UNIT 1

Guidance
Guidance focuses on helping people make important choices that affect their lives. It
focuses on the decision making process- often plays an important role in counselling

DISTINCTION (Guidance vs Counselling) -

Guidance helps people choose what they value most- whereas counselling helps them
make the changes.
Mostly, schools and colleges, for students to find a career and so. Relationships were
unequals, and were beneficial to the less experienced person finding direction in life. Anyone in
any stage of life would need guidance Guidance only one part of the over all services provided
by professional counselling

Counselling meaning - Pepinsky and Pepinsky (1954)

Counselling is that interaction which
1. Occurs between two individuals - counsellor and client
2. Takes place in a professional setting
3. Is initiated and maintained to facilitate changes in the behaviour of a client

Rogers (1961) defines the helping relationship as one “in which at least one of the parties has the
intent of promoting the growth, the development, maturity, improved functioning, and improved
coping with life of the other”.

Defining Counselling: (Gladding)

Counselling deals with wellness, personal growth, career, education and empowerment
concerns. Counselling is conducted with persons individually, in groups and in families.
Counselling is diverse and multicultural. Counselling is a dynamic process.

Differences between guidance and counselling

GUIDANCE COUNSELLING

Broader and comprehensive In depth and narrow

More external, helps a person understand Helps people understand themselves and is an
alternative solutions available to them and inward analysis. Alternative solutions are
makes them understand their personality and proposed to help understand the problem at
choose the right solution hand.

Mainly preventive and developmental Remedial as well as preventive and

developmental

According to American Counselling Association (2010)

“Counselling is a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families and
groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education and career goals.”

Goals:
1) To reduce the emotional distress of the client,
2) To reduce the dysfunctional behaviours of the client,
3) To promote better adaptation of the client to his environment, and to develop his
potential, develop social skills.
4) To assist the client in making important personal decisions It is concerned with
bringing voluntary change to the client.

The goals of counselling are to help individuals overcome their immediate problems and also
equip them to meet future problems. Counselling is to be meaningful, has to be specific for each
client, since it involves her/his unique problems and expectations. The goal of counselling may
be described as immediate, long range and process goals. The immediate goal is to obtain relief
for the client and the long range goal is to enhance the adaptability of the client.
 Counselling goals may be classified in terms of counsellor goals and client goals of therapy.

These may be further classified as follows.

Developmental goals: are those where in the client is associated in meeting or advancing her or
his anticipated human growth and development.
Preventive goals: are those in which the counsellor helps the client avoid some undesired
outcome.
Enhancement goals: If the client possesses special skills and abilities, enhancement means, they
can be identified and/or further developed through the assistance of a counsellor. Remedial goals:
involves assisting a client to overcome and/or treat an undesirable development.
Exploratory goals: represents goals appropriate to the examining of options, testing of skills,
and trying new and different activities, environments, relationships and so on.
Reinforcement goals: are those used in the instances where clients need help in recognizing that
what they are doing, thinking and feeling is okay.
Cognitive goals: are those which involve the acquisition of the basic foundations of learning and
cognitive skills.
Physiological goals: are those which include acquiring the basic understanding and habits for
good health.
Psychological goals: aids in developing good social interaction skills, learning emotional
control, developing a positive self-concept and so on.

All these goals will lead to the ultimate goals, which are discussed following.

1. Achievement of positive mental health: The individual will learn to adjust and respond more
positively to people and situations, to prevent the emotional tension, anxieties, indecision etc.
and thereby to lead to positive feelings and warmth.
2.Resolution of the problems: The individual will learn to alter maladaptive behaviour, to make
good decisions and to prevent problems.
3. Improving personal effectiveness: The individual will be able to commit himself to projects,
investigating time and energy and to take appropriate economic, psychological and physical risk.
4.Change: The individual will understand the mechanism of change, and be able to freely
choose and act within the conditions impressed by the environment. The effectiveness of the
individual responses evolved by the environment shall be enhanced.
5.Decision making: The individual will be able to make clear cut decisions that foster personal
growth. 6. Modification of behaviour: The client will be able to remove undesirable behaviour or
action, or to reduce an irritating function that hinders personal growth

Conclusion

Being social beings we require help from other members of the society in one way or the
other. This guidance can be of many different types. Counselling is a form of guidance where
another person (counsellor) guides a person. The counsellor should have good qualities which
would encourage the counselee. Thus the ultimate aim of counselling is to empower the
individual so that he solve his present problems and give him the means to deal with future
matters thus making him a strong and self-reliant person.

