Efficacy of Solution Focused Therapy Among Women with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to Intimate Partner Violence in Selected Informal Settlements in Nairobi County, Kenya

Makena Njuki, Ph.D. Candidate in Clinical Psychology; Susan K. Muriungi, Ph.D., & Sylvia Tuikong, Ph.D., Daystar University

This study investigated the efficacy of Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT) when employed as a therapeutic intervention to alleviate symptoms associated with Post-Traumatic Stress disorder (PTSD), among women who had experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) in informal settlements in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study used Concurrent Triangulation mixed method design. Participants were women above the age of eighteen years who had been exposed to IPV. Screening for PTSD was done using the PTSD checklist for DSM-5, and the Women Abuse Screening Tool (WAST) to screen for IPV. A total of 116 study participants were selected through Convenience sampling. A baseline assessment was done followed by a 10-week Solution-Focused therapeutic intervention. A midline assessment was done thereafter to assess reduction of symptoms and an endline assessment done 12 weeks after the end of the intervention to assess longevity of the treatment effects. The results showed a notable reduction in the means of PTSD in the experimental group from baseline, midline to endline; PTSD (43.33; 27.02; 27.06). The Wilcoxon signed-rank test demonstrated that there were statistically significant changes in symptomatology  noted at baseline to midline (Z = -4.973, p <0.001) and baseline to endline (Z = -4.940, p <0.001), for the participants in the experimental group, whereas for the participants in the control group, there was no statistical significance noted (Z = - 1.048, p = 0.295) from midline to endline (Z =-.885, p = 0.376) and baseline to endline (Z = - 1.560, p =0.119). The study established that Solution Focused Therapy was an effective intervention in alleviating the symptoms of PTSD, in women who had experienced IPV in informal settlements in Nairobi County, Kenya. It recommended that more counsellors be trained in SFT as it is both time and cost effective.

Key words: Intimate Partner Violence, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Solution Focused Therapy