Page 131 - DEDU502_GUIDANCE_AND_COUNSELING_ENGLISH

Unit 11: Counseling: Concept, Need and Goals with Reference to India

7. Is often achieved and maintained through communication and interaction; it involves give Notes
and take, that is, it is not a one-way process.
8. Involves a certain amount of ‘structure’. The situation is either vaguely or clearly defined.
9. Is marked by the desire for change in the existing condition of the client, that is, it is
concerned with the improvement of the client.

While most human relationships may involve the rendering or receiving of help, over the years,
importance has come to be attached to providing help effectively and efficiently. In other words,
helping has become professional in nature. According to McCully (1966), “a helping profession is
defined as one which, based upon its specialized knowledge, applies an intellectual technique to
the existential affairs of others toward the end of enabling them to cope more effectively with the
dilemmas and paradoxes that characterize the human.
11.2.2 Psychological Counseling Centres Educational Institutions in India

With each passing day, there has been an alarming rise in instances of students committing
suicides. To make things worse, it is being noticed that even those students who study in the top
league institutions such as IITs. IIMs are also resorting to such things. On the other hand, the
pressure of exams and the anxiety stress caused around that time is leading to various
complications. Due to all this, a new discussion is happening among the academic experts.
They are suggesting it is time for all the educational institutions across India to set up a
psychological counseling centre. This should take care of the students who are going through any
sort of emotional and mental trauma and get them out of their problem. While few colleges have
already begun working on that, they are reporting that there is a sharp increase in students
seeking counseling during the times of examinations.
However, the other side to that is, it is not just about the examinations. There are many instances
where students go through broken relationships, issues at home, emotional pain due to loss of
someone and the sheer pressure to perform due to parental pressure. The other key factor which
is influencing the students in a negative way is the stiff competition. This has been driving the
students to slog it out and even one mark is bringing a whole lot of difference to their career.
The experts say by having counseling centres, the students can be moulded to face life and
challenges with more confidence. They can also be guided on how education must be treated as
a tool to enhance knowledge and wisdom while opportunities will always follow. The experts
also suggest there is a need to introduce special courses which can shape up professional counselors
with educational background on human psychology.

Self Assessment
1. Fill in the blanks:
(i) Counseling is ..............
(ii) The nature of the counseling process depends on the ..............
(iii) .............. is the most important part of the Guidance programme
(iv) The .............. is helped to discover for himself his strengths and weaknesses.

11.3 Goals of Counseling

The counselor has the goal of understanding the behaviour, motivations and feelings of the
counsellee. The counselor’s goals are not limited to understanding his clients. He has different
goals at different levels of functioning. The immediate goal, however, is to obtain relief for the
client and the long-range goal is to make him a ‘fully-functioning person’. Both the immediate
and long-term goals are secured through what are known as mediate or process goals.

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