Cash and counseling: a new approach to ease refugee distress

This small pilot study tested whether combining a brief group therapy program with small cash payments could help reduce psychological distress in Afghan refugee women living in Türkiye. Forty women with high stress levels were randomly assigned to receive both the therapy and cash at the same time, or to receive the cash first and the therapy three months later. The goal was to see if this combined approach was practical and acceptable, and if it helped ease symptoms of stress, depression, and anxiety.