Who Will Join the Campus Growth Groups? - A Description & Analysis on the Mental Health Service in National Taiwan Normal University

Author: Chew-Chung Wu, Tsuey-Pyn Yeh, Yih-Jen Sheu, Shwu-Yuann Liou(Department of Health Education, National Taiwan Normal University)

Abstract：

The students of National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) who had used the school mental health service-individual counseling--from 1958 to 1978, were studied & analyzed (N=779) (Wu & Lee, 1980). The results of this research, which was sponsored by National Science Institute (NSI), enhanced the conception that mental health services should not be confined within the traditional model. Instead, the flexibility and accessability should be expanded. Peer counseling was developed under such circum-stances. In order to explore the influence of leadeer's qualification and experience on group counseling, NTNU established 8 growth groups for freshmen in 1982. This research project was also sponsored by NSI (Wu, Chen & Lee, 1987). The conclusion was made that groups without leaders collapsed very soon; groups led by big brothers & sisters showed better group dynamics and results than groups led by taschers and peers. The leaders of so-called "big brothers & sisters groups" are those who acquire basic professional training and are a little bit older than group meme bers.
This discovery guided the campus group counseling into a new model. NTNU began a series of growth group activities called "Creation Workshop ", including psychorama, body exploration, art therapy, body & mind inte-gration, stress management and encounter groups. Although there were a lot of students who registered in these groups every semester, only one third of them were admitted on the average. In order to evaluate & con-struct the future plan by making sure who are reached by school mental health services, the researcher is going to collect the data of students who registered in Creation Workshop (N = 396) and those who had individual counseling (N=193) from 1989 to 1991. The data collected are to be com-pared with the data of students who never used the mental health services in NTNU health center. The variables of this research contain sex, age, department, class, leadership, reward & penalty rsceived, MPI (Maudsley Personality Inventory) scores (i.e. scores of neur-oticism & extraversion), T scores, group experience used to have, intention of regis-tration, the expec-tation toward the groups, the problems with families or friends and the aspects the students hope to change. In addition, the self evaluation scale, including pretest & port-test, coded by group members will also be studied.
The results of their research project are to be served as a feedback to school mental health administration.

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