The effects of assertiveness skills development program (ASDP) on the assertiveness levels of psychological counselor candidates

Abstract

This study was undertaken to determine the effects of assertiveness skills development psychoeducation program structured according to choice theory and reality therapy on psychological counselor candidates' assertiveness levels. In order to determine the effectiveness of the program, a research model with pre-test-post-test control group time series pattern was used. The study sample consisted of 66 students. According to the results of the inventory applied, 33 students were divided into two groups, including test and control groups. There were 13 students in the test group and 20 students in the control group. In this study, Rathus Assertiveness Inventory (RAI), was used as the data collection instrument. A 10-session assertiveness skills development psycho-education program was applied to the test group. No procedure was applied to the control group. Post-test was applied during the week following the last session of the test group. To monitor the effectiveness of the program, a monitoring study was conducted by re-applying the respective inventory to the test and control groups three months after the post-test application. The results show that assertiveness skills development psycho-education program structured according to choice theory and reality therapy was effective on increasing psychological counselor candidates' assertiveness skill.