Date of Conferral

7-21-2025

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Counselor Education and Supervision

Advisor

Kat Holloway

Abstract

This research addresses the critical gap in counseling literature regarding multicultural and trauma-informed training, particularly relevant given Kenya’s documented trauma and limited mental health resources, highlighting the need for incorporating lived experiences into research to equip counselors for increasingly globalized practice. The present hermeneutic phenomenological study aims to fill a gap in the literature by exploring the lived experiences of Kenyan helping professionals as they care for survivors of trauma in their country of origin. A previous data set was used, consisting of interviews from four Kenyan helping professionals in 2019, all whom worked actively with survivors of trauma at the time of the interviews. These were analyzed with narrative coding in alignment with hermeneutical phenomenological research, involving engagement of the hermeneutic circle. Nine themes were found regarding this question: (a) cultural expectations regarding emotional expression, (b) communal response to individual trauma, (c) lack of awareness and access to counseling, (d) poverty as trauma, (e) drug use among survivors, (f) triggers and trauma symptoms, (g) disconnection is trauma, (h) spiritual integration, and (i) intersection of trauma and gender expectations. Findings promote social change as they may be used to better prepare counselors for cross-cultural trauma counseling, which improves outcomes for all clients.

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