Need for Guidance & Counselling

Guidance is needed wherever there are problems. The need and importance of guidance are
as follows.
● Self understanding and self direction: Guidance helps in understanding one„s strength,
limitations and other resources. Guidance helps individual to develop ability to solve
problems and take decisions.
● Optimum development of individual
● Solving different problem of the individual
● Academic growth and development
● Vocational maturity, vocational choices and vocational adjustments
● Social personal adjustment
● Better family life
● Good citizenship
● For conservation and proper utilization of human resources
● For national development
The need for guidance and counselling for students emerges from the changes taking place in
every sphere of life. Academic stress, poor academic performance, cut-throat competition,
vast and varied educational and career opportunities and resulting confusion in making career
choice, ever growing, changing and complex world of work, drop-out, suicide, anger,
violence, drug abuse, child abuse, sex abuse, HIV/AIDs, crime, changes in lifestyle, divorced
/ single parents etc. are some of the concerns which require support of guidance and
counselling services to school students. Helpline for students by various organizations like
CBSE, few State level guidance agencies, NGOs etc. and popularity of these helplines point
towards the need and significance of guidance and counselling requirement for the school
system.

Like guidance, counselling has also three fold functions adjust mental, oriental and
Developmental.

Functions of counselling

Adjustmental Functions:
Rapid social change brought about by industrialization and urbanization has led to several
perplexing problems. The pace of this change is ever on the increase, thus making adjustment
a continuous process of grappling way with new situations. Counselling helps the student in
making the best possible adjustment to the current situations be it in educational institution,
occupational world, in the home & in the community. Professional and individualized aid is
given in making immediate & suitable adjustment at problem points.
Oriental function:
Oriental function means to orient the person about his environmental constraints & resources
and her personal constraints & resources by giving information and awareness in problems of
career planning, educational programming etc.
Awareness of the need to plan in the context of the complexity of the world of work is an
essential pre-requisite of going through education and preparation for after education. So
oriental function is the important function in the counselling process. It is a link between
adjustment and development function. If the person is properly oriented, he can develop his
plan properly & adjust suitable with himself and society.
Developmental function:
Developmental function means not only to help the students having problems but also to help
the students before the problems arise. For example, we are giving vaccination to the child as
a preventive measure. Even then when the child suffers from a particular disease we take the
help of special doctor to cure it. So both the processes are coming under health development.
Likewise in the counselling process the function of counselling is to prevent emergence &
maladjustment and cure the person having maladjustment to adjust with the problem
situation. Therefore the development function helps in.
● Self-development
● Self-realization
● Development of society and
● National development
So we can say that counselling has not only it„s functions towards the individual but to the
society & nation also.
To address the developmental needs and concerns of students at different stages of schooling,
a professionally trained person, a counsellor or a teacher-counsellor is required to work
within and with the system. The purpose of guidance and counselling services is to help each
student develop as an individual in his/her own right, make choices and set goals on the basis
of his/her strengths. By attending to the special needs and requirements of students belonging
to different social, economic and cultural backgrounds, guidance and counselling helps
students engage in the educational process and, thereby, benefit from the curricular
experiences. Guidance and counselling not only helps students to develop an understanding
of one self and of others, it also supports students to deal with their personal- social,
academic and career related concerns.

It facilitates development of effective study habits, motivation, identifying learning or

subject related problems, helping students to see the relevance of school years in life and for
future, developing skills, right attitude and interests to help making a choice in career etc.
Guidance and counselling, thus, promotes holistic development of every student. This
signifies the need for every teacher to become a „guidance minded‟ teacher and carry out
his/her functions with guidance aim.

Scope of Guidance

The scope of guidance is all pervading. Its scope is very vast in the light of modernisation and
industrialisation and is ever increasing. As the life is getting complex day by day, the problems
for which expert help is needed are rapidly increasing. The scope of guidance is extending
horizontally to much of the social context, to matters of prestige in occupations, to the broad
field of social trends and economic development. Crow and Crow have rightly quoted,” As now
interpreted, guidance touches every aspect of an individual’s personality-physical, mental,
emotional and social. It is concerned with all aspects of an individual’s attitudes and behaviour
patterns. It seeks to help the individual to integrate all of his activities in terms of his basic
potentialities and environmental opportunities.”

