Definitions of counseling
R.PATTAMMAL
What is counseling?
• Counseling is an interaction which occurs
between two individuals called counselor
and client
• It takes place in a professional setting
• It is initiated and maintained to facilitate
changes in the behavior of the client
To counsel is to advice…..
Individuals seek advice in variety of
situations….
Parents, doctors, lawyers, social workers
ministers as well as a host of many people
give counsel
Definitions of counseling
• A ‘popular definition is ‘Counseling is an
interactive process conjoining the counselee who
needs assistance and the counselor who is trained
and educated to give this
assistance”(perez,1965).The counselor can
initiate, facilitate and maintain the interactive
process if he communicates feelings of
spontaneity and warmth, tolerance, respect and
sincerity
Definitions contd…
• Smith(1955) defines counseling as “ a process in which
the counselor assists the counselee to make
interpretations of facts relating to a choice, plan or
adjustments which he needs to make.
•
Counseling has also been defined 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.(Hahn
and Mclean,1955).
Definitions of counseling involve some or
all of the following:
• Two people are present
• The process leads to action on the part of
the client
• The counselor is a person who listens
• The client can be entrusted to find their
solutions
• Resolutions of problems is an expectation
Counseling is not usually concerned
with:
•
•
•
•
•
Advice giving on the part of the counselor
Psychotherapy
Treatment of severe mental illness
Solving all life’s problems
It is not merely two people
talking…..talking. Counseling must always
have a practical end.
• Pepinsky and Pepinsky(1954) state that
counseling is that interaction which
• Which occurs between two individuals
called counselor and client
• Takes place in a professional setting
• Is initiated and maintained to facilitate
changes in the behavior of the client.
• Counseling is concerned with bringing about a
voluntary change in the client.
• To this end, the counselor provides facilities to
help the client achieve the desired change or
make the suitable choice.
• The client alone is responsible for the decisions
or the choices he makes, though the counselor
may assist in this process by his warmth and
understanding relationship.