Counseling Tranformation to Face Sosial Media Trends on Student Identity and Mental Health in Digital Era

Abstract

Counseling transformation becomes very important in facing social media trends that have a major impact on the formation of identity and mental health of students in the digital era. Social media is not only a platform for social interaction, but also a space where students build and maintain their digital identities, which are often a combination of authentic and idealized self- images. The process of forming this digital identity takes place through the phases of exploration, niche discovery, audience targeting, to the integration of complex and dynamic digital identities. However, continuous exposure to social media also causes psychological pressure, such as anxiety, stress, and feelings of inadequacy due to social comparison and the need to maintain a positive image in cyberspace. Transformational counseling is present as an approach that integrates a deep understanding of the dynamics of social media with the psychological needs of students, helping them develop a healthy and authentic self-identity and build effective emotional adaptation skills. This approach also emphasizes the importance of self-reflection, digital reputation management, and strengthening positive values so that students are able to face psychological challenges in the digital era more resiliently. Recent studies have shown that counseling that is responsive to the digital context can improve students' mental well-being by reducing social pressure and increasing self-confidence and coping skills. Therefore, the transformation of counseling services that adopt digital technology and value-based approaches is very necessary to support the development of students' identity and mental health holistically in the era of social media.