Abstract

This study aims to develop a group counseling program that promotes female North Korean defectors' adaptation to South Korean society by enhancing their communicative competence and verifying its effectiveness. To this end, the program was developed in four modules: communicative attitudes, communicative knowledge, communicative skills and communicative awareness by applying Motivational Interviewing and Social Skills Training according to the program development procedure proposed by Kim et al (2022). The purpose of the attitude module is to improve openness and motivation to communicate with South Koreans, and the purpose of the knowledge module is to understand the language, lifestyle, and communicative differences in South Korean society. The goal of the skills module is to learn how to communicate to build meaningful relationships in South Korean life, and the goal of the awareness module is to develop critical thinking about relationships by understanding oneself and others. As a result of the 16 sessions of the program, 50 minutes per session, over two days, for 10 Female North Korean defectors, the results showed an increase in communicative knowledge, skills, and awareness, although not statistically significant, and a significant increase in interaction management among the sub-factors of the Interpersonal Competence Scale, compared to before the program. Participants also reported that the program helped them to increase their confidence, recognize the need for change, understand communication culture differences, empathize with others, learn new content, and identify communication habits. Based on these findings, implications for the practice of group counseling for female North Korean defectors and suggestions for further research were discussed.