Why we exist
Mental health is not a luxury. It is not an afterthought. It is a human right. Yet in Ethiopia today, thousands wake up with legal rights on paper but no one to heal their minds. They win their cases but lose themselves. They are declared free but remain imprisoned by their minds.
The Balance Organization exists because a right you cannot feel is not a right. A freedom you cannot enjoy is not freedom.
As Ethiopia's first integrated centre of its kind, The Balance Organization brings together mental health care and human rights protection.
Our core belief is simple: mental health is a human right, human rights are indivisible, and you cannot defend a person's rights while ignoring their mind. A legal victory without psychological healing does not give peace of mind. Healing without legal protection is not safety.
You never get one without the other
We are the first organization in Ethiopia to fully bring together human rights and mental health protection in the same place. Every client we work with has a lawyer and a psychologist assigned to their case.
Legal help
- Human rights protection and litigation
- Legal representation in any human rights case
- Legal advocacy for survivors of gender-based violence
- Child protection and custody advocacy
Why both
Because a right you cannot feel is not a right. A freedom you cannot enjoy is not freedom.
So we do not separate them. Your lawyer and your psychologist plan together, meet you together when it helps, and stay with you through the whole process.
Psychological care
- Individual therapy
- Couples therapy
- Family therapy
- Children's therapy
- Mental health advocacy
We stand with people who are…
In need of therapy
Care for trauma, loss, and long-term mental health conditions, with a lawyer beside you when your rights are at stake.
Read more →Going through divorce or family breakdown
Legal representation and support for you and your children through the change.
Read more →Trying to protect a child
Custody advocacy, child protection, and therapy designed for children.
Read more →Living with or recovering from gender-based violence
Legal protection and trauma-informed care for survivors.
Read more →Facing imprisonment, or supporting someone who is
We come to you. Legal help and psychological care inside prisons.
Read more →Unable to travel
If illness, disability, safety, or other circumstances keep you at home, we bring both services to you.
Read more →
We meet you where you are
- At our office in Addis Ababa
- A quiet, private place to talk. We give you directions when you book.
- In your home
- If travel is hard for you, for any reason, we can come to you.
- Inside prisons
- Our lawyers and psychologists visit people in prison and work with them there.
- By phone, outside Addis Ababa
- Our hotline is for people who live elsewhere in Ethiopia. It is answered during office hours.
Where the law meets psychology
The Balance Organization is an Ethiopian non-governmental, non-profit organization based in Addis Ababa. We are the first centre in Ethiopia to fully integrate human rights protection with mental health advocacy, completely free of charge.
Most services in Ethiopia offer one or the other. We offer both, at the same time, from the same team. A lawyer and a psychologist plan every case together, to offer you a quality of life where your rights are respected and your peace of mind is served.
Keep this work free for the people who need it
Every lawyer's hour and every therapy session we provide is free to the person receiving it. Donations and volunteer professionals make that possible.