The effectiveness of a counseling program in alleviating anxiety and strengthening the psychological immune system among students

Abstract

Many researchers confirm that the time we live nowadays is witnessing conflicts and wars which made human being face psychological and biological stressors. Psychological literature suggested that such stressors could affect negatively our psychological and biological well-being. Therefore, so many studies were conducted investigating the negative impact of such stressors on personality and how our defense mechanisms could face such difficulties. The current study aims to identify the effectiveness of a counseling program in reducing anxiety disorders and strengthening the psychological immune system among students. To achieve the aims of the current study, the researchers adopted the experimental method and counseling program. The program was applied among a sample of (80) female students who got the highest scores on the Psychological Immune System Scale (PISS) and Taylor's Explicit Anxiety Scale which consists of 48 items. The group was divided into two groups (experimental and control group). Each group consisted of (40) students. After conducting the parity process in the variables of age, number of family members, birth order, economic and education level, the results showed that the counseling program was effective in increasing the effectiveness of psychological immunity and reducing the manifestations of anxiety among the experimental group. The recommendations and suggestions are discussed.

Keywords

• a counseling programe
• anxiety
• psychological immunity