Most mental health treatment does not require anyone to pack a bag. Depression, anxiety, trauma, and many other conditions — including some substance-use problems — can be treated through regular appointments while you keep living at home, going to work, and looking after your family.

Out-patient care at Safe Places is offered at our Kyambogo centre, Plot 12, Lancaster Avenue, Kyambogo Lower Estates, Kampala. The centre is open Monday to Saturday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, public holidays included, with 5:00 pm the last appointment; appointments typically last one hour.

What it involves

You attend scheduled sessions with the professionals your treatment plan calls for; the mix of people and the spacing of appointments differ from person to person, following the plan rather than a fixed timetable. Therapy options include individual, couple, and family sessions, CBT, ACT, trauma-focused therapy, and the counselling specialities listed on our services page.

Out-patient care also runs at different intensities. Standard out-patient care involves around 3 to 6 hours a week; intensive out-patient care around 9 to 12 hours; and day-programme intensity around 20 to 30 hours. These bands are indicative — the plan is customised to the person, and assessment decides which intensity fits.

Between appointments, your life continues. That is not a limitation of out-patient care; for many conditions it is part of how it works, because you practise what you learn in session inside your real routines, relationships, and workplaces, and bring back what happened.

Who it suits

Out-patient care fits when a condition is mild to moderate and daily life is manageable, when there is reasonable stability and support at home, and when assessment shows that regular appointments are enough to make progress. It is also the normal next step after residential treatment, so gains made at Bujjuko are not left behind at the gate.

It is not the right fit for every situation. Where someone needs medical supervision to stop using a substance, closer monitoring, or stabilisation, a clinician will say so and explain the alternative.

Discretion

Appointments are appointments. We do not contact your workplace about your care. What you share in sessions stays confidential — shared beyond your care team only with your consent, where the law requires or permits it, or where safety makes it necessary. Family or next of kin are ordinarily involved in care planning, with the extent of that involvement agreed in your care plan. They are kept informed of general progress; the detail of your sessions stays between you and your clinicians.

If you cannot attend in person

Initial assessments are best done in person, but follow-up care can be supported by phone, video, or online sessions. Mention this when you book and we will discuss what can be arranged.

To book, call +256 770 700944, email info@safeplacesuganda.com, or use the private message form on this site. If you are not sure whether out-patient care is the right level, say so — the assessment exists to answer exactly that question.

How starting care works — first contact, assessment, admission — is set out step by step on the Admissions page.