Psychological Stress Among Gaza War Amputees: Impact of a Designed Training Counseling Program

Wounded amputees are faced with myriad issues involving mutilation, pain, multiple surgeries, body image issues, depression, anxiety, and post traumatic stress disorder symptoms. All are common and must be addressed rapidly with ongoing counseling and pharmacologic management and along period of rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a designed training-counseling program on psychological stress among Gaza War amputees in Gaza Governorates. Quasi-experimental design (pre-test/post-test) was used in this study. The study was conducted on the 24 subjects who have the highest stress level scores. The training counseling program was designed on Albert Ellis theory for rational emotive behavior therapy. Results revealed that the designed training counseling program was having an effective impact on reducing psychological stress level among Gaza war amputees. The study concluded that Gaza war amputees were exposed to a higher stress level that could negatively affect all their life aspects. However,the training counseling program showed a positive impact on reducing their psychological stress level and promoting their abilities to function productively.