Kothari Commission has stressed the need of guidance services in the schools. Regarding scope
of guidance, commission was of the view. “Guidance services have a much wider scope and
function than merely that of assisting students in making educational and vocational choices. The
aims of guidance are both adjustive and developmental, it helps the student in making the best
possible adjustments to the situations in the educational institutions and in the home. Guidance,
therefore, should be regarded as an integral part of education.”

The scope of guidance has been increasing with the advancement of science and technology,
embracing all spheres of life and providing facilities for it. Therefore, it will be difficult to put a
fence around it. While discussing the scope of guidance we may think of some specific or
specialised areas of guidance. Even though the guidance programme is addressed to the whole
individuals treated as an integral unit. It is possible to classify an individual’s problems broadly
into educational, vocational and personal.
(1) Educational Guidance: It is a process concerned with bringing about a favourable setting
for the individual’s education and includes the assistance in the choice of subjects, use of
libraries, laboratories. workshops, development of effective study habits, evaluation techniques
and adjustment of school life with other activities :
(2) Vocational Guidance: It is the assistance rendered in meeting the problems :
(i) relating to the choice of vocation (ii) preparing for it (iii) entering the job, and
(iv) achieving adjustment to it.
It also aims-at helping individuals in the following specific areas :
(a) making individuals familiar with the world of work and with its diverse requirements
and, (b) to place at the disposal of the individual all possible aids in making correct appraisal of
his strength and weaknesses in relation to the job requirements offered by his environment.
(3) Personal Guidance:
Personal guidance deals with the problems of personal adjustment in different spheres of life.
Mainly it works for the individuals adjustment to his social and emotional problems. Jones has
put the following aims of personal guidance :
(i) to assist the individual gradually to develop his life goals that are socially desirable and
individually satisfying.
(ii) to help him to plan his life so that these goals may be attained.
(iii) to help him grow consistently in ability to adjust himself creatively to his developing life
goals.
(iv) to assist the individual to grow consistently in ability to live with others so effectively that he
may promote their development and his own worthy purposes.
(v) to help him grow in self-directive ability. Thus the goal of personal guidance is self-directive
and self realisation.
This three-fold division of guidance illustrating its scope should not be taken to form watertight
compartments, but it is more a matter of practical convenience for making the concept clearer.
There is no real difference among the problems to which the different types of guidance services
are addressed. Mathewson while discussing the focus and scope of guidance programme has very
aptly stated that the focus of guidance is improving the capability of the individuals to
understand and deal with self-situational relations in the light of social and moral values. The
scope of guidance operation in school is to deal with : — personal and social relations of the
individual in school. — relation of the individual to the school curriculum, and — relation of the
individual to the educational and vocational requirements and opportunities.

Goals of Guidance
The aims of guidance are the same as those of education in a democratic society like ours. Just
like education, guidance services are also based on the principle that the individual is of crucial
importance in an educational institution.
The aims of guidance lend emphasis and strength to the educational programme and make it
more dynamic, Specifically the aims of guidance may be laid as follows from the individuals
point of view :
1. To help the individual, by his own efforts as far as possible to realise his potentialities and to
make his maximum contribution to the society.
2. To help the individual to meet and solve his own problems and make proper choice and
adjustment.
3. To help the individual to lay a permanent foundation for sound and mature adjustment
4. To help the individual to live a well-balanced life in all aspects-physical, mental, emotional
and social.
5. Providing the psychological support
6. Adjustment and resourse provision
7. Problem solving and decision making
8. Improving personal effectiveness
9. Insight and understanding
10. Self actualization
11. Achievement of positive mental health
From the point of view of the institution the aims of guidance can be stated as follows:
(i) The guidance programme should encourage and stimulate teachers towards better teaching.
(ii) The programme should aim at providing assistance to teachers in their efforts to understand
their students.
(iii) It should provide teachers with systematic technical assistance and in-service training
activities.
(iv) It should contribute to the mutual adjustment of children and school.
(v) It should provide for referral of students by teachers.

