Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1. Introduction
Teenage years are marked by significant physical, psychosocial, and psychological changes
which can cause stress (Senad,2017). Stress is a serious issue among secondary school
students but most parents overlook this thing and normalize stress among teenagers. It is
undeniable there are advantages to having stress, such as it can motivate oneself to move
forward and make a change. However, when the stress has reached its peak, it could impact
one’s mental health. Most teenagers would think of the shortest ways to relieve their
unbearable stress, and most would choose to hurt themselves. 11.1% of teenagers disclosed
self-destructive habits, 6.4% had suicidal thoughts, and 1.4% reported having a suicide
attempt (Zanus et al., 2021). Hence, Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) can be introduced
to teenagers as a better brief therapeutic technique for their daily lives.
Casman and Nurhaeni (2018) found that “Progressive muscle relaxation is a good technic to
reduction stress in children, also increased good mood and attention of children” (p.15). It has
been proven that PMR can reduce stress among the teenagers and be very practical for them
to practice the technique. It is critical to conduct research on this topic because stress among
secondary school students has increased, particularly since the Movement Control Order
(MCO) due to COVID-19 has been identified as one of the leading causes of stress among
teenagers today. Moreover, stress can have an impact on a teenager's life not only
psychologically but also physically and psychosocially. As a result, studies on the use of
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) in Behavioral Therapy towards reducing stress among
secondary school students should be conducted to provide a quick therapeutic way for
teenagers to cope with stress. However, lack of studies have been conducted among
secondary school students in Setapak. Therefore, the researchers intended to explore the use
of Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) in Behavioral Therapy towards reducing stress
among secondary school students in Setapak.
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1. How effective is progressive muscle relaxation in reducing stress among secondary
school students in Setapak?
2. How can I improve my questioning counseling skills in probing clients’ issues?
2. Literature Review
2.1 Definition Of Behavioral Therapy
Behavioral therapy is a systematic methodology that meticulously assesses what the person
does and then pursues to increase the likelihood of positive experiences (Herkov, 2017). The
behavior therapist would identify the client’s unhealthy behavior and assist them in changing
the negative behavior. Also, behavioral therapy is one technique to treat many types of
mental illness. Wilson (2011, as cited in Corey, 2017) found that “Anxiety disorders,
depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, eating, and weight disorders,
sexual problems, pain management, and hypertension have all been successfully treated using
this approach.” Behavior therapy approaches have been recognized as the recommended
treatment for many psychological issues (Corey, 2017). This approach has developed it has
been identified as contemporary behavior therapy, which consists of four areas of
development: classical conditioning, operant conditioning, social-cognitive theory, and
cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). Each type has a difference in the application of techniques
and the base of the approaches. However, they have the same goals: to guide the clients to
shift their unhealthy behavior and thoughts. Corey (2017) added “A strength of the behavioral
approaches is the development of specific therapeutic procedures that must be shown to be
effective through objective mean.” There are several therapeutic techniques in this approach:
operant conditioning, progressive muscle relaxation, systematic desensitization, Vivo
exposure, and flooding. Each technique can be utilized based on which types of behavior
therapy the therapist applied.
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personal and social resources the individual can mobilize." Although some stress can
motivate somebody to move forward, once it crosses the limit, stress can be dangerous for
mental and body health.
Stress can be classified according to its duration, such as how quickly and long it lasts.
The body reacts differently depending on whether the stressor is new, short-term, or long-
term. The categories are as follows:
● Acute Stress
The person experiencing this type of stress may have been exposed to a traumatic
event in their life. According to Barnhill (2020), “Acute stress disorder is an intense,
unpleasant, and dysfunctional reaction beginning shortly after an overwhelming
traumatic event and lasting less than a month.” This type of stress might be similar to
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but they are not the same since people who are
experiencing PTSD would still feel overwhelmed by the trauma for more than a
month.Acute stress can also happen to somebody, which they may have experienced
consciously or unconsciously. For example, witnessing terrifying accidents or
incidents involving a person’s close friends and family can unconsciously trigger this
type of stress. Meanwhile, if they experience violence or severe injury from accidents,
it would be direct exposure. Intrusive memories, poor mood, detachment, resistance,
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or hyperarousal in the first month after the incident would be the characteristics of
Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) (Litz et al., 2017).
