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Hello, this is Six Minute English from BBC Learning English.
I'm Neil.
And I'm Sam.
Sam, have you ever heard the expression,
a problem shared is a problem halved?
Yes, Neil, I have.
Doesn't it mean that people often feel better after talking about their problems with someone?
Right.
In this program, we'll be hearing the extraordinary story of how these ideas were taken up by a team of community grandmothers in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe has over 14 million people but fewer than 20 psychiatrists.
After years of economic turmoil, unemployment and HIV,
mental health is a huge challenge and doctors estimate that one in four Zimbabweans suffers from depression or anxiety.
When it proved impossible to find free space to use in hospitals,
psychiatrists Dr.
Dickson-Gebander came up with the idea of turning public park benches into spaces for therapy.
He recruited grandmothers who have both free time and plenty of life experience to talk with individual struggling with mental health issues like depression, anxiety and trauma.
The grandmothers are drawn from the local community and trained over several weeks in a talking therapy called CBT.
But what does that abbreviation CBT stand for?