Group counselling/therapy as a technique to modify the undesirable school behaviour (school phobia) of children at elementary school level in the state of Kuwait.

School phobia is seen as one of the most common problems \namongst children at elementary school. It affects children's \nbehaviour, feelings and attitudes towards school. Children \nsuffering from a school phobic problem usually show negative feelings and behaviour against school. School phobic children \navoid attending school. They tend to use different techniques \nevery morning in order to gain their parents' support for not \nattending school. These children feel that something frightening will happen to them if they attend school, but \nactually there is no basis for their feelings. \nThis research attempted to introduce Rogerian group counselling in treatment of the problem of school phobia. The sample \ncomprised 76 school phobic children. They were divided randomly into two groups: an experimental group in which there were 37 \nschool phobic children, and a control group in which there were \n39 school phobic children. The experimental group children \nexperienced 14 counselling sessions. \nThere were three main aims of this research. First, to assess \nthe use of Rogerian group counselling with young children who \nsuffered from school phobia. This study tried to investigate \nwhether or not Rogerian group counselling can help elementary \nschool children to eliminate their undesirable behaviours. The \nsecond goal of this study was to examine the relationship between school phobia and children's school achievement and \nabsence. Thirdly, the research attempted to examine children's \nability to take responsibility for their own behaviour and \ntheir ability to make their own decisions for self-direction. \nThe results of this study showed that the majority of school \nphobic children who joined the experimental group improved \ntheir school achievement and decreased their absences from \nschool. In addition, such children developed their skills and \nabilities in school (e. g. taking responsibility and \nparticipating in school activities). The results revealed that \nthe group counselling technique was a suitable method for \nschool phobic children in reducing their school phobia problem and related undesirable behaviours in school (e. g. absence, \npoor social relationship