Page 337 - DEDU502_GUIDANCE_AND_COUNSELING_ENGLISH

Unit 32 : Problems of Guidance and Counseling in India and their Solutions

Resistance Notes

The counsellee’s opposition to the goals of counseling is referred to as resistance. It manifests itself
in a variety of ways such as serf-devaluation, intellectualization and even overt hostility. The counselor
may be unfamiliar witn the nuances of the cultures of the weaker sections and assess their behaviour
as an instance or just another effect of social and economic deprivation. Sometimes resistance is
exhibited as not coming on time for the counseling session or being irregular to sessions or even
failure to keep the appointment(s). Clients of the weaker sections are often very reluctant to disagree.
They often silently acquiesce and appear to accept the counselor superficially. Sometimes they may
be uncooperative with the counselor or with someone of higher status.
Transference
An individual’s reaction to a person in the present in a manner similar to the way he has reacted to
another person in the past is called transference. In other words, transference is the repetition of an
old relationship in a new situation which may appear embarrassing to the counselor or other persons.
Transference may be conscious or unconscious, positive or negative. It is a form of resistance to the
goals of counseling. The socially backward clients expect the counselor to exhibit majority-group
attitudes either because of direct experience with such persons or because of socialization which
causes them to react to members of majority-groups with suspicion. School counselors who are
perceived as outsiders find these pupils hesitant, shy and reluctant to talk freely.

Counter-transference
Transferences a counsellee reaction to the counselor in a manner he reacted to some other person in
the past. It is transferring of the counsellee’s feelings towards another person to the counselor. In
counter-transference the reverse is implied. The counselor transfers his feelings to the counsellee. It
leadg to persistent, inappropriate behaviour towards the counsellee and enormous strain in the
counseling relationship owing to preconceived ideas about the weaker sections. A common expression
of counter-transference is the counselor’s tendency to be excessively sympathetic and indulgent
with the clients. The counselor often considers it appropriate to use a different set of criteria
(achievement, performance, etc.) for the socially backward. This does no good to the client and may
even lead to the pygmalion effect.
Language
Language is part of an individual’s culture or sub-culture. Inability to comprehend language results
in failure to understand the client. In order to communicate effectively the counselor must be able
to understand the verbal and non-verbal language of his counsellees. It is more difficult to understand
non-verbal communication. Individuals speak not just with their voices but also with their gestures.
Knowledge of a client’s language and its nuances are important in counseling, because most
counseling techniques demand a good understanding of this in order to be able to establish rapport.
Psychological Barriers

Self-disclosure
This is the willingness to let another person know about what one thinks or feels or wants. It is basic
to the counseling process that the relationship should be open as it is crucial to the establishment
and maintenance of rapport. Thus it is a prerequisite for achievuig the goals of counseling. Reluctance
to disclose on the part of the counsellee is a serious problem to contend with.
Self-hatred
Socially and economically weaker individuals sometimes tend not only to despise their groups, but
also hate themselves for being members of this group.

Personalism
Another stubborn counseling barrier often experienced is personalism. It suggests that individuals
are more interested in their consideration for people than for procedures.

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