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International Journal of Psychology & Behavior Analysis Volume 3 (2017), Article ID 3:IJPBA-135, 9 pages
https://doi.org/10.15344/2455-3867/2017/135
Research Article
Effectiveness of a Group Counseling Program in Transcendental Meditation in Improving the Level of General Psychological Adjustment for Grade Eleven Female Students in Muscat Governorate

Muna Abdul Majeed Al Lawati

Educational Researcher, Master of Education in Psychological Counseling, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
Muna Abdul Majeed Al Lawati, Educational Researcher, Master of Education in Psychological Counseling, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman; E-mail: munalawati@yahoo.com
05 October 2017; 25 December 2017; 27 December 2017
Al Lawati MAM (2017) Effectiveness of a Group Counseling Program in Transcendental Meditation in Improving the Level of General Psychological Adjustment for Grade Eleven Female Students in Muscat Governorate. Int J Psychol Behav Anal 3: 135. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.15344/2455-3867/2017/135

Abstract

The study aimed to build a group counseling program in transcendental meditation (TM) and evaluate its effectiveness in enhancing the level of general psychological adjustment of female students in the eleventh grade in the governorate of Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, using a semi-empirical method. In order to select the sample of the study, the researcher used the general psychological adjustment scale on eleventh grade female students in the Omamabint Abi Al Aas School for basic education in the governorate of Muscat. Out of 76 female students, 30 students, who attained the lowest grades in the scale, were chosen for the study. The sample was randomly divided into two groups: an experimental group of 15 students who were trained in the group counseling program in TM, prepared by the researcher, and a control group of 15 students who did not receive any training in the program. The group counseling program included 12 counseling sessions over six weeks (two sessions a week). Each session was 45-60 minutes long. They also received a pre-program, a post-program, and a follow-up session. The program was based on the theory of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and focused on cognitive behavioral methods.The results of the study were as follows:

  1. Statistically significant differences (α ≤ 0.05) were found in the scales of psychological adjustment, for the total scale and for each of its dimensions, between the individuals of the two groups: the experimental and the control. The post-test scores were more favorable in the experimental group, which indicates the effectiveness of the group counseling program used in this study.
  2. Statistically significant differences (α ≤ 0.05) were found between the pre-test and post-test results in the psychological adjustment totals of the scale and for each of its dimensions. These differences were more favorable in the post-test, where the P value in all of it was less than (0.05), which indicates the effectiveness of the group counseling program used in this study.
  3. No statistically significant differences of (α ≤ 0.05) were found between the post-test and the followup for the psychological adjustment total scale and for each of its dimensions for the experimental group, where P was greater than (0.05), which indicates that the effect of the group counseling program continues.

Based on these results, the study made several recommendations and suggestions to achieve improvement in the level of general psychological adjustment for students of various age groups.