This study developed a psychodrama group counselling program by using an integrated counselling with a process-based intervention model focused on facilitating counselee's change.
Subsequently, the research was made to verify the effects of the prog...
This study developed a psychodrama group counselling program by using an integrated counselling with a process-based intervention model focused on facilitating counselee's change.
Subsequently, the research was made to verify the effects of the program as follows. First, theoretical data was reviewed and expert's opinions were examined. Second, the contents of the existing domestic psychodrama group counselling program were analyzed. Third, a model was designed for the group psychodrama counselling program using an integrated counselling with a process-based intervention model. Lastly, the developed program was actually implemented to verify its effects.
The psychodrama group counselling program using the integrated counselling with the process-based intervention model developed in this study based on the existing psychodrama technique was designed to improve the self-esteem and interpersonal relationship appropriate for the 5th and 6th grade elementary school students.
The activities of the program developed in this study were composed of various warming-up activities and techniques of psychodrama. As for the contents of the program, total 8 sessions were scheduled including preparation, action and sharing phases. The program was implemented directly by the author of this study, twice per week, during 4 weeks. The subjects of this study were 20 students in the 5th and 6th grade in a bible class of S catholic church in I city. Ten volunteers who wished to improve their interpersonal relationship were assigned to an experiment group and the rest to a control group. The psychodrama group counselling program using integrated counselling with the process-based intervention model was implemented for 8 sessions, twice a week, 60 minutes per session, during 4 weeks from the November 3rd to 27th in 2010. No treatment was made in the control group.
Here, it was taken into consideration that the participants of the experiment group had no previous experience with a psychodrama group counselling and they were children indeed. Thus, the program was appropriately structured to accommodate the children based on the advice of the experts in psychodrama.
A self-esteem inventory and interpersonal relationship inventory were used as a test tool. The students in the experiment and control group were subjected to a pre- and post-test. The data was processed as descriptive statistics to verify the effects of the experiment by acquiring means and standard deviations. A statistical analysis was made with SPSS/WIN 12.0 through the analysis of covariance(ANCOVA) to examine the effects on each sub-element. Lastly, an experience report and analysis of the counselee observation were presented to supplement the reliability question intrinsic to the quantitative research.
The results of this study are as follows. Compared with the control group, the experiment group students participated in the psychodrama group counselling using the integrated counselling with the process-based intervention model showed a significant improvement in general as well as in sub-elements of the self-esteem including social self-esteem, general self-esteem, self-esteem at school and in sub-elements of the interpersonal relationship including satisfaction, reliability, affinity, sensitivity and understanding. No significant difference was found in the self-esteem in family, communication skills and openness in the interpersonal relationship.
The significance of this study lies in providing an opportunity to freely express uncomfortable feelings and situations in daily life without the constraints of reality. However, the psychodrama group counselling scenes tend to encourage acting out rather than an optimal combination of acting out and internalization. Within the group counselling scene, the moment of acting out difficulties allows an illusion of resolution. However the difficulties still exist, when the counselee returns to reality. To supplement such defect, the author of this study applied an integrated counselling with a process-based intervention model focused on keeping an individual student as the main character and facilitating counselee's change to psychodrama for the elementary school students who are in the phase of character development. Here, they face the reality where their repetitive behavior pattern develops haphazardly regardless of their own wish. Thus their recognition that their behaviors are against their own will eventually enables them to experience their authentic selves. Subsequently they can differentiate the self from others and experience the process of self affirmation to identify their wish. An optimal combination of acting out as a unique feature of psychodrama leading to potential behavioral changes and internalization of an integrated counselling with a process-based intervention model encourages students to contemplate not only on their own position but the position of others. As a result, it brings a perception change regarding the self and others. Moreover the program promotes spontaniety to express hidden emotions of the students. Such experience further enhances spontaniety and creativity which ultimately promotes self-confidence, self-expression and social skills of the students.