The effectiveness of group counseling with rational, emotive and behavior therapy (REBT) on self-concept and social adjustment of male adolescents

Abstract

Background and Aim: This study was aimed to determine the effectiveness of group counseling in the rational emotive behavior therapy of Albert Ellis on self-concept and social adjustment of high school students.  Methods: The present study was a quasi-experimental study with study and control groups and pre-test and post-test, and the statistical population included 201 students of Shohada Hastei High School in the academic year of 2014-2015. Students who scored lower than the cut-off point on the Sarasota self-concept (1981) and the Bell Adjustment Inventory (1961) were identified. Then 30 students were selected by simple random sampling and were randomly divided into the study (15 students) and control (15 students) groups. The study group received the group counseling program of rational emotive behavior therapy for 10 sessions of 90 minutes once a week and the control group did not receive any training. At the end of the group counseling sessions, both groups were retested. The data were analyzed using the analysis of covariance.  Results: The results showed that group counseling with the rational emotive behavior therapy of Ellis improved students' self-concept (P=0.001, F=22.02) and social adjustment (P=0.001, F=92.02).  Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, it is recommended to counselors and psychologists in schools and universities pay more attention to the improvement of self-concept and social adjustment of adolescent students.