A Study on the Psychological Process of Mothers about Child Counseling Decision Making

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychological flow of mothers who decided to let their children receive counseling, as it seemed necessary to explore the initial awareness of individuals about counseling. One research question was what the flow of the thought process would be like in which mothers decided to get their children to take counseling. The subjects in this study were six selected mothers with counseling experience. They were interviewed in depth, and the meaning of the collected data was interpreted according to Rennie's grounded theory of hermeneutical perspective. This analysis resulted in 148 meaning units, 20 subcategories and 7 hermeneutical themes. The seven hermeneutical themes were daily wounds, unseen shades, undeniable reality, tough knocking, strange inner world, restlessness of mind and making a choice instead of despairing. The decision-making process for their children's counseling was classified into five stages based on the hermeneutical themes: pre-problem recognition, recognition, request, deliberation and decision making. Their decision-making process about their children's counseling was unique and different from the decision-making process for adult counseling, and there were unique contexts that should be carefully understood.