Appreciation

First of all, I would like to say Alhamdulillah and thank Allah as only with His blessing that
I could finish organize and a short course work assignments for the subjects of Guidance and
Counseling Children's better. In personal and professionally, I also would like to thank my
precious lecturer, Tuan Haji Othman Bin Mustafa for all of his guide and teaching. The way he
conducted a session was excellent and he really showed my classmates and I on how to do a
counseling and therapy session. He also has given innumerable opinions and views to us in the
process of completing the task. All of his guidance, lesson, insight and directions really helped
me a lot in completing this assignment.
I also would like to thank a school in the area of Johor Bahru and all of its members as
they had helped me a lot in completing this task. The assist that I had received, including that
they provided me with pupils that have problems, the information, space and time to conduct an
activity based on this task and tools required such as camera, the stand and other things in
making this task successful.
I also would like to thank my practicum partner and my roommate, Amar Bin Arifin and
Kamarul Ariffin Bin Rahmat who had helped me a lot in terms of providing me with latest
information, data, recording my video for this task and a lot more. In other words, without these
peoples, I might find it hard to complete the given in this moment where the schedules are pack.

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1.0 INTRODUCTION ISSUES

Richard Jessor stated that problem behaviour is behaviour that that could be socially
defined as a problem, as a source of concern, or as undesirable by the social and/or legal
norms of conventional society and its institutions of authority; it is behaviour that usually elicits
some form of social control response, whether minimal, such as a statement of disapproval, or
extreme, such as incarceration. In other words, the client (in this case, the pupil) is highly
assumed by others that he has some problem that could lead into depression.
Depression and the variety of ways in which it manifests itself is part of a natural
emotional and physical response to lifes ups and downs. To be specific, lots of people will
experience periods of reactive (or situational) depression in their lifetime.
Major depression, however, is a whole-body concern. In other words, it does involve the
body, mood, thoughts, and behaviour. It affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way a
person feels about him or herself, and the way a person thinks about things in life.
Major depression is not a passing blue mood. It is not a sign of personal weakness or a
condition that can be wished or willed away. Based on studies, people with depression are
usually may not be able to pull themselves together. Without treatment, symptoms can last for
weeks, months, years or for the rest of his life. Appropriate treatment, however, can help over
80% of those who suffer from depression.
A counselor or a teacher should be able to recognize pupils with depression. This is to
enable actions to be taken fast before it is too late. Furthermore, by recognizing and helping
pupils with problems, it may help to build a rapport between a teacher and a pupil. This will also
may be able to help the pupils to learn or socialize better in the future as they are being helped
with their issues. The National Institute of Mental Health (America) states that there are several
ways to recognize the symptoms of depressions. Those are:

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Persistent sad, anxious or empty mood

Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism
Feelings of excessive guilt, worthlessness, helplessness
Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities that were once enjoyed, including

sex and school

Insomnia, early morning awakening or oversleeping
Appetite and/or weight loss or overeating and weight gain
Decreased energy, fatigue, being slowed down
Thoughts of death or suicide attempts
Restlessness, irritability
Difficulty in concentrating, remembering, making decisions may affect completion of

assignments
Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as headaches,

digestive disorders, and chronic pain

Inconsistent class attendance
Decline in personal hygiene

In this case that I am studying, the pupil had an emotional depression due to being a bully
victim ever since he was in standard 1. Bullying is a distinctive pattern of deliberately harming
and humiliating others. It's a very durable behavioural style, largely because bullies get what
they wantat least at first. Bullies are made, not born, and it happens at an early age, if the
normal aggression of two-year-olds isn't handled well.
Bullies couldn't exist without victims, and they don't pick on just anyone; those singled out
lack assertiveness and radiate fear long before they ever encounter a bully. No one likes a bully,
but no one likes a victim either. Grown-up bullies wreak havoc in their relationships and in
the workplace.
Many experts believe that bullying behaviour is on the rise because children increasingly
grow up without the kinds of experiences that lead to the development of social skills. It has
been well-documented that free play is on the decline, but it is in playing with peers, without
adult monitoring, that children develop the skills that make them well-liked by age mates and
learn how to solve social problems.
Problems identified:

One student, Adam (not her real name) a standard three pupil who was

being bullied since he was standard 1. He wasnt just being bullied inside the school compound,
but also outside of the school area. The learner is still in shock (told by other teachers) as he
still looks nervous or scared even to talk or socialize with the others. The school counselor said

19

that maybe the kid is still in trauma due to incidents that had happened to him even though it is
no longer occurring.

