GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING
Dr. Santhosh Areekkuzhiyil
Asst. Professor,
Govt. College of teacher Education, Thalassery, Kerala
9447847053 santhoshclt@gmail.com
Teachers as helping professionals have to come across many situations which demand guidance and counselling help from them. Students require counselling and guidance. Now a day the guidance and counselling is an integral part of teaching. In this lesson we will discuss meaning, types and importance of guidance and counselling.
GUIDANCE
Guidance is a personalised assistance made readily available by a sympathetic, mature, experienced and personally qualified person to a needy person. A variety of definitions are available for guidance.
“Guidance is a process of helping individual’s through his own efforts to discover and develop their potentialities for personal happiness and social usefulness” -Moris
“Guidance as kinds of help given by one person to another in developing ability, making adjustments and problems that confront him in attainment of his goals” - Jones
Guidance is an ‘umbrella term’ involving several functions such as publications, information, institutions, testing, counselling services, etc. Guidance is not carrying others burden, but enabling them to carry their burden themselves.
Types of Guidance
1. Educational Guidance
Educational guidance is aimed to help students to solve their problems related to education at different levels of education – from primary to university. Good C. V in his “Dictionary of education” regards educational guidance as ‘guidance concerned principally with matters relating to schools, courses, curricular and school life, rather than vocational social or personal matter”. Its functions are to help the students to:
a. Selection of course.
b. Adjustment with the institution and course.
c. Ensuring achievement in the course.
2. Vocational Guidance
Vocational guidance is the process of helping the individual to choose an occupation that fits him best. The General Conference of International Labour (GCILO) defines it as “Assistance given to an individual in solving problems related to occupational choice and progress with due regard for the individual’s characteristics and the relations to occupational opportunity.” Its functions are to help the students:
a. To select a career
b. To adjust with the career
c. To enhance and fulfil his potentiality in the career.
3. Personal Guidance
Personal guidance refers to the guidance to students to enable them to adjust themselves to their environment so that they become efficient citizens. Its functions are to help in solving:
a. Personal problems
b. Familial problems.
c. Occupational problems
d. Problems in attaining fulfilment and success.
Steps in the Organisation of Guidance Programme
- Formulation of a guidance committee.
- Organisation of the guidance bureau.
Guidance bureau organises the following programmes.
a. Career Corner – availed periodicals, employment news and bulletins.
b. Career Talks – on teaching, banking, Indian defence services, Indian administrative forces, etc.
c. Career Conference – supplementing information. A number of successful persons explains the vocations in which they work and answer questions about their job. Occupational orientation covers the following points.
i. Nature and importance of work.
ii. Conditions of work.
iii. Minimum qualification necessary for receiving training.
iv. Different aspects of training.
d. Placement programme – provide help to secure a grade, a place or a job.
e. Testing programme – administration of tests or assessing traits and aptitude of peoples.
f. Film show – arranged to give educational and vocational informations.
g. Visits – visit to institutions relevant to occupational choices.
h. Exhibitions – organised to disseminate information regarding modern courses and occupation.
i. Diagnostic programmes – for identifying physical disabilities, mental ill health and mal adjustment
j. Guidance service centres – like – employment guidance bureaus.
- Employment news bulletins, Career guidance academics and institutions.
COUNSELLING
Counselling is a process of enabling the individual to know himself and his present and possible future situations in order that he may make substantial contributions to the society and to solve his own problems through a face to face personal relationship with the counsellor.
“Counselling is a unique relationship in which the counsellors’ job is to hold up a mirror for the client to see himself or herself in. we all have experiences in which we can’t see things about ourselves without a mirror.’’
Counselling is a process by which a troubled person (the client) is helped to feel and behave in a more personally satisfying manner through interaction with an uninvolved person (the counsellor) who provides information and reactions. These stimulate the client to develop behaviours which enable him to deal more effectively with himself & his environment. A theoretical definition of counselling, widely accepted by the educators and counsellors is given by Carl Rogers. According to him, “counselling is a series of direct contacts with the individual which aims to offer him assistance in changing the attitudes and behaviour”.
Other popular definitions regarding counselling are as follows:-
Ruth Strang – “It is a face to face relationship in which growth takes place in the counsellor as well as the counselee”
Webster’s Dictionary – “Counselling is “Consultation, mutual interchange of opinions deliberating together”.
Smith (1955) defines counselling as “a process in which the counsellor assists the counselee to make interpretations of facts relating to a choice, plan or adjustments which he needs to make”
Counselling also has been defined by Hahn and MacLean as “a process which takes place in a one-to-one relationship between an individual beset by problems with which he cannot cope alone and a professional worker whose training and experience have qualified him to help others reach solutions to various types of personal difficulties”.
Pepinsky and Pepinsky (1954) state that counselling is that interaction which (1) occurs between two individuals called counsellor and client, (2) takes place in a professional setting, and (3) is initiated and maintained to facilitate changes in the behaviour of a client.