There is a finding that the leading cause of stress is academic tests, personal relationships,
relationship issues, life transitions, career choices, hopelessness, inability to rest, rising use of
tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and angry outbursts (Bansode, 2021). The factors that lead to stress
among adolescents might be small, but being prolonged with the same issue and identical
pressure will lead to another significant mental health issue which is depression. Although
stress can positively and negatively impact adolescents, if it is prolonged stress, it can be
linked to depression. Khan and Khan (2017) stated, "Studies have found a link between
chronic stress and anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder." Hence, parents should
pay stress among adolescents attention more as it is not a minor issue and could lead to more
significant impacts on the youngsters. In global, most youths suffer from many conflicts
during their teenage development as they have to face an important transition in their growth
development. According to Bouchrika (2020), "Seven out of ten teens in the U.S. (between
13 and 17 years old) have named anxiety or depression as a major problem among their peers
in the community." The statistics have shown that stress among United States teenagers is
severe. Thompson (2022) added, "From 2009 to 2021, the share of American high-school
students who say they feel "persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness" rose from 26
percent to 44 percent, according to a new CDC study." The percentage of sadness and
hopelessness among adolescents has reached the highest level of teenage mental health
issues.
Meanwhile, in Malaysia, there is a study conducted, and the findings are the risk of severe
depression, anxiety, and stress among Malaysian middle school students ranges from 9% to
11% (Latiff et al., 2017). Institute for Public Health (2011, as cited in Anuar Abu Hassan et
al., 2020) found that "In Malaysia, National Health Morbidity Survey (NHMS) IV shows that
there has been an upward trend in the prevalence of mental illness among children and
adolescents aged 15 years and below from 13% in 1996 to 20% in 2011".Although the stress
percentage is not high in the United States, there is a tendency for the rate to increase if this
issue is ignored.
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In Islam, it is believed that remembering Allah can give calmness to the person. Allah has
stated it in Al-Quran, "Those who have faith and whose hearts find peace in the remembrance
of God." (Quran 13:28). Allah has promised peace and calmness for those who remember
him, and Muslims should believe in Allah's words.
The trials from Allah showed the mercy of Him on His believers. Allah has
mentioned in Al-Quran, from Surah Al- Ankabut:
"Do the people think that they will be left to say, "We believe" and they will not be
tried?(2) But We have certainly tried those before them, and Allah will surely make
evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars.(3)"(29: 2-3)
This verse shows that it is part of fitrah for a good believer to be tested by Allah. It is
based on the individuals themselves on how to react with Allah's test. Also, mental
health issues are part of Allah's tests. Hence, as a Muslim, that person should be
patient and seeks for the best intervention to reduce his stress. In every trials, Allah
has promised there will be ease. Based on Al- Quran, in Surah Al-Insyirah:
"For indeed, with hardship [will be] ease.(5)Indeed, with hardship [will be] ease.
(6)"(94: 5-6)
Based on a book Ihya’ Ulum al-Din written by Al-Ghazali, he mentioned that all human
actions are based on their hearts and souls. Azizah Abdul Majid and Tengku Sarina Aini
Tengku Kasim (2020) mentioned that, “The heart serves to feel, to know and to recognise,
and the heart is also the recipient of God's commands and prohibitions.” Heart is the place in
which a human feels tension, feelings and stress. Hence, Al-Ghazali has mentioned that the
spiritual aspect should be cleansed and cared for as it is crucial for internal human wellbeing.
