Born from a simple belief: no one in Sri Lanka should struggle in silence.
Founded by Bhagya Fernando and Shenali Somarathna, You Are Not Alone (YANA) is a grassroots non-profit community initiative addressing the acute emotional isolation faced by thousands across the island.
Bridging the Gap Between Silent Pain and Clinical Care
In Sri Lanka, mental health struggles have long carried heavy cultural stigma. Furthermore, clinical therapy and psychiatric visits often pose high economic hurdles, long wait times, or intimidation for young adults and vulnerable parents.
Recognizing that the majority of emotional crises stem from acute loneliness, postpartum exhaustion, academic pressure, and burnout—issues that respond profoundly to empathetic active listening—Bhagya Fernando and Shenali Somarathna established YANA.
“We realized people didn't necessarily need a clinical diagnosis to feel whole again—they needed an empathetic human being who wouldn't judge them, dismiss their feelings, or tell them to just 'be stronger'.”
— Bhagya Fernando & Shenali Somarathna, Co-Founders
Bhagya Fernando & Shenali Somarathna
Co-Founders & Community Stewards
Together, Bhagya and Shenali mobilized community volunteers, established strict active listening guidelines, and designed YANA's non-clinical safety framework.
Focus
Peer Support & Stigma Removal
Location
Colombo & Islandwide
Our 7 Core Values
The moral compass governing every peer conversation, group circle, and interaction at YANA.
Compassion
Meeting every individual’s pain with genuine gentleness, understanding that everyone carries battles we cannot see.
Absolute Confidentiality
What you share remains safe. We do not ask for or store sensitive medical records, full addresses, or identifiable files.
Non-Judgment
No unsolicited lecturing, moralizing, or clinical pathologizing. A pure, welcoming space to speak your truth freely.
Empathetic Active Listening
Listening not to prepare a clever answer, but to sit alongside you in the quiet and help shoulder the weight.
Inclusive Dignity
Welcoming all ethnic backgrounds, faiths, genders, and socioeconomic walks across every province of Sri Lanka.
Human Connection
Believing that genuine human co-presence is a foundational biological antidote to the isolation of modern anxiety.
Growth & Healing
Nurturing self-agency and neuroplastic renewal so individuals emerge with renewed internal peace and autonomy.
How We Prepare Our Peer Listeners
YANA volunteers are not medical doctors, but they are not untrained strangers either. Every peer companion undergoes a structured, evidence-informed preparation program before ever sitting in a session.
Psychological First Aid (PFA)
Trained in WHO/Red Cross PFA protocols: recognizing distress indicators, stabilizing overwhelm without invasive probing, and offering grounded presence.
Active Attuned Listening
Trained to resist the instinct to “give advice” or fix. Listeners hold space, reflect emotional content, and validate the speaker's innate autonomy.
Crisis De-escalation Protocol
Trained to detect red-flag safety situations, active self-harm, or severe psychosis, with clear SOPs for warm, life-saving handoffs to 1926 and 1990.
Strict Confidentiality Oath
Every volunteer signs a binding non-disclosure charter. Nothing discussed in a session leaves the session container. Zero profiling or tracking.
Founder & Lead Supervision
Volunteer pairs receive regular peer check-ins and emotional debriefings with founders Bhagya and Shenali to prevent volunteer burnout and ensure care quality.
Want to Become a YANA Listener?
We welcome empathetic individuals across Sri Lanka who have the heart and patience to sit with others in their storms.
How Empathetic Listening Rewires the Nervous System
Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural pathways throughout life. When experiencing chronic stress, loneliness, or guilt, the brain reinforces negative looping circuits.
Vocal Co-Regulation
When speaking to an attuned listener, gentle vocal prosody and non-defensive silence engage the parasympathetic nervous system, decelerating the heart rate.
Amygdala De-escalation
Naming painful emotional sensations (“affect labeling”) reduces reactivity in the amygdala, interrupting the fight-flight-freeze loop without medications.
Synaptic Re-anchoring
Experiencing safety in vulnerability paves new neural pathways for self-worth, making future stress significantly easier to navigate with resilience.
Ready to share your thoughts in a safe space?
Our volunteers are ready to listen. Reach out through our private session booking.