The Kothari Education Commission (1964-66) has given the following aims of guidance at the
secondary school stage: 1. Guidance services are designed to bring about required adjustment in
any direction/area/ aspect of the individual’s personality. The individual must come out as a
unity. 2. The individual should be so assisted that he is able to unfold himself and develop in his
own unique way affecting desired adjustment in his personal and social aspirations. He must
tackle his problems in his own characteristics fashion. Main concern of guidance is the optimum
enrichment of an individual. It must deal with the whole, person and is the totality of
experiences. As every individual is a unity, a person within himself, guidance will do well to
attend to his personal and unique reactions to be scientific, meaningful, relevant, and worthwhile.
It must take stock of individual differences and have independent schedules in conformity with
each individual under observation or appraisal.

Emergence of Guidance and Counselling in India.

Historical Context:

● Pre-Independence Era: The traditional Indian education system focused

primarily on imparting knowledge. There was limited emphasis on individualized
guidance and counseling.
● Post-Independence Period: With the establishment of a democratic and welfare
state, the need for personalized support in education and career planning became
more apparent.

Educational Reforms:

● 1960s-1980s: The introduction of various educational commissions, such as the Kothari

Commission (1964-66), emphasized the need for educational and vocational guidance to
address the diverse needs of students.
● National Policy on Education (1986): This policy recognized the importance of
guidance and counseling services to enhance the quality of education and help students
make informed choices.

National Policy on Education (1986)

 ● Significant Shift: The National Policy on Education (NPE) of 1986 marked a
significant shift in the approach to education in India.
● Guidance and Counseling as Integral Components: The policy recognized the need for
guidance and counseling as integral components of the education system to address the
diverse needs of students.

Global Influences:
Adoption of Western Models: The recognition of guidance and counseling as an essential
component of education was influenced by Western educational systems where counseling
services were well-established.

Integration into Educational Institutions:

Late 20th Century Onward: Guidance and counseling services started becoming integral parts
of schools, colleges, and universities in India.
UGC Guidelines: The University Grants Commission (UGC) provided guidelines for the
establishment of counseling centers in higher education institutions.
Government Initiatives:
National Career Service (NCS): Launched by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, NCS
provides a variety of employment and career-related services to the youth, including counseling.
Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA): A government initiative focusing on the
holistic development of higher education, RUSA also supports the establishment of counseling
centers in universities.
Changing Socio-Economic Landscape:
Globalization and Technological Advances: The changing economic landscape and the
globalization of job markets have increased the importance of career guidance and counseling to
help individuals navigate a wide range of career options.
Awareness and Recognition:
Increased Awareness: Growing awareness about mental health issues and the need for
emotional support has contributed to the recognition of counseling services.
Professionalization of Counseling: The emergence of professional counseling organizations
and the development of counseling as a recognized profession have furthered the field's growth.

4.2.4 Origin of Counselling Movement in India

The origin of the counseling movement in India should be naturally traced to the beginnings of
psychology in India. It was at the Mysore University in south India that the first Chair in
psychology was endowed. Perhaps less than a year or so before this, the Calcutta University
started a department of psychology with a lecturer as the in charge Head of the Department.

For more than two decades since then psychology did not make much of headway at the other
universities in India. During the mid 1940’s Patna University, started a department of
psychology, closely followed by one started at the Banaras Hindu University, the Lucknow
University and the others. However, much of the progress manifested in the opening of new
departments came about during the 1960’s. The various departments have since been preparing
students for post graduate degrees in psychology with its emphasis on experimental approach.

Alongside this movement applied psychology came to be established as an independent

department or section of the existing departments of psychology. The applied psychology section
of the Calcutta University was established in 1938 and the department of psychological services
at Patna University in 1945. However, counseling psychology or its forerunner, vocational
guidance did not figure as an important service at universities where psychology was offered.
First in Calcutta and later in Bombay, voluntary private agencies came to be established to
provide guidance on a modest scale. In Calcutta the guidance movement became associated with
David Hare training college. In Bombay, Batliboy and Mukherjee started, in 1941, a private
agency known as Batliboy Vocational Guidance Bureau. The founders of this bureau who came
from Calcutta had some years of experience since they worked at the Calcutta Bureau. The
Batliboy bureau ran for 6 years, after which it stopped functioning. However during this period it
rendered valuable service to the community. It successfully conducted for the first time, a short
term orientation course in guidance for teachers. This was the forerunner of all the later training
courses conducted for career masters at several places in India (Khorshed, 1963).

