————————————[—[ ————— JOUNSELLINGS ='s the client to gain an understanding Tehich enables him to take positive steps in the light of his DEFINITIONS OF COUNSELLING ‘A popular definition is, “Counselling is an interactive pre __counselee who needs assistance and the counsellor who i “Give this asssiance” (Perez, 1965)” The counsellor can initia wrt interactive process if he communicates feelings Of spont tolerance, respect and sincerity. ‘Smith (1955) defines counselling as“ a process in which the counselee to make interpretations of facts relating Wo a h which he needs to make.’ ‘Counselling also has been defined as “ a process whic! ional worker whose training and hhim to help others reach solutions to various types of and MacLean, 1955)? Pepinsky and Pepinsky (1954) state that counselling isCounselling and Related Flelds 23 Iefurther helps him to establish some personal meanii i and any 8st of goals and ales for fare bnwvoue= Rogers (1952) describes counselling as the process by which th selfis relaxed in the safety of the client's relationship. with satan ‘a sccry denied experiences are perceived and then integrated into an altered Several counsellors consider the definition given by Gustad (1953) very comprehensive statement indicating both the scope as well as the function of counselling. According to him, “Counselling is a leaning oriented process, carried omina’simple, one-to-one social environment, in which the counsellor, professionally ‘competentiin relevant psychological skills and knowledge, secks to assist the client, by’methods appropriate to the latjer’s needs and within the context of the total personnel program, to lear how to put such understanding into effect in relation to more clearly perceived, realistically defined goals to the end that the client may ‘become a’happier and more productive member of society.”"* From a careful reading of the several definitions quoted above, it that the emphasis placed on the various aspects of counselling by isnotithe same. The early concern was with cognitive factors; later tovinclude the affective aspects as well. The counselling process was also viewed ‘as avone-t0-0ne process and in more recent years the relationship is increasingly ‘becoming less restricted to a dyadic relationship and the scope is being widened to refer to more'than one client. Practically all the definitions concur with the view that counselling is a process which involves bringing about sequential changes over a period of time leading 10 a'set goal. These definitions stress that the counsellor-counseliee relationship is not casual, matter-of-fact and business-like but that it is characterized by warmth, responsiveness’and understanding. ‘There are quite a few serious misconceptions regarding counselling. It would perfiaps be useful to state what counselling is not, to help clarify our conception of it. Counselling is not:en es from this brief statement of expectations is that there is a certain overfip in the expectations of students, parents, teachers and s. All are concerned with the improvement of academic performance ng of tension on campuses, in addition to other things. What is most tion of counselling goals. Failure to understand the basic nature of ling has led to unrealistic demands and annoying disappointments. properly appreciated and understood, would help dispel most of the etations and foster healthy attitudes towards counselling in society, which help in the efficient functioning of counselling. ~ ofthe counsellee. The counsellor’s goals are not. iedeadersancing tis ce ‘Hehas different goals at different levels of functioning. The immediate goal, however, ~‘Sto°Obiain relief for the client and the long-range goal is to make him a ‘fully. 1". Both the immediate and long-term goals are secured through iate or processspecific goals there arc, however, two categories of goals which are o specific goaing sittions, These arc identified as long-range and ignificance. They shape the counsellee and counse relations and behaviour. The process goals comprise facilitating ‘Enhancing the effectiveness of counselling. The long-range goals are feflect the counsellors philosophy of life and could be stated as: 1. To help the counsellee become self-actualizing. 2. To help the counsellee attain self-realization, 3. To help the counsellee become a fully-functioning person. ‘The immediate goals of counselling refer to the problems for which it is seeking solutions, here and now. The client fails to utilize his capacities efficiently and, therefore, is unable to function efficiently. The counsellee, helped to gain fuller self-understanding through self-exploration and to his strengths and weaknesses. The counsellor could provide i but information, however exhaustive, may not be useful to the client un has an integrative understanding of himself vis-a-vis his personal ‘environmental constraints and resources. ‘The long-range and immediate goals are not unrelated. There is an intet ‘between them as both depend on the process goals for their realization. cela gh Riel cn toed aie easel counselling 10 take place. They comprise empathic understanding, friendliness which provide for inter-personal exploration which, in tum, client in his self-exploration and self-understanding and eventually lead to the! range goals, namely, self-actualization, self-realization and self-enh: Discussing the goals of counselling, Parloff (1961) distinguishes immediate and ultimate goals. According to him, the former refers to ‘Self-actualization and the Static, self-Counselling and Guldance—Expectations and Goals Cc places”. The concept of self-actuali is pehaviour ae therefore, may be looked upon as an ultimaie good beeen at eral fife. May (1967) states that the goal of therapy (counselling ig jae 808! ©’ form of therapy throughout this book) is to help the Patient to istered { potentialities. According to Byrne (1963), the ultimate gouls derive his Paine conceptions of universal man and the nature of life, teermesn apstance £FOM 1 “py the reasons for seeking a counsellor's help, and immediate ous ao that refer to the oa of the counsellee, * ism levelled is that goals such as ‘self-actualization’, ‘actualizi ey itt, are 100 general and amorphous and hence not wscfal cy an jpoltz. (1966) holds that an operational definition of terms would be practice ean ispprosch. He suggests that a general concept could be reduced to amofe Uipjective and measurable variables. Ultimate goals, owing to their very specific, Proral nature, cannot be evaluated as immediate or mediate goal road and goals (Parloff, 1967) may be considered as specific steps contributing ee on of general goals. Behaviourists place much emphasis on mediate ware realizar prise the reduction of anxiety, feeling of hostility, undestolo ee eon the negative side; and the increase of pleasure, acquisition of adaptive ey ling of self, etc., on the positive side. The immediate goal of Tis Ben a potential counsellee to make an appoiniment with a ‘and go through the counselling process till the mediate goals are realized, is through the realization of mediate goals that the ultimate goals of ‘self- wis ?, ‘elf-realization’ and ‘self-actualization’ can be reached. The process — Fexploration is perhaps a kind of immediate goal which sets the counselling in motion. residing 10 Rogers (1951), an important outcome of counselling is that the client feels Tess anxious about the possibility of achieving his goals. Rogers (1954) further holds that counselling produces a change in personality organization and behaviour, both of which are relatively permanent. Areas in which change is considered desirable are relations with other individuals, academic achievement, jabjsatisfaction, etc. Desirable change may be understood as the bringing about of ‘more positive responses to frustrating situations through adopting different attitudes towards other people as well as towards oneself. Some:of the major goals of counselling generally accepted by counsellors are siven below. Achievement of Positive Mental Health | a \\ ‘one leams to adjust and responds more positively hold that prevention of emotional tensions, anxieties, is also an important goal of counselling. They lead to positive feelings of warmth and of hold that the “promotion and development of and receiving and giving interaction rewards goal of counselling”.a — —— Resolution of Problems Another goal of counselling is the resolving of the problem broughttoy ‘This, in essence, is an outcome of the former goal and implies health. In behavioural terms three categories of behavioural goals namely, altering maladaptive behaviour, learning the decision. preventing problems (Krumboltz, 1966). Wolpe (1958) feels counselling is to relieve the suffering and disability of the clients. Improving Personal Effectiveness — Yet another goal of counselling is that of improving personal ¢ closely related to the preservation of good mental health and behavioural change(s). Blocher (1966) defines an effective able to commit himself to projects, investing time and en: appropriate economic, psychological and physical risks. He is competence to reorganize, define and solve problems, He is consistent outside and within his typical role situation, He is think in different and original, that is, creative ways. Finally, impulses and produce appropriate responses to frustration, Counselling to Help Change Blocher (1966) adds two other goals. The first, according to should maximize individual freedom to choose and act within th by the environment. The other goal is that counsellin effectiveness of the individual responses evolved by (1964) holds that the goal of counselling is to focus on and that the which pervades the period of adolescence through individual is assisted to actualize his potential.oT "Tyler (19 i spas suc ie of counselling as decision-making. The Couaehot vane ee Mitchell asellee utilize the resources—intra-personal and environmental—available ‘decisions based on them to cope with life situations. meee te counsellees have goals which are vague and their implications ‘appreciated. It is perhaps one of the primary functions of a counsellor ‘a counsellee’s goal. This is possible because of th counsellor’ professional taining and rich experienée: Oftch, undErling th INV TO confusing multiplicity of goals there is a common factor. Some”6t th the subjective expectations of the Counséllors dhenisclves. The different by counsellors give the counsellees the choice of makin; ented counsellors stress the need for modification of behaviour, of undesirable behaviour or action or reduction of an irritating that the individual attains satisfaction and effectiveness, Growth- Mic scsen the development of potentialities within the individual. [istentially-oriented counsellors stress self-enhancement and self-fulfilment. Boviosly the later cannot be realized without first securing the former, namely, ‘or reduction as a necessary pre-condition for personal: SUMMARY planation of expectations and goals of counselling, It will be be differences between the expectations of the clients and of the counsellors. These differences could cause dissatisfaction, ding an tion. Most persons,TT, ‘COUNSELOR ROLE IN SCHOOL SETTINGS 63 ‘The variety in school settings will, of course, account for some differences in the ways counselors may carry out their roles. There are, however, some common influences determining counselors’ role and function, regardless of the setting, The first of these are what might be called professional constants or determinants that tend to indicate what is appropriate and not appropriate to the counselors’ role and function. These include guidelines and policy statements of professional