Journal of Guidance and Counseling: Research and Studies

Students’ career decision-making self-efficacy as a basis for comprehensive guidance and counselling services

2026-06-12T10:39:41+00:00

Vocational High Schools are expected to equip students with the ability to make appropriate and confident career decisions. However, in practice, many Vocational High School students experience confusion and low self-confidence when determining their future careers, which has contributed to the high unemployment rate among vocational High School graduates. This study aims to describe the level of Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy (CDMSE) among Vocational High School students as a foundation for the development of comprehensive guidance and counselling services. This research employed a descriptive quantitative approach. The instrument used was the Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale based on the theory proposed by Betz and Taylor, encompassing five dimensions: self-appraisal, gathering occupational information, goal selection, making plans for the future, and problem-solving. The results indicated that 16% of students were classified as having high CDMSE, 70% moderate, and 16% low. These findings suggest the need to optimise comprehensive guidance and counselling services through its four core components basic services, responsive services, individual planning, and system support in order to strengthen students’ confidence in making independent and realistic career decisions. This study is expected to serve as a reference for school counsellors in designing more systematic and sustainable career guidance programmes in vocational high schools

Opportunities for reality counseling in improving emotional management skills in adolescents

2026-07-08T07:51:12+00:00

Adolescents need emotional management skills to achieve psychological balance and optimal functioning in daily life. However, many adolescents still struggle to recognize and control their emotions, potentially leading to various psychological problems. This study aims to examine the potential of reality counseling to improve adolescents' emotional management skills in the school environment. The method used was a literature review by analyzing scientific articles from Google Scholar and SINTA. A total of 13 articles were selected and analyzed thematically to identify patterns and conclusions. The results indicate that reality counseling contributes to improving adolescents' emotional regulation, self-confidence, and psychological well-being. This review highlights the novelty of synthesizing existing evidence on the role of reality counseling specifically in supporting adolescents' emotional management skills, which has received limited attention in previous studies. Practically, the findings suggest that school counselors can consider integrating reality counseling, particularly through the WDEP (Wants, Doing, Evaluation, Planning) framework, into individual and group counseling services as a preventive and developmental strategy to strengthen adolescents' emotional competencies

When indigenous melodies heal: Peace melody sape music–based relaxation counseling for reducing student anxiety

2026-07-08T02:29:29+00:00

Anxiety is one of the most prevalent psychological problems among adolescents and can negatively affect academic performance, emotional well-being, and social adjustment. Although relaxation counseling has been widely used to reduce anxiety, the integration of indigenous cultural resources into school counseling remains limited. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of relaxation counseling assisted by the Peace Melody of Sape Music in reducing anxiety among Grade X students at State Vocational High School 2 Balikpapan. A quantitative quasi-experimental method with a nonequivalent pretest–posttest control group design was employed. Sixteen students with moderate to high anxiety levels were selected through purposive sampling and assigned to an experimental group (n = 8) and a control group (n = 8). The experimental group received seven sessions of relaxation counseling integrated with the Peace Melody of Sape Music, while the control group received conventional counseling services. Data were collected using a validated anxiety scale and analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired-samples t-tests, and independent-samples t-tests. The results showed a statistically significant reduction in anxiety among students in the experimental group (p < .001), with greater improvement than the control group. These findings indicate that integrating Sape music into relaxation counseling enhances emotional regulation and provides a culturally responsive counseling approach. This study contributes empirical evidence supporting the use of local wisdom as an innovative therapeutic medium to promote adolescent mental health in educational settings

Journaling techniques as a self-therapy process: Building self-acceptance in adolescent girls

2026-07-08T02:32:31+00:00

This study examines how journaling can function as a self-therapy method to increase self-acceptance among adolescents through writing. Adolescence is characterized by a desire to conform to social norms, where individuals strive for acceptance by others, often accompanied by a search for identity, physical changes, and social pressures that impact self-acceptance. The research method used in writing this article is a literature review, which is a scientific study focused on a specific topic. Journaling techniques, which focus on reflective writing about experiences and emotions, have been shown to be effective in helping individuals manage feelings, including the process of overall self-acceptance. Through this literature review, this study compiled various studies that assessed the effectiveness of journaling in the context of self-therapy. The results indicate that journaling can help adolescents cope with negative emotions, recognize their strengths and weaknesses, and create space for positive thinking that supports self-acceptance. The results of this study demonstrate that journaling is not simply a writing technique but also a therapeutic strategy that plays a vital role in improving adolescent mental well-being by strengthening self-acceptance as a foundation for healthy emotional development

The role of resilience in mediating the relationship between family status broken home and students' self-compassion

2026-07-08T04:23:31+00:00