University of Cape Town

Yuche Jacobs is an AMARI MPhil Alumni from the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa. He obtained his BA Honours in Psychology from the University of the Western Cape before going on to work as an addictions counsellor and research assistant at UCT’s Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health for three years. During this time, he also worked as a facilitator and trainer of lay counsellors who provide brief psychosocial interventions to individuals living with common mental disorders. Currently, he works at the South African Medical Research Council on Project MIND, a study focusing on strengthening health systems by incorporating mental health care into chronic disease services.

Yuche’s main research interests include the provision of evidence-based behavioural interventions aimed at reducing substance use disorders, depression and anxiety, particularly the integration of such interventions into primary health care. His MPhil thesis aimed to explore the experiences of lay counsellors working on Project MIND who provide psychosocial counselling to individuals with a common mental disorder in primary health care settings in the Western Cape. He is also interested in investigating barriers to mental health treatment and technology-assisted interventions.