Meaning of Counselling and Its Importance
The main focus area of this article (Meaning of Counselling and Its Importance) is the meaning, definition, characteristics, and importance of the counselling process.
Meaning of Counselling
Counselling is considered to be an integral and central part of guidance. Counselling programmes will continue as long as society exists, because in everyday life, people are influenced by various stimuli; in many cases, they are not able to adapt to the changing environment. In such a situation, the solution is taken from an experienced person, and by applying it, individuals become self-conscious, self-reliant, and self-directed; that process is called counselling. The process of counselling helps an individual to find a solution to a problem and also helps in the overall development of the individual. Counselling is a process that involves two people—one is the counsellor, and the other is the person wanting help or advice. A counsellor is a professional who offers counselling services.
Definition of Counselling
The word “counselling” comes from the Latin word consilium, which means “advice”. Counselling is an applied branch of psychology. Let’s discuss some definitions related to the counselling.
According to Carl Rogers, “Counselling is a series of direct contact with the individual which aims to offer him assistance in changing his attitudes and behaviours.”
According to Arbuckle, “Counselling is helping a person to come to see who he really is, what he has and does not have, what he can do easily, What he can do with difficulty and what he probably cannot do at all……..(It) is a close sharing of a human relationship with one who has for him a high regard, one who can offer him unconditional acceptance, but one who has no guarantees on answers.”
Characteristics of Counselling
An analysis of the above-mentioned concepts and definitions of counselling reveals the following characteristics:
- The counselling process requires the presence of two people.
- Counselling is a face-to-face relationship.
- It has a professional aspect to it.
- Counselling works mainly at the level of the person’s emotions and feelings.
Now we can say that counselling is a process that focuses on development and the prevention of serious mental/health problems through education and short-term treatments. It emphasises on growth as well as remediation. It focuses on providing therapeutic treatments to clients who experience a wide variety of symptoms.
Importance of Counselling
Proper counselling will help them incorporate valuable lessons into their daily lives. Some sessions should involve career guidance, where the students are advised on the selection of courses and different career paths. Following are some of the benefits that students get from effective counselling:
- Students are given proper counselling on how to deal with psychological problems, which can badly impact their studies. Through these sessions, the students will be able to develop certain problem-solving skills that, to an extent, will help them deal with particular issues surrounding their lives.
- The students are counselled on how to cope with different situations they tend to face in their school lives. For instance, how should they talk politely or relate to their peers? This advice will give them perspective on how they should behave in certain scenarios.
- It helps to shape a student’s behaviour and also instils enough discipline in them. Proper counselling helps students know what to do and how to do things in the best possible way.
- It enables students undergoing certain difficulties in their lives to ask questions and clarify them through counselling. Therefore, counselling helps them ask without any fear since the person in charge is willing to help.
To Read More Posts - Click Here
Bibliography- Seligman, Linda., Reichenberg, L.W. Theories of Counselling and Psychotherapy. Pearson.
- Ranganathan, Namita., Wadha, Toolika. Guidance and Counselling for Children and Adolescents in School. SAGE Publication.
