Influencer Lydia K M during Hona Launch /ANDRIA KRYSTINAWhat started with one woman struggling to find a therapist has grown into a Kenyan digital platform seeking to make mental health support easier to discover, understand and access.
Hona Africa, co-founded by Lydia Karleen Mukami and Hempstone Maroria was officially launched in Nairobi in an event that brought together mental health practitioners and advocates.
For Lydia, the journey began in 2022 when she spent months trying to find a therapist. One of the few resources available to her was a screenshot containing phone numbers, with little information about professionals’ specialties, pricing, credentials or availability.
After publicly sharing her therapy journey, Lydia began receiving the same question from others: "How do I find a therapist?"
That question eventually led to the creation of a therapist directory before growing into Hona Africa, a digital platform designed to connect people with mental health professionals through one digital space.
“Sometimes the hardest words to say are: ‘I need help.’ But for many people, saying those words is only the beginning,” Lydia said, highlighting the difficulties people can face when trying to identify a suitable professional, understand costs and availability or make contact.
Through Hona, users can browse verified mental health professionals, compare specialties, pricing, therapy formats and availability and book sessions.
A guided questionnaire also allows users to describe what they are experiencing and the kind of support they are seeking.
For online therapy, the platform provides end-to-end encrypted messaging and secure live video sessions, while users can also see whether individual professionals offer in-person appointments.
Hona also provides information on free therapy contacts, crisis resources and emergency support, although the platform states that it is not itself an emergency response service.
The launch was accompanied by a panel discussion themed “Shaping Mental Health Access in Kenya,” which examined some of the wider issues that influence whether people seek and receive mental health support.
The panel featured global mental health advocate and policy consultant Wanjiru Mutiso, counselling psychologist Lydia Karimi, psychologist and mental health specialist Kevin Kokeyo and clinical psychologist and employee wellness expert Victoria Joseph.
Mutiso called for greater mental health education to help people understand mental wellbeing, while also highlighting funding, resource limitations and gaps affecting people in rural areas as challenges to access.
The panel also explored the importance of ensuring mental health support reflects the cultural realities of Kenyan communities.
Lydia Karimi said mental health conversations should begin at home, with families creating safe environments where children can express themselves and learn about mental health from childhood into adulthood.
She also encouraged families to normalise pre- and post-marital counselling.
Workplaces were identified as another important setting for mental wellness, with Victoria encouraging organisations to increase awareness, identify workplace triggers and train employees in wellness.
She also emphasised the importance of creating healthy working environments where people can thrive.
Kokeyo highlighted the role of masculinity in shaping how men approach mental health.
He said men often seek solutions to problems and encouraged deeper conversations to understand what may be behind the difficulties they initially express.
Suicide prevention was also part of the conversation, with Mutiso calling for greater empathy and intentional communities around people experiencing mental health challenges.
The World Health Organization estimates that more than 720,000 people die by suicide globally each year, underlining the importance of accessible and timely mental health support.
Hona is also designed to address challenges faced by mental health professionals themselves. Practitioners can manage their profiles, services, pricing, calendars, bookings, client information, payments and earnings through one dashboard, while conducting secure virtual sessions through the platform.
Hona says it is starting in Kenya with a broader ambition of contributing to stronger digital infrastructure for mental health access across Africa.
The company also maintains that technology cannot replace the human connection at the heart of therapy, but can make finding that connection easier.
