Page 134 - DEDU502_GUIDANCE_AND_COUNSELING_ENGLISH

Guidance and Counseling

Notes 11.3.2 Improving Personal Effectiveness
Yet another goal of counseling is that of improving personal effectiveness. This is closely related
to the preservation of good mental health and securing desirable behavioural change(s). Blocher
(1966) defines an effective person as one who is able to commit himself to projects, investing
time and energy and willing to take appropriate economic, psychological and physical risks. He
is seen as having the competence to reorganize, define and solve problems. He is seen as reasonably
consistent outside and within his typical role situation. He is seen as being able to think in
different and original, that is, creative ways. Finally, he is able to control impulses and produce
appropriate responses to frustration, hostility and ambiguity.
11.3.3 Counseling to Help Change
Blocher (1966) adds two other goals. The first, according to him, is that counseling should maximize
individual freedom to choose and act within the conditions imposed by the environment. The
other goal is that counseling should increase the effectiveness of the individual responses evolved
by the environment. Tiedeman (1964) holds that the goal of counseling is to focus on the mechanism
of change and that the counsellee should be helped in the process of ‘becoming’—the change
which pervades the period of adolescence through early adulthood during which the individual
is assisted to actualize his potential. Shoben (1965) also views the goal of counseling as personal
development.

11.3.4 Decision-Making as a Goal of Counseling
Some counselors hold the view that counseling should enable the counsellee to make decisions.
It is through the process of making critical decisions that personal growth is fostered. Reaves and
Reaves (1965) point out that “the primary objective of counseling is that of stimulating the
individuals to evaluate, make, accept and act upon his choice”. Counseling is to help individuals
learn as to what is needed in choice making, by which is meant that the individual should learn
to make decisions independently. It has been stressed more than once that it is not for the
counselor to make decisions for his clients. If it were so, it would cease to be counseling. Decisions
are always the counsellees’ own, and they are responsible for themselves. In other words, the
counsellees should know how and why they made the concerned decisions. In the process of
decision-making, information may be required and the counselor should provide it or help
obtain it. The information may have to be clarified, sorted out and analysed. The counselor
should help in this such that the counsellee is able to make responsible decisions. Tyler (1961)
also defines the goal of counseling as decision-making. The counselor has to help the counsellee
utilize the resources—intra-personal and environmental—available and make decisions based on
them to cope with life situations.
Sometimes the counsellees have goals which are vague and their implications are not fully
appreciated. It is perhaps one of the primary functions of a counselor to help clarify a counsellee’s
goal. This is possible because of the counselor’s background, professional training and rich experience.
Often, underlying the seemingly confusing multiplicity of goals there is a common factor. Some of
the goals reflect the subjective expectations of the counselors themselves. The different goals
elucidated by counselors give the counsellees the choice of making free, informed and responsible
decisions, being fully conscious of their own strengths, weaknesses, assets and liabilities.
11.3.5 Modification of Behaviour as a Goal
Behaviourally-oriented counselors stress the need for modification of behaviour, for example,
removal of undesirable behaviour or action or reduction of an irritating symptom such that the
individual attains satisfaction and effectiveness. Growth-oriented counselors stress on the
development of potentialities within the individual. Existentially-oriented counselors stress
self-enhancement and self-fulfilment. Obviously the latter cannot be realized without first

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