Exploring the Effectiveness of Counseling Intervention on Sedative Drug Addiction at Penjara Kajang

The COVID-19 pandemic which strike Malaysia and worldwide is a nightmare for most individuals. It brought various implications that in turn change the pattern of human's life. There are some individuals who fail to adapt causing them to experience emotional disturbances that contribute to mental health problems. It also contributes to various social problems including drug abuse, domestic violence, divorce and others. Hence, this study was conducted to identify the causes and effects of sedative drug abuse as well as to examine the level of effectiveness of counseling interventions and coping strategies in solving this problem. This study was conducted qualitatively involving interview sessions and individual counseling sessions to one of the detainees in Kajang Prison who was involved in sedative drug abuse. The implementation of counseling sessions through Motivational Interviewing (MI) approach and Reality Therapy were conducted. The use of Motivational Interviewing in the initial session is seen to be effective in increasing client motivation. While the use of reality theory is seen to help clients in making decisions, plan and taking action. In conclusion, the right and proper counselling approach can help clients in the issue of drug addiction as well as the selection of coping strategies in dealing with the problems faced