The effects of conversational prayer, person-centered approach and a combination of both on the psychological security and spiritual well-being of an adolescent

• Main Author: Gutierrez, Ma. Rowena E.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1996
• Subjects: Adolescent psychology; Prayer; Security (Psychology); Spirituality; Counseling
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/3204
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study investigated the effects of conversational prayer and person-centered approach singly and in combination, on the psychological security and spiritual well-being of adolescents. The internal movements and dispositions of three counselees, each exposed to one of these conditions, were also studied. This study made use of the N-of-1 design in investigating the process and outcome of the treatment methods. Three female counselees were included in this study. All these 3 counselees were working students in one of the Colleges in Manila. They were referred to this researcher because of behavioral manifestations of insecurity. All these counselees are 18 years of age. In order to record or document the process in counseling, the major sources of date included the audio-taped sessions and transcripts. Secondary sources included the counselees' self-report, consisting or oral and written feedback. The major outcome measures were: the Filipino-Self Appraisal Inventory (FSAI) to assess the security level of the client and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) as a general indicator of the subjective state of well-being of an individual. The subject exposed to person-centered approach alone gained an increase in the security level, as measured by the FSAI from stanine 1 (below average) at pre-test to stanine 4 (low average) at posttest. The subject exposed to conversational prayer alone was observed to have increased in security level from stanine 4 (low average) to stanine 6 (high average) at posttest. The stanine scores of the subject who received the combination of person-centered approach and conversational prayer increased from below 1 at pre-test to 3 at posttest, both of which are interpreted as below average. All 3 subjects possess an average of high level of spiritual well-being as measured by SWBS at pre-rest and showed no marked difference at posttest. Based on the findings yielded by the present study, the researcher has arrived at the conclusion that conversational prayer and person-centered approach, singly and in combination, were effective in increasing the level of security among the adolescents treated in this study. However, only the subject exposed to person-centered approach alone revealed a significant increase in the SWBS score from 64 (average) to 98 (high) at posttest. The two other subjects, exposed to conversational prayer alone and a combination of person-centered approach + conversational prayer, had a high SWBS at pre-test and maintained this level after treatment. This implies that the 3 subjects were already enjoying a satisfactory relationship with God and with others and that the counseling approaches could only help maintain that level of relationship.