Counseling was recognised as an important service in India as early as 1938 when Acharya
Narendra Dev committee underlined the importance of counseling and guidance in education.
The guidance and counseling were considered to be new and emerging forces that were vitally
important to the education system. The same vigor was not seen in the 1980’sand 1990’s and
interest in guidance and counseling diminished. Evidence of this decline of interest was seen in
the number of research literature available for review. Despite all this, the recent past has seen a
significant increase in the demand for counseling services at the national level. Counseling was
also identified an essential service by the national framework curriculum in 2005 by the NCERT
((National Council for Educational Research and Training). The strongest attention for
counseling has arisen from the school sector. During its 2001 National conference, the CBSE
resolved that it would be mandatory for all its schools to have trained school counselors.

Training opportunities have become available over the past few years and range from full time
post graduate degree programs to certificates and diplomas. Post graduate degrees are offered by
a small number of university departments of psychology, education and social work. NCERT,
Government of India offers a post graduate diploma in guidance and counseling. Private
organisations offer post graduate diplomas and certificates in specific branches of counseling.
Certificate courses are available through distance education mode. In length these courses range
from short 12 day certificate and diploma courses to full time 2 year post graduate courses.
Students have the option of specialising in a specific client group. Some common specialisations
are marital therapy, counseling adolescents, career counseling, and educational counseling. The
better courses require students to obtain internship experiences in organisations that deliver
counseling services. In addition to facing a written examination, a common requirement is for
students to submit detailed case reports of a prescribed number of clients they have seen.

The nature and scope of counseling itself remains poorly articulated. At present there is no
licensing system for counselors as anyone can become a counselor and there is no system to
monitor the skills in a systematic manner.
A recent evaluation of the cultural sensitivity of existing curricula revealed that very little has
emerged in terms of Indian models of counseling (Arulmani, 2007). The attempt seems to have
been to adopt western concepts with little or no consideration for “discovering” new approaches
and validating them for the Indian situation. On a more positive note, an emerging trend is a
gradual move towards more varied approaches to counseling. Although these courses are few
and far between, they have suitable valuable training objectives to sensitize learners to the
possibilities and availability of alternate methods of healing with focus on indigenous and
culturally accepted and practiced therapeutic methods.

Access to counseling service is a matter of great concern. A survey by Arulmani & Nag, 2006,
conducted in 12 different Indian regions revealed that less than 10% of this sample has access to
any form of counseling. There is also a lack of clarity regarding the role of a counselor. Referrals
to counselors cover the entire gamut of mental needs, ranging from severe psychotic problems to
issues such as parenting concerns, childhood disorders, adolescent difficulties and reproductive
health (including HIV/AIDS issues). Marital discord, interpersonal problems, scholastic and
educational difficulties, stress mediated disorders, substance abuse, counseling for career
development, and questions about sexual orientation are other kinds of referrals a counselor
might receive.

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UNIT- 2 GIBSON BOOK Counseling Process

A. Relationship Establishment
As often stated in definitions, counseling is a relationship. Furthermore, it is defined as a
helping relationship. It therefore follows that if it is to be a relationship that is helpful, the
counselor must take the initiative in the initial interview to establish a climate conducive to
mutual respect, trust, free and open communication and understanding in general of what the
counseling process involves.
Although responsibility will later shift increasingly to the client, at this stage the
responsibility for the counseling process rests primarily with the counselor.
Among the techniques the counselor may use are those designed to relieve tensions and
open communication. Both the counselor's attitude and verbal communications are significant to
the development of a satisfactory relationship.
In the latter instance, all of the counselor's communication skills are brought into play.
These include attentive listening, understanding, and feeling with the client. Certainly, the quality
of counselor - client relationship will influence counseling outcomes.
Among the factors that are important in the establishment of this counselor-client
relationship are positive regard and respect, accurate empathy, and genuineness. These
conditions imply counselor openness: an ability to understand and feel with the client, as well as
a valumg of the client.
This counselor-client relationship serves not only to increase the opportunity for clients to
attain their goals but also to be a potential model of a good interpersonal relationship, one that
clients can use to improve the quality of their other relationships, outside the therapy setting.
 Counselors must keep in mind that the purpose of a counseling relationship is to meet
insofar as possible, client needs (not counselor needs). The counseling process within this
relationship seeks to assist the client in assuming the responsibilities for his or her problem and
its solution.
This will be facilitated by the counselor's communications skills, the ability to identify
and reflect clients' feelings, and the ability to identify and gain insights into the clients concerns
and needs.
Establishing a relationship with the client must be achieved early in the counseling
process, inasmuch as this will often determine whether or not the client will continue.