(Yahya et al., 2020). Al-Ghazali said that the cause of the emotional disorder is an unhappy
soul. He emphasized that one can attain happiness through soul treatment by pleasing God
(Allah). Therefore, Islam has gave many ways for the Muslims to reduce their stress and one
of them is Dhikr. Dhikr is a repetition of holy names in remembering Allah's supremacy, and
it could bring calmness for those who are suffering anxiety and stress. Iskandar, Hatta, Azhar
(2020) found that Dhikrullah can be used as a therapy because it alters brain waves, causing
the nervous system to function with a lower stress level, resulting in the entire body being
relaxed.
3. Methodology
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Since there is not much exposure to good ways to release their tension, I think Progressive
Muscle Relaxation (PMR) would be practical for them to utilize as one of the coping ways to
reduce their stress. One of applications of action research is solution development and testing
(Mertler, 2020). Thus, I can find out the effectiveness if PMR in reducing stress through
action research. Besides, action research is about finding other solutions for any school
setting issue, but it is also about improving the researcher’s practice. Clark et al. (2020)
mentioned, “Action research is an approach to educational research that is commonly used by
educational practitioners and professionals to examine, and ultimately improve, their
pedagogy and practice.” Therefore, action research is the best method to help me achieve my
goals in this study. The following section will describe the participants and setting for this
research.
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Session 1
On the first session, I will collect the data by having an in-person interview with the
participant. The face-to-face interview session also will be fully recorded for transcribing
purposes. The school principal has already permitted to conduct this research at school. I will
hand out the informed consent to the participant and highlight several crucial information to
the participant, especially on confidentiality issues. To ensure the participant fully
understands both informed consent (Refer to Appendix I & II), I will ask the client if there is
anything that is not clear before proceeding with the interview session. After the participant
has filled in the informed consent, I will start by building rapport with the participant. I will
ask general questions to probe the client’s stress issue. Next, I will give her Depression
Anxiety Stress Scales 21 (DASS-21) (Refer to Appendix VI). This inventory consists of 21
self-report instruments on four Likert scales, which start from '0 = Did not apply to me at all
to '3 = Applied to me very much. The inventory scores will be divided into three items which
are Depression, Anxiety, and Stress. The total scores of each item will determine the level of
severity of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress. The reliability of the DASS-21 was
demonstrated by Cronbach's alpha values of 0.81, 0.89, and 0.78 for the depressive, anxiety,
and stress subscales, respectively which showed that DASS-21 has excellent reliability
(Coker et al., 2018). The score interpretation for DASS-21 is divided into five levels: Normal,
Mild, Moderate, Severe, and Extremely Severe. Each group has different scores for each
item. The use of DASS-21 to the participant is to know the status of depression, anxiety, and
stress. From the scores, I will start to explain to the client on the interpretation of the DASS
score. Next, I will continue the session with the interview questions:
Interview Questions :
● In your opinion, can you describe the factors that cause you to be stressed?
After collecting information on the factors of stress, I will ask the participant if she has
anything to be shared before end the session. I will ask the client to have another session for
intervention part.
Session 2
On the second session, I will continue with interview question in order to know the
participant’s common stress coping method.
Interview Questions :
● Would you mind to share your common ways to cope with the stress?
After the interview question, I will expose to the client other ways to cope with the stress. I
will explain Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR), and while demonstrating, I will do PMR
with the participant. Before the interview session ends, I will give a PMR script and ask the
participant to practice it at home once per day. I intend to observe the participant’s behavior
and body language throughout all sessions to find out the ‘before and after’ practicing PMR. I
also will provide a mini journal for the participant to track the frequencies of PMR practice
and her feelings before and after PMR.
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Session 3
On the last session, I will ask the client to bring the mini journal. Next, I proceed with the
interview questions in order to identify the effectiveness of PMR on participant’s stress
issues. I also will give the last interview questions to analyze my questioning counseling
skills :
Interview Questions :
● After practicing PMR daily, from scale 1-10 what will be the rate for your stress?
Why?
