DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2023.v11i08.004

Pages: 220-223

Counsellors are often at high risk of developing compassion fatigue as a result of their interaction with the traumatic materials of their clients. It is in line with this concern that this study sought to determine the effect of frequency of clinical supervision attendance on compassion fatigue among counsellors in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. The study adopted the embedded mixed methods approach where ex post facto and phenomenological designs were used. A census was used to obtain a sample of 97 counsellors practicing in Uasin Gishu County to participate in the study. Using critical case criteria, 5 counsellors were purposively sampled for the qualitative approach. Data on frequency of clinical supervision was collected using the demographic questionnaire while the Professional Quality of Life Version 5 (ProQoL-5) collected data on compassion fatigue. An in-depth interview guide collected qualitative data. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS, version 26.0. All the inferential statistics were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study found that over half (52.6%) of the respondents had low compassion fatigue while the frequency of clinical supervision was associated with lower risk of compassion fatigue. Chi-square test results, however, showed no statistically significant relationship between the frequency of clinical supervision attendance and compassion fatigue. The study concluded that the frequency of clinical supervision attendance was associated with low levels of compassion fatigue. Therefore, there is a need to raise awareness on the importance of clinical supervision in managing compassion fatigue among counsellors.