Counselor's Goals
• Establish-a comfortable and positive relationship.
• Explain the counseling process and mutual responsibilities to the client.
• Facilitate communications.
• Identify and verify the client's concerns that brought her or him to seek counseling
assistance.
• Plan, with the client, to obtain assessment data needed to proceed with the counseling
process.

Client's Goals
• Understand the counseling process and his or her responsibilities in this process.
• Share and amplify reasons for seeking counseling.
• Cooperate in the assessment of both the problem and self.

B. Problem
Once an adequate relationship has been established, clients will be more receptive to the
in depth discussion and exploration of their concerns. At this stage, clients must assume more
responsibility because it is their problem and, therefore, it is their responsibility to communicate
the details of the problem to the counselor and respond to any questions the counselor may have
in order to maximise counselor assistance.
During this phase, the counselor continues to exhibit attending behavior and may place
particular emphasis on communication skills such as paraphrasing, clarification, perception
checking or feedback. The counselor may question the client, they are stated in such a way as to
facilitate the continued exploration of the client’s concern.
Questions that would embarrass, challenge or threaten the client are avoided. The
counselor will recognise cultural differences and their implications in terms of how techniques
should be modified to be culturally appropriate.
Now the counselor seeks to differentiate between Surface Problems and those that are
Deeper and more Complex. The counselor also strives to determine whether the stated problem
is the concern that has brought the client to the counselor’s attention.
This may be a time for information gathering. The more usable information the counselor
had the greater are the prospects of accurate assessment of the client’s needs. It’s therefore
helpful for counselors to recognise the various areas of information that must be tapped.

Desired Information Types (Three dimensions of information)

 1. The Time Dimension includes the client's past experiences, especially those which he
or she may view as influencing experiences. The present dimension would cover how well the
person is functioning presently, especially those current experiences that may have influenced
the client to seek counseling. The future time dimension would include future hopes. plans,
goals, and how the client plans to achieve these.
2. The Feeling Dimension includes the emotions and feelings of the client towards
himself or herself, as well as significant others, including groups, attitudes, values, and
self-concept. All are a part of the feeling dimension.
3. The Cognitive Dimension includes how the client solves problems, the coping styles
that she or he employs. the rationality used in making daily decisions and the client's capacity
and readiness for learning.
At this point the counselor may use appraisal techniques such as standardized tests for
problem diagnosis. Subproblems of the problem may also be identified. During this stage, the
client not only explores experiences and behaviors but also may reveal feelings and the
relationship of concern to the way they’re living life in general.
The counselor is seeking to secure as much relevant data as possible and to integrate it all
into an overall picture of the client and their concern. The counselor also shares these perceptions
with the client.
Goals: a goal of this stage is for both the counselor and the client to perceive the problem
and its ramifications similarly. One of the counselor’s goals during this stage is to help the client
develop a self-understanding that recognizes the need for dealing with the need for change and
action.
This is a busy stage of the counseling process where much of the real work occurs,
especially when extensive exploration is needed. It continues to be important that facilitative
conditions continue to promote client understanding of action plans for resolving problems.
Although problem-solving activities are likely to be initiated during this stage, the major
steps in implementing the activities takes place in the 3rd stage.

Steps or Stages in Problem :

1. Define the problem. The counselor, with the cooperation of the client, is seeking to
describe or identify the problem as specifically and objectively as possible. It is important that
the counselor's and client's understanding of the problem are in harmony. In addition to the
accuracy desired in defining the problem, it is important to identify the components or
contributing factors and the severity of the problem to the client, its recency, and its longevity.

2. Explore the problem. The kinds of information needed to fully understand the
problem and its background are gathered at this point. When the kinds of needed information
have been identified, then the counselor and client must determine how this information can be
obtained and whose responsibility that will be, and they must establish timelines for gathering
them.
Within this context, decisions may be made regarding the administering, (or example, of
standardized psychological measures. To test or not to test is a decision in which the client must
have a major voice. Regardless of how desirable it may be to obtain data through the use of
standardized psychological measures, the effect on the client and his or her willingness to
participate fully in the counseling process may be threatened by this data-gathering technique. In
some situations, the counselor may wish to complete a detailed case.
 Obviously, this is a decision that will depend on the seriousness of the situation, the
amount of data needed, and the amount of time available to both counselor and client for this
purpose.
In many agency settings, intake interviews are used to gather basic information that is
deemed useful in most counseling situations. In this process, it is obviously important that the
counselor continue to employ facilitative behavior.

