Psychological And Emotional Self-Care Practices And Level Of Burn-Out Among Counselors In Nairobi City County Kenya

ABSTRACT 

Counselling is an emotionally draining occupation that exposes counsellors to overwhelming levels of burn-out. As such counsellors need to find ways of dealing with the different levels of burn-out they may experience in the process of counselling. Psychological and emotional self-care practice is essential in reducing the effects of burn out especially with professions that deal with human service providers. It is on this ground that the current study is to investigate the relationship between psychological and emotional self-care practices and psychological burn out among counsellors in Nairobi County. The theory of Self-care by Orem served as the theoretical foundation of this study. This study utilised correlational design which provided a fuller understanding of the relationship between psychological and emotional self-care practices and psychological burnout. The target population included 800 registered members of the Kenya Counselors and Psychologists Association. The systematic random sampling method was used to sample 260 counsellors as respondents. Self-Care Assessment Work Sheet and Maslach Burnout Inventory were used to collect data. Professional, accredited and practising counsellors verified the validity of the instruments while the test re-test method was used to ensure reliability. Data collected was analysed quantitatively using SPSS version 23 and the ANOVA regression model at a significant level of 0.05 and presented in the form of tables, pie -charts and graphs. The study finding was a source of encouragement to other counsellors on the need of self-care and adds to the literature on self-care and burn out. Private and government organisations can make use of the results findings and use them to improve on the well-being of counsellors as they endeavour to offer professional services to their clients. The study found out that counselling work makes one feel frustrated, felt like counselling is breaking them down, and counselling makes them feel like they work hard. The study found out that there is a positive association between Psychological selfcare, emotional self-care and level of burn-out. Therefore there is a need to come up with a workplace-based program to assist workers at their places of duty. There is a need to increase awareness about compassion fatigue and burnout syndrome among medical practitioners and nurse as well as the general public.