Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Group Counseling on Congruence of Counselors in Training

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to study the effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy group counseling on the congruence of counselors in training. The research design used was the quasi experimental pretest-posttest control group design. The sample group was composed of 18 third year undergraduate counselors in training from Faculty of Education, Chiang Mai Rajabhat University. The samples (n=18) were assigned into two groups: experimental group (n=10) and control group (n=8). The experimental group participated in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy group counseling conducted by the researcher for approximately 15 hours over 2 consecutive days. The research instruments used were Acceptance and Commitment Therapy group counseling program to develop congruence of counselors in training, the congruence inventory constructed by the researcher and the collected qualitative data. The congruence inventory was rated by two parties including the counselors in training and their clients. In addition, the qualitative data which was the participants logbook was content analysis along with the quantitative data. The data were analyzed by using Pearson correlation coefficient and t-test (dependent and independent group). To illustrate, the congruence of the data between counselors in training and their clients would be analyzed before using t-test. The results revealed that: (1) The counselors in training who participated the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy group counseling exhibited congruence significantly higher in posttest compared with pretest at the .01 level, and (2) The counselors in training who participated the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy group counseling performed congruence of the experimental group significantly higher than the control group at the .01 level.