Abstract
UMMATIC COUNSELLING: AN INTEGRATED APPROACH IN PROMOTING PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING
Nooraini Othman*
Corresponding Author: Nooraini Othman, Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
Revised: 21 September 2020;
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The aim of this paper is to highlight the role of Ummatic Counselling in promoting the psychological well-being in the society. It is based on my initially developed works on Ummatic Personality Inventory (UPI). Ummatic Personality Inventory was based on a specific theoretical framework based on the worldview of Islam. The Ummatic Personality Inventory has been used by many research-scholars in their graduate works resulting in masters and doctoral theses as well as referred in many scholarly works. There are three major elements which formed the foundation of Islamic psychology in UPI, namely, Ibadah (Motivation), Amanah (Self-concept) and Ilm (Cognitive).  The accommodation of the elements in the counselling session involving the Muslim clients allows the counsellor to play a better role and perform more effective as compared to the conventional counselling. The three main elements in counselling adopted from Carl Rogers, which is widely recognised, to be practised during the counselling session are empathy, congruence and unconditional acceptance. The accommodation of the three elements of Islamic Psychology is important in developing the Islamic personality of the counsellors. These elements will be able to strengthen their capability in handling the psychological issues faced by the Muslim clients. The development of a strong Islamic personality in a Muslim counsellor would certainly contribute to the positive character building of the clients to finally enable them to independently achieve their psychological wellbeing. Ummatic Counselling essentially comes from the Ummatic Personality psychology is a contribution to the broad study of Islamic Psychology. The dimension of counselling is indeed important in helping clients to resolve their psychological issues in the manner that is not only psychologically correct but also Islamicly upright. It must begin with counsellor personality development to make such counsellor congruent to the required counsellor’s personality. This will turn the counsellor into a role model and trustworthy in the eyes of the clients. In return, the counselling process is an enriching programme and becoming a holistic therapy session to the clients. It is not just a counselling session, but it is also a human development process.

 

Keywords: Ummatic counselling, Islamic counselling, Integrated approach, Islamic psychology, Psychological well-being, Psycho-spiritual.