2.0 INTRODUCTION TO THE THEORY OF SELECTED

Behaviourist Theory

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Behaviourist theory can be divided into two which are called the classical conditioning
and operant conditioning. In classical conditioning, an organism does not change the situation
surrounding. Example words, Pavlov's dogs had no choice to act with salivate when given food
and the sound of bells. Whereas, in operant conditioning, the organism has a choice to act or
not because its response determines the stimulus (food) is given.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Behavioural therapy has much strength. The most obvious of these strengths is rooted in
its scientific methodology. The empirical testing used in behavioural therapy has resulted in
highly effective techniques that have proven successful for a broad range of issues. Behavioural
therapy can also be accomplished in a relatively brief period of time, since it pinpoints and
targets a specific issue the client wishes to change.
Since behavioural therapy only addresses how to change a targeted problem, it offers a
high degree of ethical accountability. There's no bias regarding what behaviour should be
changed, and the client has a great deal of freedom in deciding the goal of their therapy. Clients
are educated and informed about what will occur and the techniques that will be used.
We've learned that behavioural therapy is highly effective, provides quick results, and is
ethically sound. So why doesn't everyone choose this form of therapy? Critics of behaviour
therapy argue that it's too impersonal. The focus on behaviour change does not address the
feelings of the client or the importance of the client/therapist relationship.
Critics may also argue that behaviour therapy simply treats the symptoms of the client's
problem. There is no insight into why change is needed, and the cause of the client's problem is
largely ignored.

Treatment Goals

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Goals are of central importance in behaviour therapy and seek to increase personal
choice and provide opportunities for relearning problem behaviours. Under a therapist's
direction, the client will define specific and measurable treatment goals from the start of the
process. Assessments will occur periodically to see if progress towards meeting goals is being
made.
We can see how the scientific method is applied as the therapist introduces a new
variable to the client's problem behaviour and measures the outcome. If progress toward the
desired goal is occurring, the treatment will continue. If progress toward the goal is not being
made, a different intervention will be applied. This ensures a process where success will occur.
Consider a client who enters therapy with an extreme fear of water. Even going outside
when it rains or taking a shower makes our client, Jim, nervous. This is impacting his life in a
negative way. He wants to gain control of this fear so it no longer affects his daily life.

3.0 WHY CHOOSE THE THEORY

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The Behavioural Approach to Counseling focuses on the assumption that the

environment determines an individual's behaviour. How an individual responds to a given
situation is due to behaviour that has been reinforced as a child. For example, someone who
suffers from arachnophobia will probably run away screaming (response) at the sight of a spider
(stimulus). Behavioural therapies evolved from psychological research and theories of learning
concerned with observable behaviour, i.e. behaviour that can be objectively viewed and
measured.
Behaviourists believe that that behaviour is 'learned' and, therefore, it can be unlearned.
This is in contrast to the psychodynamic approach, which emphasises that behaviour is
determined by instinctual drives. Behaviour therapy focuses on the behaviour of the individual
and aims to help him/her to modify unwanted behaviours. According to this approach unwanted
behaviour is an undesired response to something or someone in a person's environment. Using
this approach a counsellor would identify the unwanted behaviour with a client and together they
would work to change or adapt the behaviour. For example, a client who feels anxious around
dogs would learn a more appropriate response to these animals. Problems which respond well
to this type of therapy include phobias, anxiety attacks and eating disorders. Behavioural
counsellors or therapists use a range of behaviour modification techniques.
Once the unwanted behaviour is identified, the client and counsellor might continue the
process by drawing up an action plan of realistic, attainable goals. The aim would be that the
unwanted behaviour stops altogether or is changed in such a way that it is no longer a problem.
Clients might be taught skills to help them manage their lives more effectively. For
example, they may be taught how to relax in situations that produce an anxiety response and
rewarded or positively reinforced when desirable behaviour occurs. Another method used
involves learning desirable behaviour by watching and copying others who already behave in
the desired way.

