Efficacy Level of Therapeutic Counselling in Dealing with Anxiety Disorder among Adult Refugees: A Case of Dadaab Refugee Camp, Garissa County, Kenya.

Abstract

Kenya is a host to many refugees with majority located at Dadaab refugee camp which in the year 2011 was declared the largest refugee camp in the world. Most refugees in Dadaab camp are victims of disasters of political violence or war and drought especially from the war torn Somalia. The stressful experiences of the adult refugees throughout the migration period exposed them to emotional and psychological suffering that require therapeutic counselling. In Dadaab therapeutic counselling is mainly offered by five agencies. Despite the therapeutic counselling, anxiety disorder is prevalent at Dadaab refugee camp, hence the need to understand efficacy levels of therapeutic counselling. The purpose of this study was to investigate efficacy level of therapeutic counselling in dealing with anxiety disorder among adult refugees at Dadaab refugee camp. Ex post facto research design was adopted for the study. The target population was 164,356 adult refugees, section leaders and counsellors in charge of the counselling units. The two largest camps with an adult population of 94,619 were purposively selected. Adult refugees who had undergone therapeutic counselling were purposively selected after which simple random sampling was used to select those who took part in the study. The sample size consisted of 382 adult refugees comprising of 175 men and 207 women selected through proportionate sampling technique; 5 counsellors were purposively selected and 16 section leaders selected through simple random sampling. Data was collected using questionnaires, interviews, and Focus Group Discussions. The instruments were piloted in Dagahaley refugee camp. Questionnaires yielded a reliability coefficient of α = 0.811 which was determined using Cronbach’s coefficient alpha. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics which included frequencies, percentages, means, and t-test. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.0 facilitated analysis of data. The study established that therapeutic counselling was unsatisfactory in dealing with anxiety disorder. The findings of the study will assist the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government, United Nations High Commission for Refugees, other international bodies and service providers in improving therapeutic counselling services. The researcher recommends that the counselling agencies should increase the number of counsellors and observe the 1951 convention on repatriation of refugees from Dadaab refugee camp.