Research Article | Open Access
The Process of Group Counseling Based on Reality Therapy Applied to the Parents of Children with Disabilities
Gamze Ülker Tümlü Ramazan Akdoğan Ayşe Sibel Türküm
Pages: 81-98
Abstract
The aim of this study was to use a Reality Therapy approach to identify the psychological
difficulties and the psychological support requirements of the parents of children with
disabilities and to develop a group counseling program with a group to meet these requirements, and then to experimentally assess the effect of the program on the hopelessness, and state and trait anxiety levels of the parents and their perceptions of social
support. A total of 32 parents of children with disabilities voluntarily participated in the
study, comprising 27 females and 5 males. The study consisted of 2 stages, the first of
which was applied as semi-structured interviews within the framework of qualitative research. On a theoretical basis and the findings obtained from the interviews were developed into the Reality Therapy-Based Group Counseling Program (RTGCP). In the second stage of the study, the effect on dependent variables of the RTGCP was tested
with a 2 x 2 design on 20 female volunteers from the 32 participants. The findings showed
that the RTGCP had a statistically significant effect on the increase in multiple perceptions of social support (z=-2.67; p<0.05) and the decrease in state anxiety levels
(U=16.00; p<0.05).
Keywords
Parents of children with disabilities, Reality Therapy, Choice Theory, Basic psychological needs