Get Better, Together
Online Group Therapy for Gambians, Without the 12-Week Wait.
Gambia has roughly 6.58 mental health workers for every 100,000 residents, and the local wait for a therapy appointment sits near twelve weeks. Grouport connects Gambians with licensed therapists in immediate, running English-language group sessions over HIPAA-compliant video for $32 per session. No taxi to Banjul, no queue at Tanka Tanka.
Consistently Recognized as the #1 Online Group Therapy pick
.svg)
.png)
.png)
.png)
The State of Mental Health in Gambia.
Understanding the landscape of mental health care access and the challenges
residents face across the state.
Mental Illness Prevalence
Wait Time
Median Household Income
Percentage Who Need Therapy
Provider Shortage
Mental Health Providers per 100k Residents
Figures for Gambia rely on WHO Global Health Observatory workforce data and World Bank national accounts (2024). The country has one publicly known psychiatric referral facility, Tanka Tanka Hospital in Kanifing, serving a population of 2.76 million. Community-level mental health data is sparse, and
UNDERSTANDING THE CHALLENGE
Understanding Mental Health Access in Gambia.
The Problem
The Gambia's mental health system rests on a very narrow base. WHO records about 6.58 mental health workers per 100,000 people, meaning the entire country of 2.76 million shares roughly 180 trained mental health professionals across all cadres, and only a handful of those are psychiatrists. Tanka Tanka Hospital in Kanifing is effectively the national psychiatric referral centre, and general nurses in regional health centres often take on counselling duties they were not specifically trained for. Formal outpatient talk therapy, delivered by a qualified clinician, is not a routine feature of primary care.
The Impact
The knock-on effect for someone in Basse, Farafenni or Brikama is practical: a 12-week wait for an initial appointment is common, and reaching Kanifing may require a full day of travel by gelly-gelly and shared taxi. Time off work in an economy where the average income is $3,430 PPP per year is not a small cost, and neither is the transport fare itself. For many families the calculation ends before an appointment is ever booked, and mild-to-moderate difficulties are absorbed at home or through religious and community channels.
The Solution
Online group therapy re-shapes that calculation. Six to twelve participants share a facilitated hour with a licensed clinician, split the therapist's time, and cover a much lower per-session fee, $32 in Grouport's case, than one-to-one care would require locally or abroad. Because the sessions run in English, which is Gambia's official language of instruction and government, the group format works for professionals, students, and diaspora returnees who are comfortable in English regardless of whether Wolof, Mandinka or Fula is spoken at home.
Grouport removes the geography problem outright. A resident of Janjanbureh joins the same session as someone in Serrekunda, and the therapist is a licensed clinician rather than one of Gambia's ~180 domestic mental health workers. Matching happens right away instead of a three-month queue, and the video platform runs on HIPAA-compliant infrastructure that works over the 4G networks Africell, QCell and Comium operate across most of the country. The only equipment needed is a smartphone or laptop with a stable connection.
Access and Availability Across Gambia.
Mental health services in Gambia are heavily centralised. A single psychiatric hospital in the Kanifing area handles inpatient referrals for the whole country, and community-based mental health workers are unevenly distributed across the eight local government areas. For most Gambians, "access" means either travelling to Greater Banjul or waiting for an occasional outreach visit, neither of which is a reliable way to sustain weekly talk therapy.
Geographic Barriers
Extended Wait Times
Systemic Challenges
Urban-Rural Divide
Affordable Group Therapy Costs for Gambia Residents.
Affordability and Income
Gambia's GNI per capita on a purchasing-power-parity basis is $3,430. A $140 monthly Grouport membership represents roughly 4.1% of that annual figure for an average earner, meaningful, but comparable in scale to what a professional household might already spend on mobile data and transport to the capital combined. For diaspora Gambians in the UK, US or Spain sending remittances home, the same $140 covers a family member's therapy for a full month at a fraction of the equivalent Western private-practice cost.