Patterson (1959) characterizes it as “the process involving interpersonal relationships between a therapist and one or more clients by which the former employs psychological methods based on systematic knowledge of the human personality in attempting to improve the mental health of the latter”.
Blocher (1966) explains it as “helping an individual become aware of himself and the ways in which he is reacting to the behavioural influences of his environment. It further helps him to establish some personal meaning for this behaviour and to develop and clarify a set of goals and values for future behaviour”.
Chief Goals of counselling
Emotions play and significant role in determining the goals and direction of human activities. The goods qualities latent in and individual can be fully realized only if he harmonizes all his reactions with his logical insight, by utilizing all his innate capacities.
The following are the significant goals of the counselling
1. To give individual information on important matters leading to his success.
2. To gather relevant information about the person and to make him aware of this with a view to help him solve his problems.
3. To help the individual to plan appropriate steps and work these out for shoving his problems and difficulties.
4. To assist the person knows himself better – his interests, abilities, aptitudes and opportunities.
5. To encourage and develop special abilities and right attitudes.
6. To inspire successful endeavour toward attainment.
Thus, the goal of counselling is problem clarification and self directed needs. The counselling officer helps the person to understand the problems and helps the individual to assist himself. The role of the individual is objective self – assessment of the situation and the role of counselling officer is to formulate the decision making process and to act as the stimulator of insights and sensitivities of the person. Counselling does not solve the problems but only helps in solving it. If solution is not possible it helps face challenges and to live with them.
Scope of Counselling
Ø Intended to help the individual to realize his potentialities.
Ø It helps the persons to solve his problems.
Ø It provides assistance to teachers.
Ø Aimed at enabling students to acquire abilities, which promote self-direction and self-realisation.
Ø It is a centred round the needs and aspirator of students.
The main approaches in counselling
There are mainly three types of counselling they are Directive counselling, Non Directive counselling and Electric Counselling.
1. Directive or prescriptive or Counsellor –cantered counselling.
E.G Williamson is the chief exponent of this viewpoint. Such type of counselling involves six essential steps.
1. Analysis: Collecting from a variety of sources the data needed for an adequate understanding of the student.
2. Synthesis: Summarizing and organizing the data so that they reveal the student’s assets, liabilities, adjustments and maladjustments.
3. Diagnosis: Formulating conclusions regarding the nature and the cause of the problems exhibited by the student.
4. Prognosis: Predicting the future development of the students’ problems.
5. Counselling: The counsellors taking steps with the student to recurrence of the original problem and determining the effectiveness of the counselling provided to him.
6. Follow-up: Helping the student with new problems or with recurrence of the original problem and determining the effectiveness of the counselling provided to him.
Here the counsellor plays the major role he does that entire he can to get the counselee to make a decision in keeping with his diagnosis. He tries to direct the thinking of the counselee by informing, explaining, interpreting and advising.
A considerable use of interpretations and direction by the counsellor has led to this type of counselling being described as directive or counsellor centred or active approach technique.
2. Non-directive or permissive or client-centred counselling
In this type of counselling, it is the client – the counselee – who is the pivot. Carl R Rogers is the chief exponent of this viewpoint. The client takes an active part in the process of therapy. He gains insight into his problem with the help of the counsellor. It is he who takes decisions as to the action to be taken. The counsellor’s role is passive. This type of counselling is a growth experience. The goal is the independence and integration of the client rather than the solution of a particular problem. The principal function of the counsellor is not to cultivate self-understanding in the client but instead, to create an atmosphere in which the client can work out his own understanding. The emotional elements or the feeling aspects are stressed rather than the intellectual aspects and the counselling leads to a voluntary choice of action.
3. Eclectic counselling
Eclectic counselling is defined as the synthesis and combination of directive and non directive counselling. F.C Thorne, is the chief exponent of this view. In electric counselling, the counsellor is neither too active as in the directive counselling, nor too passive as n the non-directive counselling. He follows a middle path between these two extremes. The process of eclectic counselling proceeds somewhat along the following lines:
1. Counselling may be preceded by an intake interview.
2. During the opening phase of counselling, the counsellor tries to establish rapport and may have to do structuring so that the client understands what to expect of counselling.
3. Often a tentative diagnosis is made which may include the collection of a case history and a plan for counselling is formulated.
4. To enhance the client’s self-understanding, information, about him and his background may be gathered from various sources. The client needs to be helped to assimilate this information.
5. Educational, occupational and social information, if needed by the client, may be supplied to him.
6. The client achieves emotional release and insights.
7. During the closing phase, the client makes decisions and plans, modifies behaviour, and solves his problems.
8. There may be follow up contacts, if needed.
4. Group Counselling
It is an empowerment of person in formal group situations with the leadership of trained facilitator. Here problems are of more on subconscious and unconscious level of the mind. Group counselling has the advantage of having feed backs by participants and less resistance from the clients as feed backs are given by co-participants.