In general, the behavioural approach is concerned with the outcome rather

than the process of change.

The behavioural counsellor uses the skills of listening, reflection and clarification, but
rather than use them as a process of revealing and clarifying the client's thoughts and feelings,
the skills would be used to enable the counsellor to make an assessment of all the factors
relating to the undesirable behaviour.
i. Affirmation

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Reinforcement is used to help increase the probability that a specific behavior will occur
in the future by delivering a stimulus immediately after a response/behavior is exhibited. Another
way to put it is that positive reinforcement is adding something that will motivate the child (or
individual) to increase the likelihood they will engage in that behavior again.
a) Positive Reinforcement:
Positive reinforcement works by presenting a motivating/reinforcing stimulus to the person after
the desired behavior is exhibited, making the behavior more likely to happen in the future.
b) Negative Reinforcement:
Negative reinforcement occurs when a certain stimulus (usually an aversive stimulus)
isremoved after a particular behavior is exhibited. The likelihood of the particular behavior
occurring again in the future is increased because of removing/avoiding the negative
consequence. Negative reinforcement should not be thought of as a punishment procedure.
With negative reinforcement, you are increasing a behavior, whereas with punishment, you are
decreasing a behavior.
ii. Punishment (weakens behavior)
Punishment is defined as the opposite of reinforcement since it is designed to weaken or
eliminate a response rather than increase it. Like reinforcement, punishment can work either by
directly applying an unpleasant stimulus like a shock after a response or by removing a
potentially rewarding stimulus, for instance, deducting someones pocket money to punish
undesirable behavior.

iii. Behavior Modification

Behavior modification is a set of therapies / techniques based on operant conditioning (Skinner,
1938, 1953). The main principle comprises changing environmental events that are related to a
person's behavior. For example, the reinforcement of desired behaviors and ignoring or
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punishing undesired ones. This is not as simple as it sounds always reinforcing desired
behavior, for example, is basically bribery. There are different types of positive reinforcements.
Primary reinforcement is when a reward strengths a behavior by itself. Secondary reinforcement
is when something strengthens a behavior because it leads to a primary reinforcer.
iv. Token Economy
Token economy is a system in which targeted behaviors are reinforced with tokens (secondary
reinforcers) and are later exchanged for rewards (primary reinforcers). Tokens can be in the
form of fake money, buttons, poker chips, stickers, etc. While rewards can range anywhere from
snacks to privileges or activities. Token economy has been found to be very effective in
managing psychiatric patients. However, the patients can become over reliant on the tokens,
making it difficult for them to adjust to society once they leave prisons, hospital etc. Teachers
also use token economy at primary school by giving young children stickers to reward good
behavior.
v. Operant Conditioning
Behavior modification therapy is much used in clinical and educational psychology, particularly
with people with learning difficulties. In the conventional learning situation it applies largely to
issues of class- and student management, rather than to learning content. It is very relevant to
shaping skill performance.
A simple way of giving positive reinforcement in behavior modification is in providing
compliments, approval, encouragement, and affirmation. A ratio of five compliments for every
one criticism is generally seen as being the most effective in altering behavior in a desired
manner.
vi. Modelling
Modelling involves learning through observation and imitation of others. Having a positive role
model can give individuals something to aim for, allowing them to change their behaviour to
match their role models. This role model may be the therapist or someone the individual already
knows.

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This behaviour refers to the ability of individuals to control their own behaviour. It is done as
follows: a) Determine the behaviour that would be modified
b) Collect data
c) To plan action program
d) Evaluate the program
e) Ending the Program

From the list above behaviourist theory techniques, I decided to we intend to practice
Modeling to help Adam to overcome the situation that he is in. This is because, like our clients,
Adam may seem nervous and doesnt socialize much after what happened to him, but when it
comes to dialogue and conversation session, he seems to be very honest, ready to tell
everything and also seems really happy as he is able to talk to someone. In other words, Adam
is actually quite talkative. Thus, I also decided to use the storytelling therapy on Adam.

