The idea of Self in young adults with psychological difficulties and uncertainty in the phase of the psychosocial transition to the university context: a study with Self Characterization Analysis technique in a Counselling workshop

The entry of students into the university world coincides with what, in the literature, is called “psycho-social transitions”, described not rarely, in the psychological field, as stressful and uncertain events, to the point of making the person more psychologically vulnerable. To evaluate the transition process, we used the mixed quantitative–qualitative method in the pre/post-intervention modalities of a counseling workshop in which six students (mean age=22.83, SD=1.47) who requested psychological support from the University Counselling Centre participated. The Symptom Check-List-90-R and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were used to assess the psychopathological framework, while self-characterization was used to investigate the constructs of the self. In summary, the results indicate a significant improvement in the psychopathological symptoms and self-esteem of most subjects after the intervention, as evidenced by the decrease in scores on the three global indices assessed by the SCL-90 R (Global Severity Index—GSI; Positive Symptom Distress Index—PSDI; Positive Symptom Total—PST) and the increased scores in the Rosenberg test. Empowering one’s interpersonal resources means being able to adopt a new perspective by nurturing a greater sense of self-efficacy, from “I am as I think others see me” to “I am in relation to my feelings, others, my history, my projects”, which highlights a different way of constructing the “Self-Image”.