Abstract:

This research has examined how the group counseling has affected the level of depression and problem solving skills of the mothers whose children are autism. All the members of the research were volunteer and be appropriate to some criterions. The experimental and the control group were formed from twenty four mothers whose children are autistic. The treatment lasted for ten weeks. In order to investigate the group counseling affects the level of depression and problem solving skills; each mother, regardless of what group they belong to is applied “Beck Depression Inventory” (BDI) and “Problem Solving Inventory” (PSI) at the beginning and at the end of the process assistance. During the period, the mothers of the experimental group have joined psychological group counseling process once a week. Within this period, the mothers expressing themselves in front of the group members have realized that they were not the only ones who were having these problems and they felt that they were not alone. As they had an interaction with the other family members, they experienced the ways of effective communication with their children and families around them. During this period control group did not receive group counseling. At the end of the treatment of group counseling, the scores of experimental and control groups got from BDI and PSI compared. The results showed that; there was significant difference between the pre and post measures of the experiment group. There was no significant difference between the pre and post measurements of control group. Key words: Group counselling, otism, depression, problem solving skills

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