The Emotional Regulation through Push Button Pathway (ER-PBP)Technique: An Adlerian Therapy Approach for Fatherless Adolescents (Abibliometric Analysis)

Abstract

The phenomenon of fatherlessness or the absence of a father figure is becoming a
growing socio-psychological issue in Indonesia and impacts the emotional development of
adolescents. Field data shows that approximately 20.9% of Indonesian children grow up
without the active presence of a father, and only 37.17% of early childhood children are cared
for by both biological parents. This condition is correlated with increased emotional
disturbances, impulsive behavior, and low self-control due to weak emotional regulation
abilities. Based on Alfred Adler's Individual Psychology theory, the loss of a father figure can
strengthen inferiority feelings and weaken social interest, two important aspects in the
formation of psychological well-being. This study aims to develop a conceptual model of
Emotional Regulation through Push Button Pathway (ER-PBP) as an integration of Push Button
Technique in Adlerian Therapy to strengthen the emotional regulation abilities of adolescents
without a father figure. The study uses bibliometric analysis with the PRISMA (Preferred
Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) approach to explore research
trends on Adlerian Therapy, Push Button Technique, and emotional regulation. Data were
collected from Scopus and Google Scholar databases, resulting in 98 selected articles from 350
initial documents, which were analyzed using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny (R-Bibliometrix). The
results indicate the existence of three main clusters in this study: 1) Adlerian Therapy with the
theme of counseling and encouragement, 2) Fatherless Adolescents with a focus on emotion
regulation and social interest, and 3) Push Button Technique with components of imagination
recall and cognitive control. Concept mapping shows a strong link between Adlerian therapy
and emotion regulation strategies through the mechanisms of perceptual recall, cognitive
shift, and emotional reframing. This study provides theoretical contributions by expanding the
understanding of emotion regulation from an Adlerian perspective, as well as practical

contributions in designing a contextual counseling model based on Indonesian culture. The ER-
PBP model has the potential to be applied by school counselors and psychologists to improve

the emotional resilience and social interest of fatherless adolescents in Indonesia.