A new study from Kenya demonstrates that organizational support structures play a critical role in protecting community counselors from secondary traumatic stress while delivering trauma-focused therapy to youth. Researchers analyzed 237 lay counselors—120 community health volunteers and 117 teachers—trained to provide adapted trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy in western Kenya.
The findings reveal that different counselor roles require distinct organizational support strategies. Community health volunteers benefited from strong supervisory relationships, high implementation climate with leadership support, or program feasibility paired with transactional approaches. Teachers, conversely, needed high implementation climate, positive supervisory relationships, or specific combinations of transformational and transactional leadership styles.
Dr. Shannon Dorsey and colleagues from the University of Washington emphasize that global health programs cannot adopt one-size-fits-all approaches. Instead, understanding the specific needs of different counselor roles is essential for building sustainable mental health programs in resource-limited settings.
Read the full article on GMJ Newsroom.
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