the same as US Eastern, so Grouport's weekday evening and late-evening groups land in the natural post-shift window for hotel, restaurant, and hospital staff across Havana, Varadero, and Santiago de Cuba. Sessions run once a week for a fixed hour with 6-12 members and a licensed therapist, so you can plan around rotating turnos. At $32 per session you join right away, log in over home ETECSA or mobile data, and keep continuity even when your on-site schedule shifts.
Group Therapy Available Across Cuba.
Counties
Pinar del Rio, Artemisa, La Habana, Mayabeque, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, Sancti Spiritus, Ciego de Avila, Camaguey, Las Tunas, Granma, Holguin, Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Isla de la Juventud (special municipality)
Cities
Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Camaguey, Holguin, Santa Clara, Guantanamo, Bayamo, Las Tunas, Cienfuegos, Pinar del Rio, Matanzas, Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritus, Manzanillo, Cardenas
Zip Codes
10100, 10200, 10300, 10400, 10500, 10600, 10700, 10800, 10900, 11000
If you have an address in Cuba, Grouport can serve you regardless of your zip code.
Ready To Get Started?
Let’s find the right therapist match for you, so you can get consistent & effective care.