4.0 TECHNICAL AND PLAY THERAPY

There are lots of methods and techniques in order to carry out a counseling and therapy
session. Therapist and counselors nowadays just need to decide which methods and

19

techniques are the best to help their clients. In my case, I had decided to use the storytelling
therapy on Adam.
"With role playing, people put themselves in other people's shoes to help them understand how
the behavior of others might be good or harmful. But acting out or being on stage in front of
other people tends to make rural people feel uncomfortable," Leukefeld says.
The use of storytelling as a psychotherapist technique is critical in working with multiproblem children, adolescents and their families. Frequently oppositional children and
adolescents and those who have 'failed' previous treatment programmes strongly resist efforts
to utilize their 'issues' as material upon which the group session is dependent. Such clients may
act out in order to disrupt the group and/or terminate their inclusion (MacNair & Corazzini, 1994;
Nimmanheminda, 1997). The use of stories precludes the destruction of the group by providing
'safe', externalized material for group discussion.
In this case, I had chosen the story entitled Putera Raja Yang Dengki. I decided to use
this story as the story line of this classic is quiet similar to Adam. I told him what the characters
did in the story and tried to make him understand the story. By doing this, I can show him that
there are several ways to overcome a situation. There are positive and negative ways to do this.
Thus, as a teacher, I needed to show him the righteous path. In other words, I tried to lead him
to take this in a professional, and good moral value manner.

5.0 METHOD OF IMPLEMENTATION TECHNIQUES

15/02/2015 Identifying negative behaviours that need to be changed

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- Clients prefer to isolate themselves from their classroom teachers and friends when R & D is
performed or outside the classroom.
16.02.2015 Setting goals
- Referring behaviour modification to change the negative to positive behaviour.
25/02/2015 Determining strategies act
- Change negative behaviour to positive by using modeling in storytelling in counseling
sessions.
01/03/2015 Designing procedure or plan acts
- Meeting clients and provide individual counseling.
- Discussion with teachers and councelors
- To expose the importance of communication.
- Twice a week, clients are required to attend counseling sessions where the main therapy
applied.
- Counseling session lasts (if necessary).
02/03/2015 - 05/03/2015 Implementing the strategy according to plan acts

08/03/2015 Assessing the effectiveness and modify the plan if necessary

12.03.2015 Ensuring the achievement of goals set

6.0 EXPECTATIONS

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In educational context, felonious behaviour refers to any behaviour that may affect the
smoothness or the effectiveness of teaching and learning, particularly in the classroom that is
caused by pupils.
This can be because of the pupil himself or either it is due to what happened to him. The
issue that had occurred may affect not just the pupil, but also the other pupils and the teaching
and learning session. Worse, it may also cause problems to the administrations as these pupils
are needed to be guided or handled with. These pupils are the one who needs more attentions
than others.
Before the counseling starts, the client may be a bit nervous or shy due to not readiness
to talk about his issue or problems. A teacher or counselor needs to provide a conducive
environment and atmosphere to make the client feel accepted and calm.
During the counseling session, the counselor or teacher should let the pupil to talk freely.
This is to make sure that the client feels happy to pour in all of the story and what he felt. But
sometimes, some interruptions like mirroring or imitating need to be done by the teacher to let
the pupil know that his story is being listened to.
I used the storytelling technique in my session to make the counseling look more
relaxing for the client. I also used this method in hope that the client would take the good and
positive way that is used by the characters in the story in order for him to make decisions in the
future. The other reason why I used the storytelling technique is also because based on studies,
young learners are more likely into listening to a story. Telling stories and story structure enable
them to express themselves more clearly.
Thus, I really hoped that after the session that I done with Adam, he would go and try to
socialize with others again. This is not much if being compared to other studies, but I hope that
at least it would affect Adam in his decision making, socializing, the way he interact in teaching
and learning sessions, and also the way he deals with conflicts in the future.

