Creating lasting change, together.
At Beyond Stigma, we work alongside communities to address internal stigma and strengthen self-worth.
How we create change.
Self-Inquiry, community-led, evidence-based, co-created, implementation science.
There is no single solution to internal stigma.
Every community has its own experiences, strengths and challenges. That's why every Beyond Stigma programme begins by listening.
Working alongside people with lived experience, community organisations, healthcare providers and researchers, we co-create programmes that are culturally relevant, locally owned and grounded in evidence.
Our work combines:
❋ Mindfulness, reflection and self-compassionTogether, these approaches create meaningful, lasting change.
Where We Work
Local roots. Global impact.
Working alongside local organisations, healthcare providers, researchers and community leaders, we co-create programmes that are culturally relevant, evidence-based and sustainable.
Our Solutions
At Beyond Stigma, we provide innovative solutions that influence positive mental health, decrease internal stigma and increase self-worth.
We have devised a Community-Led Internal Stigma Reduction Intervention (CLSRI) Model that can be adapted across settings, countries and issues.
Our solutions can be tailor-made to work with the specific community or population - for example healthcare workers, people living with HIV, LGBQTI+, migrant women. We always work together with partners who already provide services and support to the group dealing with stigma. Here is an example of how our solutions can work as a package of supports:
Self-worth Experiential Workshops:
Interactive workshops introducing individuals and organisations to the principles of self-worth, self-compassion, internal stigma and inquiry-based stress reduction.
Designed as stand-alone experiences or the first step in a longer programme journey.
Timeframe:
Half-day workshop (2–3 hours), with optional follow-up support
Wakakosha - “I’m Worth It”
Our flagship peer-led programme supporting adolescents, young people and others to recognise internal stigma, challenge limiting beliefs and build lasting self-worth.
Combining Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction, creativity, mindfulness and peer connection, Wakakosha has become the foundation for programme adaptation across multiple countries.
Development of a digital Wakakosha is underway.
Timeframe:
Anything from 4 days to 36 months for leadership track, adaptable by context
Beyond Stigma Peer Support Guide & Training of Trainers
A practical four-session programme designed to help communities continue the journey beyond Wakakosha.
The guide provides a flexible framework for peer support, reflection and ongoing learning, enabling communities to sustain impact long after formal programmes have ended.
Timeframe: 4 sessions (2–3 hours per session)
Training of Trainers (ToT)
A ToT is available and includes a short training video for Facilitators
Timeframe: Recommended 2 days (adaptable)
Technical Support
Beyond Stigma partners with governments, NGOs, healthcare organisations, universities and community groups to strengthen programmes, build capacity and embed evidence-based approaches to internal stigma.
Our expertise includes:
• Programme design
• Research & evaluation
• Facilitation
• Training
• Consultancy
Community-Led Programmes
Supporting people to rediscover their worth.
Our programmes provide safe, supportive spaces where people can explore the beliefs they hold about themselves, strengthen self-worth and build meaningful connections with others.
Beginning in Zimbabwe with We Are The Change, our work has continued to evolve through programmes such as Wakakosha ("I Am Worth It") and Me Sombo ("I Am Worthy"), each developed in partnership with local communities and adapted to their unique cultures, languages and experiences.
While every programme is different, they all share one purpose:
Helping people move from self-stigma to self-worth.
Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction (IBSR)
The foundation of our approach.
Lasting change begins from within.
Many of our programmes are built around Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction (IBSR), also known as The Work of Byron Katie—a structured, evidence-informed process that helps people identify and question the stressful beliefs that contribute to internal stigma, shame and self-doubt.
Rather than trying to change external circumstances or suppress difficult emotions, IBSR encourages people to explore the thoughts shaping their experience with curiosity and compassion.
As these beliefs are questioned, people often discover greater self-awareness, resilience, self-worth and the freedom to respond differently.
Rather than being used as a standalone intervention, IBSR is integrated with lived experience, peer support, creativity and community-led practice. Together, these approaches create culturally relevant, evidence-informed programmes that support lasting personal and community change.
Creativity as Healing
Sometimes healing begins where words cannot.
Creativity is woven throughout every Beyond Stigma programme.
Music
Poetry
Movement
Storytelling
Meditation
These are not simply activities—they are powerful tools that help people express difficult emotions, reconnect with themselves and discover new ways of seeing their lives.
Across our programmes, creativity has enabled participants to move beyond shame, rediscover hope and tell new stories about themselves.
Two beautiful examples are:
Wakakosha Song & Video - You’re Worth It - written by the young people based on the experiences and insights of self-stigma, worth and courage discovered during their Wakakosha 6-day camp.
There Is a Treasure in Me - a collection of poems written by young people during Wakakosha in Zimbabwe, capturing journeys from fear and self-doubt to confidence, courage and self-worth.
Research & Innovation
Grounded in evidence.
Research is at the heart of everything we do.
Working alongside universities, healthcare providers and communities, we continually evaluate, strengthen and adapt our programmes to ensure they remain effective, relevant and community-led.
From HIV-related self-stigma and gender-based violence to obesity, migrant women's mental health and peer-led interventions, our research helps shape better approaches to internal stigma around the world.
Growing Leaders
Communities creating change.
One of the most powerful outcomes of our work is that participants become leaders.
Many people who first joined Beyond Stigma programmes as participants now facilitate workshops, mentor others and lead programmes within their own communities.
By investing in local leadership, the work continues to grow long after individual programmes have ended.
Learning Across Borders
Local knowledge. Global learning.
What begins in one community often inspires another.
Ideas first developed in Zimbabwe have informed programmes in Rwanda, Ghana and South Africa. Learning from Vietnam, Cambodia and Ireland continues to shape how programmes evolve today.
Rather than replicating programmes, we adapt them—ensuring every community creates an approach that reflects its own culture, language and lived experience.
Every community teaches us something.
Every programme makes the next one stronger.
Our Impact
Real people. Real transformation.
Every statistic represents a person who has questioned a limiting belief, rediscovered their worth and begun writing a different story.
Together with our partners and communities, we continue to build a future where internal stigma no longer limits what people believe is possible.
Help Create Lasting Change
Together, we can help more people move from self-stigma to self-worth.
Choose how you'd like to support our work.