● In your opinion, do you think practicing PMR is easy and effective to you?
● In your point of view, do you think the questions that I have given to you is
effective in probing your issue?
● From scale 1-10 what will be the rate for my questioning skills? Why?
I intend to observe the participant’s body language during the session to find out the ‘after’
practicing PMR. After I have observed, I will ask the participant to send the journal to me for
document analysis to identify the effectiveness of PMR on reducing the participant’s stress.
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Findings of the Study
Cycle 1
The findings gained from the interview session, the verbatim of each participant were made
and analyzed. The raw data that gained were properly converted into coding and then were
put into several meaningful themes. The themes can be seen in this study is based on two
research questions which are: (i) How effective is progressive muscle relaxation in
reducing stress among secondary school students in Setapak? and (ii)How can I improve
my questioning counseling skills in probing clients’ issues? This study only consist of one
cycle as the findings can be found through first cycle. In this cycle, there are four stages and
each stages have its findings.
The Plan
At this stage, I have planned to have three sessions with the participant. Each session I have
included one observation in aspect of participant’s behaviour or body language. The purpose
is to identify the difference of participant’s performance before the intervention and after the
intervention. The plan can be referred at Table 4.1.
On the session one, I have given informed consent before starting any interview sessions to
ensure the participant aware of the ethics throughout the sessions. The participant also has
given a short briefing on the study that I have intended to do while in the counselling session.
Next, I proceed the session with conducting interview session to probe on participant’s issue.
Participant disclosed the reason she wanted to have counseling session because she had an
issue with her academic. I gave open ended question to probe the factors that lead to
participant’s stress. After I identified several factors, I explained to the participant on
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Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) that I have planned to know the participant’s
level of stress. After the participant has acknowledge the purpose of the assessment, I asked
the participant to answer all questions in the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21).
The result for DASS-21 can be referred at Table 4.2. Throughout the first session, I have
observed the participant’s body language and behavior.
Based on Table 4.2, it is found that the participant’s stress and anxiety level is very severe
which indicate that the participant’s stress level is really high. After analysing the DASS-21
result for session 1, I explained to the participant on her stress level to ensure the participant
understood the interpretation. According to the first session, I have found three themes during
the interview session. Therefore, for the first question the findings were discussed under one
theme which is (1) factors of stress :
Poor academic performance. The participant mentioned that she had poor academic
performance, specifically in Mathematics. Although she has tried to study and practice more
to understand the subject, she still got low marks in quizzes and examinations. The poor
academic performance has caused the participant to stress out:
“Aaa, saya sebenarnya ada masalah akademik. Umm… macam saya tak dapat score
matematik.”
“Pastu and kalau macam time exam hari tu. Saya dapat markah low.”
Teacher’s treatment. The participant also has mentioned that the teacher’s treatment or
attitude is one of reasons that cause her not doing really well in Mathematics. Teacher’s role
in educating the students are important since if the teaching and learning session is not
impactful and no warmth, the students would feel pressure and did not enjoy the learning
session. =
“Umm, pastu yang buat saya jadi makin stress sebab cikgu yang ajar saya… ajar
matematik tu. Dia bukan cikgu yang agak peramah dengan murid.”
“And apa dia cakap dia just kata “Korang banyak careless” and tu jer.”
2
Friendship conflicts. Based on the participant, she reported that she had friendship issue. It is
very crucial to have supportive circle during learning process, since the supports can be one
of motivation for the students. The participant stated that most her friend which is also her
classmate is not really supportive and …….. issue with her closest friend.
“Haaa, lepas tu macam kawan pulak…kawan bila saya tanya kawan saya. Dia…
macam… paham tak macam ajar ala kadar je.”
“Maybe kawan la kot, sebab umm kat dalam kelas saya ada… dulu saya ada rapat aaa
yang duduk… maksud saya kat dalam kelas tu saya ada kawan yang rapat.”
