Exploring the Lived Meaning of Mental Health Counseling Among Adolescents in School-Based Programs

Abstract

Adolescent mental health has become a growing concern in health education, especially within school-based contexts where counseling services aim to provide early psychological support. While these programs are increasingly widespread, limited research has explored how adolescents subjectively experience and interpret their participation in such interventions. Despite the expansion of mental health services in schools, little is known about how adolescents make sense of their emotional engagement with counseling programs, particularly within culturally sensitive settings. This study addresses this gap by asking: How do adolescents perceive and assign meaning to their experiences in school-based community mental health counseling? Using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach, this study explores the lived experiences of adolescents who participated in counseling programs within Indonesian public secondary schools, specifically in three urban state junior high schools located in Yogyakarta Province, Central Java. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with twelve adolescents and analyzed thematically following the IPA framework. The findings revealed five central themes: initial silence and stigma, emotional safety, self-discovery through dialogue, peer influence, and emerging emotional resilience. These themes reflect adolescents’ efforts to navigate internal vulnerability and social expectations while reconstructing their sense of self within therapeutic encounters. The results deepen our understanding of adolescent help-seeking by emphasizing the meaning-making process rather than merely evaluating counseling outcomes. This study contributes to the development of more empathetic and culturally attuned school-based mental health practices and offers a foundation for further research on narrative-based and context-sensitive interventions.