Combining Counseling Techniques With Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Alleviate Psychological Distress and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury: A Single-Case Study

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.201125.017How to use a DOI?

Keywords

acceptance and commitment therapy, counseling, depression, non-suicidal self-injury, psychological distress

Abstract

High level of psychological distress is prevalent among university students. This is because they are faced with numerous challenges, not only their academic performance but also conflicts with family and friends. In some cases, high level of psychological distress may co-occur with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). This research aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a four-session intervention for a client who reported a high level of psychological distress and NSSI tendency. A combination of counseling techniques and several acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) strategies was applied as a four-session intervention. This study used a single-case, pre-test/post-test design, and the study participant was a 22-year-old woman with depressed mood and NSSI tendency. The counseling techniques, including active listening, encouragement, confrontation, reflection of feeling and content, and positive asset search, were used to help the patient reduce her intense emotions and feel better about herself. The ACT techniques, including acceptance, cognitive defusion, and committed action, were applied to help the patient cope with unpleasant feelings and stay committed to her goals. The result of the intervention revealed a decrease in psychological distress, as reflected in the reduction of Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) score from 2.72 to 1.60. The participant also reported a decrease in NSSI tendency from 8 to 1 on the scale of 1–10. In addition, she managed to reduce her intense emotions and discover new, more effective behaviors that align with her goals. These findings suggested that counseling techniques combined with ACT strategies can be an effective treatment to reduce psychological distress and NSSI tendency.

Copyright

© 2020, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Vira Andalusita Mulyaningrum
AU  - Sali Rahadi Asih
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/11/27
TI  - Combining Counseling Techniques With Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Alleviate Psychological Distress and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury: A Single-Case Study
BT  - Joint proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Intervention and Applied Psychology (ICIAP 2019) and the 4th Universitas Indonesia Psychology Symposium for Undergraduate Research (UIPSUR 2019)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 204
EP  - 214
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.201125.017
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.201125.017
ID  - Mulyaningrum2020
ER  -