“… start daripada ubah meja tu, dia jadi rapat dengan orang yang duduk tu. Aaa
macam dia less spend time dengan saya macam…”
The factors that has been mentioned by the participant has indicate that having low grades
and frustrating with the teacher’s attitude can give a huge impact on participant’s stress issue.
The Action
In this phase, I proceeded with the intervention part, but before that, I asked an interview
question regarding the standard methods she used to cope with her stress. The purpose is to
identify whether she had practiced a healthy or unhealthy coping strategy. I found that the
participant has practiced harmless coping, but she wanted to find other effective coping
methods to reduce her stress. Hence, I introduced the Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)
technique to the participant. I also briefly explain to the participant ways to practice PMR and
the impacts of PMR on reducing stress and anxiety.
Next, I showed the participant a Youtube video that demonstrates PMR since I think it will be
more helpful to the participant. I asked the participant to follow my instruction and used the
PMR script (Refer to Appendix VIII) to start the relaxation technique. I also demonstrated to
the participant, and she followed my steps while listening to therapeutic soothing sounds. I
keep reminding the participant to realize the difference between her tense and relaxed
muscles. It is essential to remind the participant to think of something that is good and
consistently breathe to ensure this technique's maximum effects. After we did PMR, I
observed the participant's body language and behavior. Besides, after applying PMR, I asked
the participant whether she felt any relaxing effect. As a result, the participant mentioned she
had a brief, relaxed effect after doing PMR.
Before I ended the second session, I gave a mini journal, a script of PMR, and a Youtube link
(on PMR demonstration) for the participant to practice for four days. I asked the participant
to fill in the daily journal and track her frequency of doing PMR (Refer to Appendix VII). I
also asked the participant to record her stress level pre-PMR and post-PMR. The purpose is to
identify the participant's stress level difference before and after PMR. The participant has
been instructed to bring the mini journal during the last session.
The Observation
Throughout three sessions that have been conducted, I found that the participant response in
aspects of body language and behavior is different in each session. I observed the participant
in the same setting in the individual counseling room during the counseling session. The
observation is based on the participant’s body language and behavior :
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Phase 1 (Session 1)– is carried in the individual counseling room.
In the first session, I observed the participant while having a counseling session, and the
participant could not express well one issue that she had. The participant often stuttered
during the first session and did not communicate well. The participant also seemed hesitant to
open up but gradually expressed her issue after building rapport.Besides, the participant also
showed a frowned face and seemed unhappy due to her academic stress issue. The
participant’s body language showed that she was in a defensive posture in which she would
cross her hands while probing her case. As a whole, in the first phase of observation, the
participant was anxious and trying to adapt to the counseling and interview session.
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The participant’s behavior improved in the second session, and she seemed more comfortable
starting the session. The participant also could follow the instruction during the intervention
well. However, the participant seemed not engaged during the interview session in the
previous session. Nevertheless, after the intervention, the participant seemed more relaxed,
and she could make eye contact with me throughout the session. However, although she
appeared calm, she started to fidget after several minutes of the intervention.
Phase 3 (Session 3) – is carried in the individual counseling room.
Table 4.5 Session 3
In the last session, the participant practiced PMR daily, and the continuous practice has
resulted in significant changes in the participant’s behavior and body language. The
participant is talkative and very engaging, which showed an excellent improvement. The
participant also showed comfortable gestures in which she could laugh and revealed her
mood had improved. She also showed a warm smile that indicated that she was happier than
in previous sessions. After practicing PMR daily, the participant’s motivated behavior
reflected that she had become less stressed and more relaxed.
