The Significance of Positive Perceptions of Counseling in Willingness to Seek Counseling Help: An Indonesian Study

Abstract

This paper describes a study designed to investigate the relationships between perceptions relevant to counseling and willingness to seek counseling. A total of 1,279 undergraduates who came from an urban area in Indonesia volunteered to participate in the questionnaire survey. Results show that those who were potentially highly likely and those who were less likely to seek counseling showed significant differences in most of the areas of perceptions of counseling. Generally, the potential high seekers had better perceptions of counseling than the potential low seekers. The study suggests that those with more positive perceptions are more disposed to seek counseling. Widespread and accurate information about counseling is recommended to improve students’ willingness to seek counseling.