Hidden Cost and Barriers
The visible fee is only part of the picture with local care. A single in-person appointment at Tanka Tanka from Farafenni can involve a river-ferry crossing, two shared-taxi legs, a full day off work, and a return trip in the evening, costs that recur every week if therapy is to be effective. Group video sessions eliminate the transport, the ferry queue, and the lost workday. The only marginal cost per session is the mobile data used by an hour of video, which on current Africell and QCell tariffs is a fraction of a single gelly-gelly fare.
Immediate Availability
Cost aside, the availability difference is stark. The public wait is around 12 weeks; Grouport typically matches a new member to a group right after intake. For someone weighing whether to start therapy at all, that gap between deciding and beginning matters more than most price comparisons.
Private one-to-one therapy in Gambia, where it exists, tends to be priced for expatriates and NGO staff and is quoted in dalasi at rates well above what most local families can sustain weekly. Public services are subsidised but bottlenecked by the 12-week queue. Grouport's $32-per-session group format sits between those two options in cost and above both in availability, with a flat monthly membership of $140 covering four weekly sessions plus asynchronous group messaging.
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 Gambia.
Grouport runs facilitated groups across the range of concerns Gambians commonly present with in primary care and community settings, anxiety, depression, grief, relationship stress, workplace burnout, trauma responses, and difficulty coping with major life transitions such as migration, return from the diaspora, or bereavement. Groups are organised by theme rather than diagnosis, so members join alongside others working through similar experiences rather than being sorted by clinical label alone.
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 clinician, LCSWs, LMFTs, LPCs and psychologists, with training in evidence-based group approaches including CBT, DBT skills, and process-oriented work. Sessions run in English, which is Gambia's official language and the medium of secondary education, so members typically move between English in the group and Wolof, Mandinka, Fula or Serer at home without difficulty. Therapists are briefed to work respectfully across cultural contexts and are familiar with issues Gambian members raise, including diaspora family dynamics and religious community life.
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 the Gambia.
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
.svg)
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 Gambia.
Local mental health care in The Gambia is delivered mainly through Tanka Tanka Psychiatric Hospital, a small number of NGO-run counselling services, and a handful of private practitioners in Banjul and Serrekunda. Availability of specialised talk therapy, especially group-format CBT or DBT skills, is limited outside the capital region, and private one-to-one sessions can be a stretch on a middle-low income budget. Grouport is a complement rather than a replacement: a weekly 60-minute group with a licensed therapist costs a flat $35/week (billed in USD, chargeable to most Visa or Mastercard debit and credit cards issued in The Gambia), which works out significantly cheaper than most private in-person sessions in Banjul. Conducted entirely in English, our groups suit Gambians already comfortable with English as an official language. For medication, in-person crisis support, or culturally specific care, we recommend continuing to work with a local provider alongside Grouport.
The Gambia has roughly 6.58 mental health workers per 100,000 people, one of the lower ratios in West Africa, and the World Health Organization has documented average wait times of around 12 weeks to see a specialist through public services concentrated in Greater Banjul. For someone in Basse, Farafenni, or Brikama, in-person specialist care can mean long travel plus a queue. Grouport runs entirely online over secure video, so a stable smartphone or laptop connection is all you need to join a weekly group from home. Sessions are led by licensed clinicians and structured around evidence-based frameworks (CBT, DBT, process work), rather than a specific country's licensing scope. Because our groups run on a global schedule with several time slots per week, Gambians can typically find a session that fits around work, school, or family obligations without waiting months for an opening.
Group Therapy Available Across Gambia.
Counties
Banjul, Kanifing, Brikama (West Coast Region), Mansa Konko (Lower River Region), Kerewan (North Bank Region), Janjanbureh (Central River Region), Basse Santa Su (Upper River Region), Kuntaur (Central River North).
Cities
Banjul, Serrekunda, Brikama, Bakau, Farafenni, Basse Santa Su, Sukuta, Gunjur, Soma, Janjanbureh, Barra, Lamin, Kerewan, Mansa Konko.
Zip Codes
Grouport serves all zip codes across Gambia. If you have an address in Gambia, 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.