The Reflection
After I had done the intervention and observation, I continued the last session with the
participant by probing the effects of PMR in reducing the participant’s stress. Next, I gave the
DASS-21 to identify the participant’s stress level post-PMR. The result can be referred at
Table 4.6 below:
Table 4.6 DASS-21 Result Post-PMR
Items Score Status
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The DASS-21 result above indicates a significant difference in participants’ stress levels after
practicing PMR. Previously, the participant’s score for Stress was 19. However, after four
days of practicing PMR daily, the participant’s stress score dropped to 10. Besides, according
to the participant’s mini journal, she also applied PMR twice a day when her stress level was
high which can be referred at Picture 1 :
The participant’s name and class were concealed for confidentiality concerns. Based on the
journal that has been completed by the participant for four days, practicing PMR every day is
proven to reduce the participant’s stress level. The journal also indicated that the PMR
worked more effectively if the participant applied it frequently. After analyzing the mini
journal, I asked for participants’ feedback on my questioning skills. In this session, two
themes have been identified, which are (1) Impacts of Progressive Muscle Relaxation and
(2) Improvements in questioning skills.
Reduce Stress.After practicing PMR daily, the participant showed significant effects,
especially in reducing her stress. The participant’s behavior and mood have changed a lot
after three counseling sessions while practicing PMR. The participant mentioned that after
applying PMR when she stresses, she could feel that her stress had toned down. She also gave
a high rate for PMR in reducing her stress which is 7. From this feedback, PMR proves that it
could lower pressure among teenagers :
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“Tak stress. Bukan tak stress macam mana ea.. macam kurang stress”
“Hmmm…saya kasi tujuh kot. Tujuh.”
Relaxation. Reduction in stress could bring a relaxing effect. The participant has claimed that
she felt more relaxed by practicing PMR. She also has mentioned that she felt calmer and it is
one of the participant’s goals when attending the counseling session :
“Hmmm (nodding). Relax. Rasa…rasa lega la. Tadi tak berapa lega.”
“Hmmm… boleh dikatakan yang dia tenang… buat saya tenang sikit.”
Motivation. Experiencing improvement in stress and relaxation can give a huge positive
impact to the participant. PMR also has proved that it can elevate the participant’s motivation
since she also felt energetic :
“Haah, lepas tu… lepas buat PMR ni macam… macam more… apa ea... macam
more energetic and rasa motivated a bit.”
“… lepas tu cikgu… cikgu pun tak de la nak paksa memaksa pun. Maksudnya
macam… okay je.”
“Haah (nodding). Dia macam… saya pun… okay dengan apa cikgu soalkan. Saya
pun tak de masalah. Hmm… lepas tu cikgu… cikgu pun tak de la nak paksa memaksa
pun. Maksudnya macam… okay je.”
Effective questions. Warm questioning method in counselling is not enough if the questions
are not effective. Effective questions are important to ensure the participant feel they are
being heard and the counselor being attentive. If the questions are not related with the issues,
most likely it will make the counseling session cannot meet the goals. The participant
responded to my questioning skills :
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The participant also gave a rate of 8.5 on my questioning skill which indicates that my
questioning skill is excellent in her point of view. Overall, from the participant’s feedback, it
can be concluded that my questioning skills have improved in the aspect of the questioning
method and giving practical questions. The counselors must keep enhancing questioning
skills as it is an essential part of counseling sessions.
Discussion
One of the objectives of this study is to explore the effectiveness of Progressive Muscle
Relaxation (PMR) among teenagers with stress issues. Teacher's treatment and friendship
conflicts are identified as the main stressors. There is a significant correlation between
educators' attitudes and students' educational achievement (Ekperi et al., 2019). Friendship
conflicts also can have huge effects on students' stress. Kaufman and Sandilos (2016) noted
that adolescents with a constructive circle of friends obtain better academic levels than those
with unsupportive friends. This study also found that the participant has practiced unharmful
coping methods but is still ineffective in reducing the participant's stress.
