Group Counseling with Traumatized East African Refugee Women in the United States:

Abstract

The Kaffa ceremony is a unique, culturally appropriate, group counseling intervention for female East African refugees. A counseling group is described in which the Kaffa ceremony was instrumental in helping to bridge the gap between Western counseling and East African culture, providing a context for the group members to resolve long-held trauma. Stages of group process and therapeutic factors are identified and ethical concerns are addressed. Recommendations for incorporating the Kaffa Intervention into professional practice with this population, as well as relevant information about the cultures, are provided.