The Effectiveness of a Counseling Program Based on the Gelotherapy in Reducing Psychological and Social Pressure Among Women who have been Quarantined During the Corona Pandemic

Abstract

The study aims to identify the effectiveness of a counseling program based on the therapeutic laughter strategy in reducing the psychological and social pressures among mothers who were quarantined during the Corona pandemic, using the quasi-experimental approach, through a sample that includes 30 of these women, who obtains the highest scores of psychological and social stress, are divides equally between the two experimental and control groups. The counseling program is applies to the experimental group, in 12 sessions, two session a week, each of 90 minutes. The results of the study show that there are statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups in the post-measurement on the psychological and social stress scale in favor of the experimental group, and the differences are also significant between the pre and post measurements on the experimental group in favor of the post-measurement. The results also show that there are no statistically significant differences between the post and the follow-up measures on the experimental group, which indicates the effectiveness of the implemented counseling program in reducing the psychological and social pressures among women who were quarantined during the Corona pandemic, and its continuity after a six-week follow-up period. Based on the results, the study recommends the application of the developed program to other societies, for similar or different counseling purposes.