3. Integrate the information. It is important that all of the information collected be

systematically organized and integrated into a meaningful profile of the client and the client's
problem. Also, at this point, it would be appropriate to begin the exploration of changes that may
be needed and barriers that may exist to these changes.
The actual identification of possible solutions will be discussed in the next section. We
note that in brief therapy, this stage and all others. in the counseling process are condensed or
collapsed in such a way as to expedite the process.

C. Planning for Problem Solving

Once the counselor has determined that all relevant information regarding the client's
concern is available and understood, and once the client has accepted the need for doing
something about a specific problem, the time is ripe for developing a plan to solve or remediate
the concern of the client.
At this point, effective goal setting becomes the vital part of the counseling activity.
Mistakes in goal setting can lead to nonproductive procedures and the client's loss of confidence
in the counseling process.

Steps or Process involved

l. Define the problem. It is important that both the counselor and the client view the
problem from a similar perspective and have the same understanding of its ramifications.

2. Identify and list all possible solutions. At this point, it is appropriate to brainstorm all
possibilities. Both the client and counselor participate, but the client should be given the
opportunity to list as many possibilities as may come to their mind.
If some obvious solutions are overlooked, the counselor rnight suggest to the client "have
you also thought of --- ?." When listing solutions, none should be eliminated simply because at
first glance they appear to be impossible to implement. Those that will be eliminated for various
reasons will be taken care of in the next step.

3. Explore the consequences of the suggested solutions. Here the client, With
encouragement from the counselor and even occasional suggestion, will identify the procedures
needed to implement each of the suggested solutions. In doing so, it will be noted that some
procedures may be too complex or, for other reasons, impossible to apply.
Other solutions may produce more problems or more serious consequences than the
problem that is the focus for solution in this counseling sequence: In any event, the projected
outcomes for each solution must also be explored thoroughly.

4. Prioritize the solutions. Following exploratory stage 3, the client-again with the
counselor's encouragement will prioritize the solutions from best possibility down to least likely
to produce the desired results. Once the decision has been made and the best solution selected,
the client is ready to move on to the application and implementation.
In the further development of this plan, the counselor recognizes that the client will
frequently not arrive at basic insights, implications, or probabilities as fast as the counselor will.
However, most counselors will agree that it is better to guide the client toward realizing these
understandings by himself or herself, rather than just telling the client outright.
To facilitate the client's understanding, the counselor may use techniques of repetition,
mild confrontation, interpretation, information, and, obviously, encouragement.

D. Solution Application and Termination

In this final stage, the responsibilities are clear-cut. The client has the responsibility for
applying the determined solution, and the counselor for determining the point of tennination. In
the first instance, the counselor has a responsibility to encourage the client's acting on his or her
determined problem solution.
During the time that the client is actively engaged in applying the problem solution, the
counselor will often maintain contact as a source of follow-up, support and encouragement.
The client may also need the counselor's assistance in the event' things do not go
according to plan. Once it has been determined, however, that the counselor and the client have
dealt with the client's concern to the extent possible and practical, the process should be
terminated.
As noted, this responsibility is primarily the counselor's, although the client has the right
to terminate at any time. The counselor usually gives some indication that the next interview
should just about wrap it up and may conclude by summarizing the main points of the counseling
process.
Usually, the counselor will leave the door open, for the client’s possible return in the
event additional assistance is needed. Because counseling is a learning process the counselor
hopes that the client has not only learned to deal with this particular problem but also learned
problem-solving skills that will decrease the probability of the client’s need for further
counseling in the future.

In concluding this section on the counseling process, we are aware of our frequent
reference to the client's problem, and we remind our readers that problems are not always based
on perceived inadequacies or failures requiring remediation and restorative therapy.
Clients can have equally pressing needs resulting from concerns for developing their
human potential for capitalizing on their strengths. In these instances the emphasis is on
development, growth, or enhancement rather than remediation.