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Speakoutu is a psychosocial helpline, which offers counseling services by  email and chat to individuals in emotional or psychological distress. The service is run by professional and trained counselors and volunteers, from Monday to Saturday, 9.00 AM to 5.00 PM. The helpline caters to people across age groups, gender identities, sexual orientations, languages and most importantly, across issues.

Speakoutu is run by trained mental health professionals and its an initiative of Inspire Youth for development. The helpline is housed within IYFD and is funded through partnership and collaboration with academic institutions, corporate organizations, funding agencies, government and non-government organizations. In the current times, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the team of counsellors has been working remotely from different parts of the country. However, all efforts are being taken to maintain data security and confidentiality.  

You can speak with our counselors about any issue which is causing emotional and psychological distress to you. Our clients call us with a wide range of concerns ranging from relationships to work-life, academic issues and crisis situations etc. Our expert counselors are trained to provide counseling for the wide spectrum of emotional and psychological issues.

Speakout can provide you with help in the following ways:

• By providing professional counseling via  email and chat
• By providing information about the various aspects of mental health and providing with suggestions that can help improve your psychological well being.
• By demystifying the process of counseling for you and helping you feel more confident about this process
•  By providing you with referrals to mental health professionals, doctors, NGOs etc from our exhaustive referral database

Counselling Online can be accessed from any computer or mobile device in Uganda with a connection to the internet. You can access our services using a personal computer or mobile device at your home, workplace or community setting. No special equipment or downloads are required.

Our primary service –  allows you to connect to a professional counsellor and chat by text using any device.

We offer a range of services, including:

Online counselling

Our counsellors work with you to identify the issue and develop some next steps. We’ll help you assess your situation, provide information and support, and provide referral options that will respect your ability to make informed choices for yourself.

Email support

If you have some questions but not much time to chat, you can email your questions to a counsellor. We’ll help you assess your situation and offer you options for next steps. Emails are responded to Monday to Friday, 9-5 and we’ll attempt to respond to you within 6 hours.

Online peer support community forum

Our forum is a safe place, where you can connect with others  get support and learn new ways to recover. 

All of our services are free.

All services are offered by trained and qualified mental health professionals who work on a full-time basis with the helpline. 

There is no restriction on what you can share with the counselor as long as you are comfortable with it. Everything you share with a counselor remains confidential between you and the counselors at speakoutu. The communication is done anonymously and no personal identifying details are mandatorily taken from you. 

No, you do not need to disclose your name to us.

Yes, absolutely. We have numerous clients who have called us and continue to call us to share a number of very personal and sensitive issues. We ensure that all the concerns shared are listened to and dealt with in the most empathetic and professional way.

Our Counseling services are free

At speakoutu, we follow the policy of two-way anonymity. We do not ask for your name or personal details and we do not disclose our names either.

Counseling as a process is designed to not provide advice but instead work with you to help you make decisions and find solutions. The process of counseling is a planned and structured process of two-way dialogue between the counselor and you. The counselor uses their expertise to help you identify the source of your difficulties and with the use of assessments and interventions they work with you to try and find ways of addressing your concern in a way that will be acceptable to you. This process of counseling aims at empowering the client to find solutions for himself/herself and follow them through.

Whatever information is shared by you is kept completely confidential. Only in the eventuality of a threat to self or others is this information shared partially to ensure the safety of the person concerned. 

Yes, you can opt for couple counseling but you may also be required to do individual counseling sessions. The process of couple counseling sometimes encourages the two individuals involved to also do their own individual processing and introspection through the process of counseling. These individual counseling sessions ultimately empower you to contribute more and make the couple counseling sessions more effective.

The process of counseling aims at empowering you. So, while we will not be able to call someone on your behalf our counselors will work with you and help you develop the confidence you need to make that call.

Yes, speakoutu is a very safe space to share this. We get a lot of calls from individuals facing violence or abuse at home, in their relationships, or at work. Our counselors are sensitized and trained to deal with your most traumatic and sensitive concerns. Since we also work with women friendly NGOs, women friendly shelter homes and women friendly government organizations, we can help you with referrals for any other assistance you might need.