organizations, licensing or certification limitations, accreditation guidelines and requirements, and the expectancies of professional training programs. In addition to these professional constants, there are also those personal factors that inevitably influence role and function. These in- clude the interest of the counselor, such as what he/she likes to do versus what he/she doesn’t like to do; what he/she gets encouraged to do and is rewarded for doing by the school, community, or his/her peers; what the counselor has resources to do; what the counselor perceives as the appropriate role and function for a given setting; and finally, how life in general is going for the counselor. The counselor's attitudes, values, and experiences both ‘on-and off the job can influence how he/she views the job. It has also been increasingly noted in recent years that counselors and ‘other professional helpers are coming to grips with the facts that traditional roles and delivery systems in human services may have imposed real limita- tions on their ability to deal directly and effectively with the critical needs of clients. Thus, as we further view counselor role and function, we are seeking to integrate for you, our reader, not only those concepts that have proven themselves over the years, but also current and promising directions that seem necessary for the guidance counselor to remain a viable entity in the school setting. ‘The Elementary School Counselor In Chapter 2 it was noted that the characteristics of the elementary pupil and the elementary school dictate certain characteristics in program organiza- tion that distinguish elementary school guidance programs from those in secondary schools and at other educational levels. It therefore follows that the elementary school counselor's role and function will also reflect these differences. The differences, however, are not so much in what the elementary ‘counselor does, but how he/she does it. For example, counselors and other ‘elementary school specialists must work closely and effectively with the class- room teacher. This provides a natural relationship for an emphasis on consul- tation and coordination. In addition to counseling, coordination, and consult- ing functions, the elementary school counselor has responsibilities for the orientation, assessment, and career development needs of pupils. A brief de- scription of these various roles follows. Counselor. Although one-to-one counseling in the elementary school may take correspondingly less of the counselor’s time than counseling at other uaRICHARD C. NELSO —14 The Neea ‘An Introduction 13Ce eee An Introduction 1S 6, GUIDANCE IS BOTH PRESENT- AND FUTURE-ORIENTED It may be said that the most important “job” of childhood is for the child: to become an adult. Often this argument is used to rationalize a pushing of the child that, for him, is too rapid. Perhaps the first job of the child’ isto “become” a child. Guidance efforts may be more profitably applied toward helping the child be effective today rather than tomorrow in his work, his play, his social interactions, and his self-acceptance. Take care of today's needs, and often the skills and habits developed will take care of to- morrow's, Yet the long-range impact of behavior and choices must be considered, and the need to grow and seek the challenges that the future presents must be acknowledged, Conflict is a by-product, frequently, of the demands and habits of the past, the need for present success, and the pull of the future on the life of the individual. ‘TEGUIDANCE"ATTENDS ‘TO AND RESPONDS TO WEAKNESSES, BUT FOCUSES-ON'STRENGTHS. This principle may properly be termed a policy ‘orsansobjective rather than a description of past performance. Children needitorbe alerted to their weaknesses, certainly, but they may only be able tosattenditortheminsofaras'they are also credited with strengths. Some ‘youngipeople; such as those who come from lower socioeconomic environ- mentsyineed tobe appreciated, and to be aware that they are appreciated, foritheirdirectness, their candor, their strength of conviction on some ‘mattersyand'their willingness to stand up for their rights even in the face of punishment. Often they are told only of their reading difficulties and the ‘twoubles they cause. Ifiguidanicelis "tobe accessible to all children, it must focus on strengths, and time must be spent in reinforcing these strengths and recog nizing children’s skills and potentialities. Attention, of course, must also be siven to responding to, or at least identifying, many of the children's needs. ‘Theiperson helping a child because of a perceived weakness may be most effective when he also helps the child to recognize and capitalize upon his samen child tO, understand what is “right” about ne aca in a group setting to use16 The Need and cooperation among all those who ean cont sources to which children and their families may be 9. GUIDANCE 1S DEPENDENT ON ADEQUATE cH term “adequate” is emphasized here, The child wh value in relating occasionally to the counselor or t standing adult, the child who shows a drawing. whom life is a positively weighted range of events, acknowledgement of the teacher and the observation to be effectively expanding his self-understanding others, may not require intensive study. Ade children may involve little more than collecting testing data, plus such other information as the for group study purposes. With other children assessment followed by a diagnostic report of data should fit the concern about the 10. GUIDANCE IS DEPENDENT RESEARCH AND EVALUATION The field needs both action research and deeper s children, for the clarification of guid: the foci of guidance efforts. The field concentrating efforts where logic and appr. hard statistical data are needed, ho adequate for this purpose. ‘The principles of guid: this text. The teacher or c