Pelatihan Konseling Sebaya untuk Peningkatan Empati Remaja di Balai Perlindungan dan Rehabilitasi Sosial Remaja Yogyakarta

Abstract

Adolescence is often characterized by emotional and social challenges, making peer support crucial for developing empathy and interpersonal skills. This article outlines a peer counseling training program at the Youth Social Protection and Rehabilitation Center in Yogyakarta aimed at enhancing adolescents’ empathy. A total of 26 participants with diverse social issues took part in a series of sessions comprising material presentations, focus group discussions (FGDs), and counseling role-play exercises that emphasized active listening, perspective-taking, and confidence in social interactions. Post-training evaluations indicated improvements in participants’ ability to recognize and appreciate others’ feelings, as well as enhanced interpersonal skills in everyday contexts. These findings suggest that peer counseling training has the potential to serve as a replicable intervention model to strengthen adolescents’ empathetic capacities and reduce the risk of social norm violations. Future recommendations include the use of standardized empathy scales and more rigorous evaluation designs to strengthen the evidence for the program’s effectiveness.