Effectiveness of Brief Psychotherapy in Enhancing Resilience among Gender Based Violence Survivors in Meru County, Kenya

Abstract

Gender-Based Violence (GBV) remains a pervasive global concern with psychological ramifications such as post-traumatic stress, anxiety and diminished resilience. Psycho-therapeutic interventions have shown potential in enhancing psychological resilience yet empirical evidence specific to GBV populations, particularly in low-resource contexts, remains limited. This study sought to bridge this gap by empirically examining the effectiveness of brief psychotherapy in enhancing resilience among GBV survivors in Meru County in Kenya. The study employed pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental research design where a total of 304 participants were selected via simple random sampling. A standardized resilience scale was administered at baseline and following the intervention. The experimental group received a Brief psycho-therapeutic intervention, whereas the control group was not exposed to any treatment. The independent samples t-test statistic was used to determine if there were any significant differences in mean scores of the experimental group and control group. The findings indicated that survivors of GBV who received brief psychotherapy showed statistically significant improvement in resilience compared to the control group hence demonstrating the effectiveness of the intervention in enhancing resilience. These findings point to the importance of psychotherapy in moderating the resilience of the GBV survivors. It was recommended that there was the need to incorporate training and capacity building initiatives for health workers on delivery of culturally sensitive psychotherapy to enhance the quality and effectiveness of mental health care for GBV survivors in Meru County in Kenya.