THE EFFECTS OF GROUP COUNSELLING

Group counselling is widely known in the field of counselling. This systematic review explores on the benefits of group counselling on group members who had undergone group counselling sessions. This systematic review is conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Electronic databases are used, namely Cambridge University Press, Emerald and ProQuest. Furthermore, Google Scholar website is utilised. The search term used is “Effect”, “Group Counselling” and other relevant derivations, focusing on the benefits of group counselling. Only research articles in the form of quantitative research are included. The countries of the articles in this systematic review were from various countries namely Turkey, Jordan, Netherlands, Iran and United States. 10 journal articles extracted were reviewed. Results showed positive effects of group counselling on group members based on six major aspects. Social aspect includes increase in communication skills. Physiological aspect depicts decrease in Premenstrual Syndrome symptoms. Emotional aspect shows decrease in trait anger and anger repression. Psychological aspect depicts increase in mental health and decrease in anxiety. Cognitive aspect includes increase in knowledge and decrease in automatic thoughts. Behaviour aspect includes decrease in problematic Internet use and increase in positive attitude. In conclusion, it is proven that group counselling benefits the society in various aspects.