The Development of Counseling Skills to Enhance the Effectiveness of Individual Counseling

Abstract

This research was conducted on an empirical basis, where the findings show various phenomena of low counseling communications and basic skills on the implementation of individual counseling, by teachers in Junior High Schools, particularly in Solo. To overcome such problems, an appropriate approach was used by means of counseling communication basic skill model to improve the individual counseling capability. Therefore, the main key to the solution of students’ cases is by mastering the counseling communication basic skills. This research was especially aimed to: (1) develop a model of counseling communication basic skills, so as to improve the individual counseling capability, (2) know the effectiveness of the counseling communication basic skills model as to improve the capability of individual counseling among guidance and counseling teachers in State’s Junior High Schools. This research used the Research and Development techniques. Guidance and counseling teachers in Junior High school were assigned as the subjects of this research, and the research was carried out in several steps, which started from preliminary study, model development, rational validation, and empirical validation. In the process of research, the model of counseling communication basic skills was rationally validated by experts and empirically verified, so as to be considered and to enrich the knowledge of guidance and counseling, and develop the basic skill of communication for individual counseling. The basic skills of counseling communication implemented into the individual counseling covers; (1) the skill of attending and responding to the clients, (2) leading skill, (3) reflection skill, (4) summarizing skill, (5) confronting skill, (6) interpreting skill, (7) directing and suggesting skill. To measure the knowledge of counseling theory, inventory of four optionalquestionnaires were applied, while to know the basic knowledge of individual basedcounseling, observation sheet was used in this research. The data of this research was