Africa (Commonwealth Union)—When Dr. Celestin Mutuyimana sits with patients burdened by trauma, he does not begin with charts and clinical jargon. He listens. He excavates their stories, their beginnings, and their shared humanness, reminding them of Ubuntu, the African philosophy that goes something like this: “I am because we are.”.
This philosophy inspired him to develop the Ubuntu Multisystemic Intervention (UMUTI) in 2024, a new type of therapy that combines African culture, values, and community practices with modern psychology techniques His success is now known worldwide: in 2025, he was honored with the renowned Ernst E. Boesch Prize for Cultural Psychology. From his established Baho Smile Institute in Kigali, he still oversees research, therapy, and professional training.
Dr. Mutuyimana explains that even though Western interventions like cognitive behavioral therapy have their place, they cannot work in the African context. Symptoms of trauma in Rwanda, for example, transcend clinical explanation and occur as heart wounds, loss of humanity, pain in the body, and unbearable torment. Most of the patients experienced a sense of alienation from foreign practices that seemed distant from their reality.
By decades of experience with post-war populations, he knew that trauma does not single-handedly strike, radiating into families, straining relationships, and into the broader community, stripping away trust. UMUTI reverses this by healing on three interrelated planes: the individual, the family, and society. At the individual plane, it recovers meaning and strength. At the family plane, it fosters talking, closeness, and recovery. At the community level, it restores trust and encourages responsibility.
The therapy blends familiar resources like proverbs, metaphors, customary ceremonies, and native languages into professional therapy, a highly personal and empowering process patients experience. Its success has been remarkable: more than 99% of the families that participated in UMUTI voted to remain intact, without divorce or separation. In Rwanda alone, more than 100 individuals and 15 families have benefited, with others in Kenya and projects underway in Tanzania and Uganda.
The results go beyond statistics. Families report stronger bonds, improved communication, and new direction, while communities feel a renewed sense of Ubuntu values, greater social cohesion, and less conflict.
“What is unique about UMUTI,” Dr. Mutuyimana describes, “is that it restores trauma within the context of daily life. It restores dignity by engaging through means people already know and trust.”
In the future, he envisions UMUTI transforming trauma care across Africa. His aspiration is evident: to educate others, to disseminate the method, and to make care both respectful of culture and healing. For him, healing is more than survival it is restoration of humanness, family, and community.