Educational Counselling
Educational counselling has emerged as a discipline to provide help to students on campuses of schools, colleges and universities, such that they are not tormented by their internal conflicts, do not become cynical and do not resort to self-destructive strategies. Counselling in schools has the ultimate goal of making every individual pupil a responsible individual. The educational counselling is often considered as a philosophy a function, a role and an activity, as a philosophy, counselling, in the educational context, is a process by which educational experiences are related to students’ experiences. As a function counselling is a set of responsibilities that the institution should legitimately perform, as a role, counselling should be viewed as the institutions responsibility to provide services to the students. As an activity, counselling comprises a variety of functions that different persons with counselling roles perform for students which are consistent with the philosophy, the function and the role. A student’s function is to study and to obtain good results; otherwise, he has failed his role expectation. The school has the responsibility of determining why this has happened, so that the counsellor can help the student reach his expected level of performance.
Need and Significance of Counselling in the Present Scenario
Modern age is noted for the mobility of its population. The sense of security and the atmosphere of love and affection experienced in ideal family, life are lacking in many modern families.
The need of counselling is felt today in different dimensions of man’s life. The complexities of modern life and stress and struggles felt by man living amidst the challenges of today call for help from others. Technological changes have made and major impact on people’s life and work. Industrialization has resulted in social and vocational mobility. Rapid progress in communication media, fast changing systems, impacts on cultural systems, consumerist value systems etc. have affected many of man’s traditional supportive systems and resulted in causing tensions to man’s day today life. This demands the help of people who can provide methods and techniques of tension reduction and balancing of life. For, people are in need of help and these helping people can help through meaningful relationships and therapeutic interactions. The help given should be adequate and the people who provide help should be qualified. This help is basically given today by Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Ø Conflict in social and moral values.
Ø Modernisation and globalisation.
Ø Modern age is noted for the mobility of its population.
Ø The old joint family system to modern nuclear families.
Ø Isolated parents.
Ø Broken family.
Ø Increasing divorce.
Ø Alcoholic problems.
Ø Sex abuse.
Ø Marital problems.
Ø Increasing suicide tendency.
Ø Influence of media
Ø Lack of healthy relationship among (teacher-pupil, family members, friends, peer groups, working place)
Ø Lack of proper education.
All these problems give us the awareness of the need of counselling in present scenario. As seen above the challenges due to change in the mind process and life style has become uncontrollable and amazing, which is even able to destroy the peace and tranquillity of mankind. Counselling has been defined as an empowerment of a person to face his reality in life. The field of counselling psychology has developed skills and techniques which makes the person capable of tackling the changes.
SUMMARY
· The various approaches to personality are: behavioural approach, cultural approach, type approach, trait approach.
· Freud devide the psyche into three as the id, ego and superego
· Freud saw the libido as general life energy, generated by the id, sexual in origin, but expressed in many different ways.
· Various defense mechanisms are: denial, rationalization, intellectualization, projection, reaction formation, sublimation, regression, fantasy, identification etc
· Jung distinguished between two types of unconscious mind: the personal unconscious and collective unconscious
· Jung proposed personality typology.
· Adler believed everybody has feelings of inferiority at times; this is a universal part of human experience.
· Allport believes that traits are essentially unique to each individual.
· Maslow classified and arranged human need called hierarchy of needs.
· The various need according to Maslow are: physiological needs, safety and security needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs and Self-actualization needs.
· The entire personality theory of Rogers is built on a single “force of life” calls the actualizing tendency.
· According to Rogers a fully function person have the qualities of openness to experience, existential living, organismic trusting, experiential freedom, and creativity.
· A formal effort aimed at understanding personality of an individual is termed as personality assessment.
· The most commonly used techniques for personality assessment are Psychometric Tests, Self-Report Measures, Projective Techniques, and Behavioural Analysis.
· The World Health Organization defines mental health as ""a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.”
· Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional, and behavioral components.
· Conflict is actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests. A conflict can be internal (within oneself) or external (between two or more individuals).
· Frustration is an emotional response to circumstances where one is obstructed from arriving at a personal goal.
· Hans Selye, the father of modern stress research, defined stress as “the nonspecific response of the body to any demand” that is, regardless of the cause of the threat, the individual will respond with the same physiological pattern of reactions.
· Burnout is a psychological term for the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest.
· Guidance is a personalised assistance made readily available by a sympathetic, mature, experienced and personally qualified person to a needy person.
· Counselling is a process by which a troubled person (the client) is helped to feel and behave in a more personally satisfying manner through interaction with an uninvolved person (the counsellor) who provides information and reactions.
· Different types of counselling are: Directive, Non-directive, eclectic and group counselling.
