Religious Cultural Approach Group Counseling

This study explores the importance of religion-based group counseling for individuals in different age groups in Indonesia as they progress through various stages of religious development. Religion significantly influences social and cultural diversity, and religious practices are integral to Indonesia's cultural heritage. Religion-based counseling prioritizes individuals with a religious background, utilizing their faith's values, norms, and teachings as a foundational framework. With the majority of Indonesians being Muslims, the Islamic counseling approach holds a strategic position. Religion-based group counseling serves as a viable solution to support individuals of all ages in their religious growth. Conducted as a literature review, this research collects and analyzes data from diverse sources to elucidate the significance of religion-based group counseling. The study contributes to a deeper understanding and practical application of religion-based group counseling in Indonesia, raising awareness of its necessity and benefits in facilitating optimal religious development across different stages of life.


Introduction
Religious values have a powerful impact on shaping human behavior and attitudes. When individuals exhibit good behavior and attitudes, it indicates their strong religious values within their faith. On the other hand, culture encompasses the totality of behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. Culture reflects the characteristics of a society or population transmitted collectively. The Indonesia Dictionary defines culture as something that evolves and is difficult to change, also referring to manners or customs. In the discipline of social anthropology, Fathurrohman (2015:43) describes culture as a term that encompasses all systems of ideas about human actions and creations in the context of societal life acquired through learning.
In the field of education, culture plays a crucial role as a transmission of knowledge. Due to its broad scope, culture can be likened to software in the human brain that influences perception, identifies what is seen, directs focus on specific things, and avoids others. Koentjaningrat (in Daryanto, 2015:1) defines culture as a system of ideas that encompasses human actions and creations in societal life adopted by humans through the learning process.
The study and development of guidance and counseling theories based on religious values have become important because the majority of Muslims require guidance and counseling aligned with their beliefs and religion. Religiosity refers to the state and beliefs that exist within an individual, driving them to behave, act, and take actions in accordance with the teachings of their religion. This research aims to explain the importance of religion-based group counseling in assisting individuals in fulfilling the stages of religious development across various age groups.
Religious counseling serve as means of providing assistance to individuals facing spiritual difficulties, both mentally and spiritually, enabling them to overcome these challenges with their own capabilities, driven by faith and devotion to Allah. Religious counseling with an Islamic approach aims to help individuals facing difficulties, whether physical or mental, related to their present and future lives. The Jurnal Neo Konseling, Open Access Journal: http://neo.ppj.unp.ac.id/index.php/neo purpose of the Islamic-based religious counseling approach is to empower individuals receiving assistance to understand themselves, and to guide and realize their potential in accordance with religious values.

Method
This research is a library research based on the study and analysis of the text. Source of data used in this research is library data. Library or library research is the deepening, processing and identification of existing library knowledge (reading sources, reference works or other research results). Library research or library research is research conducted by collecting data or scientific writing as a research subject. Data collection aims to solve a problem which is essentially oriented towards a critical and in-depth study of library materials. aims to explain the need for religion-based group counseling in helping clients meet the stages of religious development in various age groups.
The source of the data in this study came from research journal articles obtained from Google Scholar regarding religious and cultural counseling in 6 journal articles. In this study the authors used documentation techniques, where the process of searching and collecting data was in the form of notes, books, articles or papers, journals, and so on related to the issues discussed. The following are some of the studies obtained and used as data sources, including: Surau-Based Counseling in Tourism Development which was written (Irman et al. 2020

Results and Discussion
Six journals show that group counseling with a religious culture approach can be used as an innovation and a treasure trove for counselors in applying group counseling techniques to address client problems. The implementation of group counseling with a religious cultural approach can overcome various problems experienced by clients. From the 6 journals it can be understood that the application of group counseling to the religious culture approach can be applied to problems related to human nature, especially the client's religious problems. This research shows that through religion-based group counseling, clients get a safe space and support to better face and fulfill their stages of religious development. Counselors or therapists who are trained in this approach can guide clients through this process and help them achieve better religious well-being. The results of this study are also supported by the statement According to Geertz (1973), individual behavior as members of society is influenced and bound by culture through institutions. -institutions that act as control mechanisms against human behavior. Cohen (1998) revealed that culture has a role in shaping individual behavior, thoughts, perceptions, values, goals, morals, and cognitive processes (Firman 2017).
Religion-based group counseling research shows several reasons that support the importance of this approach. First, religion-based group counseling provides group support that allows clients to interact with individuals who have similar religious beliefs. This interaction provides strong social support and mutual understanding, which plays an important role in meeting the stages of religious development. Second, this group helps in forming religious identity. In a faith-based group environment, clients can find role models, mentors, or fellow group members who help them better explore and develop their religious identity. Furthermore, within these groups, members can learn from each other and exchange information about diverse religious teachings, practices, and experiences. This helps clients broaden their understanding of religion and gain new insights through other people's perspectives.
Conflicts related to religious beliefs or practices can also be resolved through faith-based group counseling. Through interactions with fellow group members and counselors, clients can find solutions to problems, develop coping strategies, and achieve reconciliation with their values and beliefs. In addition, religion-based group counseling also plays a role in developing the spiritual skills needed in the stages of religious development. Practices such as meditation, prayer, reflection and other spiritual practices can be developed within this group environment to support religious growth and maturity. Finally, faith-based group counseling helps strengthen the client's religious community. Through better connectedness with the community, clients feel an increased sense of attachment, participation, and support in religious and social activities run by the community.
(Religious Cultural Approach Group Counseling) Religious Cultural Group Counseling is the right and very good approach as an effort to deal with client problems. The following is a more detailed study that supports the implementation of religious cultural group counseling as Corey 2009 says that counselors with an educational background based on Western traditions need to be sensitive to differences when working with Asian American students and their parents. It is important for counselors with a Western approach to counseling to be sensitive and able to adapt to the cultural values of their clients. Corey also emphasizes that at the end of each chapter that discusses counseling approaches, there is an acknowledgment of limitations in cross-cultural contexts. (Corey 2009)

Conclusion
The application of religious culture group counseling is effective in providing assistance to clients. The study of group counseling guidance that pays attention to religious culture is theoretically a development of guidance and counseling. Group guidance based on religious values is a client's need because the majority of Indonesia's population, who are predominantly Muslim, need guidance and counseling according to (Religious Cultural Approach Group Counseling) their beliefs and religion. Religion is a condition and belief that exists within a person that can encourage that person to behave, behave, act and act in accordance with the teachings of the religion he adheres to. Religious values greatly affect human behavior and attitudes, if a person's behavior and attitude is good then that person has good religious values for his religion.