Exploring the Challenges of the Non-Directive Attitude in Person-Centred Counselling in Indonesian Culture

Abstract

Indonesian culture has influenced the way people perceive counselling, which shows the tendency towards avoidance attitudes. The situation presents a challenge towards the feasibility of person-centred counselling to be applied in Indonesia, as the counselling approach tends to come across with Indonesian culture. This paper aims to critically discuss the potential challenges of working with the Indonesian client from a cultural point of view and the readiness of a counsellor in terms of knowledge about non-directive counselling by reviewing some literature in depth. The exploration of the challenges shows that the biggest obstacle to applying the non-directive attitude in Indonesia is the factor of the difficulty to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the non-directive concept rather than the factor of cultural difference. However, this challenge can be handled by understanding the concept of principled and instrumental non-directiveness which gives a view of flexibility and the broaden meaning of the non-directive attitude. Conclusively, there are no exclusions, limitations or boundaries from the person-centred approach that can convince the impossibility of becoming a non-directive counsellor in the Indonesian culture. The presence of inevitable challenges arising from the culture of Indonesia will not significantly affect the counsellor, if the non-directive attitudes have become part of the counsellor’s self-concept.

Symptoms of post-traumatic stress among victims of school bullying

“…Understanding the reasons for school bullying could not be separated from recognising the cultural background and social hierarchy of the victims and perpetrators [29]. Similar to other Asian countries, Indonesian culture tends to uphold the value of collectivism within diverse ethnic groups [54]- [56]. On the one hand, living in a diverse society benefits people to establish their sense of respect and tolerance towards others.…”

Understanding congruence in person-centred counselling practice: A trainee counsellor’s perspective

“…This study found that trainee counsellor's cultural background is one of challenges in experiencing congruence in therapeutic relationship. Every culture has different perspectives in responding to the client's situation that can be a barrier to experience congruence in practice (Sutanti, 2019). Counsellor's condition of worth is caused by different value, belief and language that can be a barrier for the counsellor to understand the client (Jayne, 2013;Tudor, 2013).…”

Financial Help Seeking Behavior Pada Mahasiswa Di Surabaya

“…Karena itu, disamping nasihat keuangan, mahasiswa pasti membutuhkan bantuan dalam bentuk materi (Scott-Clayton, 2012). Pertimbangan lain adalah karena konseling merupakan hal yang tidak umum dilakukan di Indonesia, termasuk di kalangan mahasiswa (Sutanti, 2019). Hal ini terbukti dari hasil statistik deskriptif responden di tabel 1 yang menunjukkan bahwa jumlah mahasiswa yang mencari bantuan materi lebih besar dibanding mahasiswa yang mencari bantuan dalam bentuk nasihat.…”

“…Sejalan dengan hasil penelitian terdahulu yang dilakukan oleh (Sutanti, 2019), dari hasil penelitian ini dapat terlihat bahwa jasa profesional di bidang keuangan belum terlalu dikenali oleh masyarakat Indonesia, dalam hal ini mahasiswa,. Hasil penelitian ini membuktikan bahwa banyak mahasiswa yang mengalami kesulitan keuangan dan membutuhkan bantuan keuangan, namun belum pernah datang ke pihak profesional.…”