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Unit 20: Organizing Counseling Services at College Level

Counseling is thus a continuous and pervasive process of assisting people to become more efficient, Notes
adjusted and happy. Counseling service comprises giving information and help towards
understanding oneself as well as others, such that individuals are able to act freely, independently
and be responsible for their own choices and actions. Special counseling assistance could be provided
in a variety of fields like employment, education, social life, finance and personal adjustment. Under
each of the major areas listed above, counseling services may help provide relevant assistance in (1)
choosing a curriculum, learning and developing efficient methods of study and seeking necessary
remedial assistance in the field of educational counseling and (2) pre-employment activities and job
placement services in the field of vocational counseling.
Motivation is the key to learning and it is in the matter of motivation perhaps that counseling is in
a better position than the other aspects of the school/college programme to make an effective
contribution. Motivation is a link between feeling and thinking. Counseling aims at forging this link
by helping to crystallize feelings by giving them expression, direction and intellectual substance. If
academic failure is to be forestalled or academic standards improved, it is imperative that counseling
assistance be provided and relevant values be inculcated to stimulate the academic and cultural
aspirations of students.
The entire course and process of education is punctuated with significant psychological issues.
These have to be attended to if educational objectives are to be realized . One of the first steps
consists in the selection and admission of students to educational institutions. What criteria have to
be used in selecting them for admission? It is a universally accepted fact that pupils differ from one
another with regard to abilities, interests, attitudes, aspirations and home and social backgrounds.
Questions such as, “Should the pupils know as much significant material as is available regarding
their curricula?” “What kind of activities are required?” “Do the pupils have the necessary background
training?” “Are they really interested in the subject matter?” “What is its value to them?” are relevant.
The choice of subjects is more frequently made by the parents than by the children. Counselors
could discuss with parents questions such as those concerning the choice of subjects for their children.

20.1 Counseling at College Level

A total Counseling progress at the collegiate level would comprise an extension of the various
services provided to the students at the earlier stages of their lives. The collegiate student is for all
practical purposes an adult with no adult responsibilities.
The objectives of higher education include the development of
(1) a sound philosophy of life.
(2) an ability to enjoy life in many areas.
(3) Sensitivity to the different aspects of the environment and
(4) Capacity to be free willed individuals, that is individuals.
Counseling service at the collegiate level is fairly Comprehensive. It is culmination of the guidance
the pupil receives at all the lower school levels. It emphasizes constructive self guidance among
students in meeting adult responsibilities.
20.2 Vocational Counseling and its Aims

The increased emphasis upon the individual as the center of the entire educational process, the
scope of guidance has been enlarged and now includes help given to the individual in all his
problems and choice. However, occupational decisions are still the central problem facing many
youths. It is profoundly true, however, the “life is more than meat,” and the occupation is by no
means all there is in life.

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