PENEROKAAN PENGGUNAAN BAHASA ISYARAT DALAM SESI KAUNSELING INDIVIDU
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UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SARAWAK
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Sign language plays a vital role in ensuring effective communication during individual counseling sessions, especially for clients with hearing impairments. The lack of deep understanding of sign language among counselors can hinder the therapeutic process and make it difficult to convey emotions and understand the client's actual message. Therefore, this study was conducted to explore the experiences and challenges faced by counselors in using sign language during individual counseling sessions, as well as the strategies employed to adapt their counseling approaches to the communication needs of clients who use sign language. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews involving three registered counselors with experience conducting sessions with deaf clients. The findings revealed that the main challenges included limited formal training, variations in sign language styles, and a shortage of professional interpreters. However, counselors employed various strategies such as visual communication, facial expressions, and counseling approaches like CBT and humanistic counseling to enhance session effectiveness. It is hoped that this study will contribute to increased sign language literacy among counselors and support the implementation of more inclusive and empathetic counseling practices for the hearing-impaired community.