The Effectiveness of Group Counseling Utilizing Cognitive Restructuring and Thought Stopping Techniques to Enhance Welas Asih

Abstract

Welas asih (or known as compassion) contributes to the adolescent development as they show often a tendency to exhibit low levels of compassion when faced with social demands from their peer environment. This research aims to examine the effectiveness of group counseling based on Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) that employs cognitive restructuring and thought-stopping techniques to enhance welas asih among students. This research utilized an experimental method with a randomized pretest-posttest comparison group design. By involving 16 students from a public high school in Kota Semarang, this research targets the respondents that demonstrated low levels of compassion. Data analysis using the Wilcoxon test revealed that group counseling with CBT techniques, including cognitive restructuring and thought stopping, effectively increased welas asih among students. However, the cognitive restructuring technique proved to be more effective than the thought-stopping technique. Future research is recommended to expand the scope of the study, including broader subject samples and alternative research designs.