References

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2013-11-02.
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ABA stand for autism: Dispelling the myths" 34 (2). pp. 193195. Retrieved 2014-12-24.
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Egoism?" (PDF). Behaviorism 12 (2): 89. Retrieved 2012-12-09.
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(B.F. Skinner Reprint Series). Acton, MA: Copley Publishing Group. p. 758. ISBN 087411-828-X.
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Narrative Practice Adelaide, South Australia: Dulwich Centre Publications
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Adelaide: Dulwich Centre Publications. pp 15.
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Mode. Journal of Family Therapy 19(3) 221-232 (1993)
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Family Therapy, 24(4), 397-403 (1998)
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Externalizing of Internalized Problem Conversations, Journal of Systemic Therapies, 15(1), 47-62
(1996)
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What We Preach, Family Process 37(3), 379-385 (1998)

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Appendices
PHASE
Teacher / Pupil
Teacher
Pupil
Teacher
Pupil
Teacher
Pupil

Teacher

(BUILDING

RAPPORT RELATIONSHIP)
Dialogue
Greeting, introduces himself
Reply the greet, introduces

Skill used
Building relationship

himself too
How are you today?
Good
Hows school today?
Great
PHASE 2 (EXPLORING AND
ANALYSING ISSUE)
I heard that you are bullied
often by another pupil, is it

Pupil
Teacher

correct?
Yes, it is
Would you like to tell me
everything about it? Like since
when did this happen, what
does he did to you?
PHASE 3 (IDENTIFYING

Pupil

REASONS BEHIND ISSUE)

One time, when I was at the
playground, that boy suddenly

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came and pushed me. And

Teacher

then he kicked my leg

So, you are telling me that he

Paraphrasing

just out of sudden did that to

Pupil
Teacher
Pupil
Teacher

you, is it correct?
Yes
When did this happen?
When I was in standard 1
So, that time he was still in

Pupil
Teacher

standard 3?
Yes, teacher.
May I know, what is the move

Pupil
Teacher

you made at that time?

I cried.
Did you tell anybody about

Pupil

this?
I told my mother, then, she

Teacher

comforts me.
Its okay, be patient okay

Asking

Adam? Then, what did your

mother did? Does she tell
Pupil
Teacher

about this to the school?

No, she didnt.
Then, how did the school

Pupil
Teacher

know about this?

I did tell this to the counselor.
What was her move at that

Pupil

time?
She told me to be patient. And
she also told me to keep a
distance between me and that

Teacher

bully.
Maybe she told you to do this
to keep you from getting

Pupil
Teacher

bullied again, right?

Yes, it is.
Does the move helpful for

Pupil

you?
(Nods

head).

It

is

Asking clarification

really

helpful.

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Teacher

So, if this thing happens to

you again, what would you

Pupil
Teacher

do?
I will get mad.
Do you think that it is the best

Pupil
Teacher

thing to do?
No, teacher.
Well, you should not fight fire
with fire. What you should do
is you should stay relaxed and
tell everything to the teachers

Pupil
Teacher

or counselors. Agree?
Yes, teacher.
PHASE 4 (INTERVENTION)
I have this story. (starts to tell
the story of Putera Raja Yang
Dengki)
Once upon a time, there was
a Princes, she was bullied by
the Prince almost every day.
One

day,

the

Princess

decided to turn the book vice

versa, but then she think
again that it is not worth it.
Thus, she told everything to
her father, The King that the
Prince had always bullied her.
Then, the King took an action
and the Princess was no
longer bullied by the Prince.
The end. Do you get the gist
Pupil
Teacher

of the story?
Yes. (Nodding head)
Do you have anything else to

Pupil

tell me?
Yes teacher. There was this
one

time

that

the

bully

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Teacher
Pupil
Teacher

showed me his middle finger.

Oh, so he did that to you?
Yes.
How many times did he do

Pupil
Teacher
Pupil
Teacher

that to you?
3 times.
When is it?
When I was in standard 1.
Did you understood that

Pupil

Teacher

signal at that time?

Yes
PHASE 5 (ENDING

THE

SESSION)
Hmm.. okay, we will meet

Conclude

again later, so, I shall put an

Pupil

end to this. Is it okay?

Yes teacher. Thank

you

teacher
End of session.

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