After exposure to PMR and daily practice, the participant has shown improvements in mood
and stress. The participant's DASS-21 result has revealed a significant difference in all three
items (D-Depression, A-Anxiety, and S-Stress) pre-PMR and post-PMR. Thus, this study can
identify that PMR effectively reduces stress levels. Although there are not a lot of findings on
PMR in reducing academic stress in the school sector, many studies have proven PMR can
effectively reduce stress among students. Previous research by Gangadharan and Madani
(2018) found that "The study concludes that, progressive muscle relaxation technique is very
effective in reducing depression, anxiety and stress among nursing students" (p.1). In
addition, Wilczyńska et al. (2019) reported that Jacobson's progressive relaxation techniques
and tissue manipulation effectively reduce the harmful impacts of distress. Also, this study
found one of the impacts of practicing PMR is relaxation. Research supported by Hidayati
and Makwa (2020) found that anxiety-induced reactions were reported to be lessened, and
individuals reported feeling more at ease after practicing PMR. Therefore, there is no doubt
that PMR can reduce the stress and anxiety among the adolescents.
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setting a date for the next counseling session. Last but not least, several academic teachers
complained about taking the learning session time to meet the participant. Since the
participant also had to ride the van to go home, thus, she could not stay back at school to have
a counseling session. Therefore, due to teachers’ complaints, I had to make the session short
but effective to probe the participant’s issues. Although there were many limitations during
this research, the participant cooperated well throughout each session.
This study implies that I hope this research can benefit the school counselors in exploring
other relaxation methods. PMR is one unpopular technique in the counseling field. Although
PMR is one of the relaxation techniques that have many steps and need the practitioner to
study first, it still can have a massive impact on reducing stress. Next, PMR also can be
practiced by all ages. Hence, this research can benefit not only the counselors but also the
school community or administrators. The school administrators may also benefit from this
research as they can introduce PMR to all teachers. Since there are no age limitations on
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practicing PMR, this technique can be applied to the school teachers. Some school teachers
would face workload, financial, or marriage stress. Thus, PMR can be used as a brief 'escape'
to lower the pressure. Lastly, PMR can also impact the secondary school students to practice
it at home. Secondary school students can practice PMR at home or in class, but practicing it
in a quiet and therapeutic room is advisable. In conclusion, this research implies that it can
benefit counselors, school administrators, and secondary school students.
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Appendices
Appendix VI DASS-21
4
Appendix I Informed consent form
Clients Signature:
Client's Name:
Date:
Counselor's Signature:
Counselor's Name:
Date:
5
Appendix II Video/Audio Taping Consent Form
C4: (BI) Video/Audio Taping Consent Form
Clients Signature:
Client's Name:
Date:
Counselor's Signature:
Counselor's Name:
Date:
6
Appendix II Interview Protocol
7
Appendix III Observation Protocol
No Checklist Scale
.
1) Strongly Disagree
2) Disagree
3) Average
4) Agree
5) Strongly Agree
Description of participant
Description of activity
Interaction
Participant’s comments:
8
Appendix IV Partial Transcription
9
Appendix V Generating Themes
10
sepatutnya berlaku sebab
macam saya study…”
ii. “… actually sebenarnye bila
cikgu tengah ngajar kan, apa
saya paham jer, saya paham
tapi bila saya aaa nak buat
latihan dalam buku, saya jadi
blank macam “Ehh kejap apa
cikgu ajar tadi ?”
i. “Kalau stress dengan bosan la, Coping i. Drawing and
Qis akan ambil sehelai kertas Method writing
tak kisah la kertas apa, Qis ii. Poetry
akan conteng.”
“… biasanya Qis suka buat
cursive handwriting”
ii. “Haah. Umm satu lagi Qis
suka buat poetry.”
i. “Hmmm…rasa release Progressive Effects of i. Reduce
tension.” Muscle PMR stress
“Tak stress. Bukan tak stress Relaxation ii. Relaxing
macam mana ea.. macam (PMR) iii. Energetic
kurang stress” and
“Hmmm…saya kasi tujuh kot. Motivated
Tujuh.”
