The Effectiveness of a Counseling Program in Developing Social Skills and Reducing the Level of Withdrawal Behavior among Handicapped Persons in Al- Shafallah Center

The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a counseling program in developing Social Skills and reducing the level of withdrawal behavior among a sample of handicapped persons in Al- Shafallah Centre. The sample consisted of (100) persons, the quasi-experimental sample consisted of (22) male and females who scored the lowest scores in the level of social skills and the highest scores in the level of withdrawal behavior. Later, they were randomly distributed equitably into two groups: experimental and controlled. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, two valid reliable scales were developed: The Social Skills scale and the Withdrawal Behavior scale which had appropriate validity and reliability. The counseling program that was built included (13) counseling sessions, which was applied to the members of the experimental group at two sessions per week for a period of (40) minutes each. The results indicated that the level of social skills in the pre-test was moderate among the members of the sample, while the level of withdrawal behavior was high. The results also showed statistically significant differences between the average scores of the study sample members in both groups: the experimental and the controlled, in the level of social skills, and the withdrawal behavior, in favor of the experimental group members. The results also indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between the average scores of the experimental group in the social skills, and the withdrawal behavior, which indicates the effectiveness of the counseling program and its continued impact during the follow-up period. The study concluded with a set of recommendations, the most important of which were: The necessity of providing multiple opportunities to practice daily activities and practices that will develop social skills and reduce the withdrawal behavior of these individuals.