11
more… apa ea... macam more
energetic and rasa motivated
a bit.”
i. “… lepas tu cikgu… cikgu Questioning Improvemen i. Proper
pun tak de la nak paksa Skills t in method of
memaksa pun. Maksudnya Questioning questioning
macam… okay je.” Skills ii. Effective
ii. “Haah (nodding). Dia Questions
macam… saya pun… okay
dengan apa cikgu soalkan.
Saya pun tak de masalah.
Hmm… lepas tu cikgu…
cikgu pun tak de la nak paksa
memaksa pun. Maksudnya
macam… okay je.”
“Saya rasa soalan-soalan
cikgu ni beri efektif..
(giggles)”
“Daripada segi…soalan yang
cikgu berikan tu membantu
nak lebih faham masalah
saya.. and cara cikgu explain
balik apa saya cakap..”
“Hmmm…8.5.”
12
Appendix VI DASS-21
13
14
Appendix VII My Mini Stress Reduction Tracker
DAY 1
DAY 2
DAY 3
DAY 4
15
Appendix VIII Progressive Muscle Relaxation Script
(Skrip Teknik Progressive Muscle Relaxation)
Pada hari ini kita akan membuat satu teknik relaksasi yang diberi nama. Progressive muscle
relaxation technique. Teknik ini meliputi beberapa komponen otot yang berbeza. Ianya
dimulai dgn kumpulan otot di bahagian kaki dan berakhir di bahagian kepala.
Sebelum kita mulakan sesi ini.
Anda mestilah duduk dalam keadaan yang tegak dan selesa. Anda perlu mendengar
sambil melakukan aksi berdasarkan arahan yang bakal saya berikan.
Sebelum kita mulakan sesi, anda perlu duduk di atas kerusi dengan postur yang tegak dan
tangan di sisi. Tapak kaki dirapatkan ke lantai. Tarik nafas melalui hidung, 1,2,3,4,5.. hembus
perlahan lahan melalui mulut. Relaks .
Kita mulakan sesi dengan kumpulan otot di bahagian kaki. Angkat kaki sedikit dan halakan
jari kaki ke atas. Dalam kiraan , 1-5 , anda ‘release’ kan otot kaki anda. Relaks relaks relaks
Kemudian, kita fokus ke otot betis. Rapatkan kedua-dua betis dan tegangkan. Dalam
kiraan , 1-5 , anda ‘release’ kan otot betis anda. Relaks relaks relaks
Baiklah, seterusnya kita beralih kepada otot tangan. Genggam semua jari-jemari seakan
penumbuk. Regangkan kedua belah tangan ke hadapan, dan genggam penumbuk sekuat
mungkin. Jangan lupa untuk bernafas, dalam kiraan 1-5 , anda ‘release’ kan penumbuk dan
hembuskan nafas melalui mulut. Rasakan perbezaan otot kamu yang sedang tegang dan
relaks.
Seterusnya, kita fokus kepada otot bahu. Rapatkan bahu ke telinga. Rasakan ketegangan di
antara bahu. Kemudian dalam kiraan 1-5, release dan hembus nafas.
Baiklah, sekarang kita akan fokus ke otot muka pula. Rapatkan gigi bahagian atas dan
bawah. Gigit kedua gigi cukup untuk berasa tegang sahaja, jangan terlalu kuat. 1-5,
release.
Kemudian, rapatkan kedua-dua kening seolah anda tengah risaukan sesuatu. Tutup mata
rapat-rapat dan tegangkan. Jangan lupa, teruskan bernafas. Rasakan ketegangan antara
otot kening dan mata. 1-5, release.
Akhir sekali, sekarang anda senyum sehingga menampakkan gigi. Senyum sehingga kamu
dapat rasa otot antara pipi tegang. Dalam kiraan 1-5, release.
Sebelum kita akhiri sesi ini, tutup mata dan duduk di posisi asal. Kosongkan minda, fokus
pada otot-otot. Tarik nafas yang dalam perlahan-lahan, kiraan 1-10, hembus melalui hidung
perlahan lahan. Buka mata perlahan-lahan dan relaks.
16