A popular definition is, "Counselling is an interactive process conjoining the counselee who

needs assistance and the counsellor who is trained and educated give this assistance" (Perez,
1965). The counsellor can initiate, facilitate and maintain the interactive process if he
communicates feelings of spontaneity and warmth, tolerance, respect and sincerity.
Counseling is a professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families, and
groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals. (American
Counseling Association website 2013)
Counseling is a principled relationship characterised by the application of one or more
psychological theories and a recognised set of communication skills, modified by experience,
intuition and other interpersonal factors, to clients’ intimate concerns, problems or aspirations.
(Feltham and Dryden 1993: 6)

The goal of counselling is to help individuals overcome many of their future problems. In recent
times, rapid social change caused by industrialization and urbanization has led to varied and
perplexing problems. For most people the pace of change is simply to fast and creates serious
problems of adjustment.

Practically all the definitions concur with the view that counselling is a process which involves
bringing about sequential changes over a period of time leading to a set goal. These definitions
stress that the counsellor-counsellee relationship is not casual, matter-of-fact and business-like
but that it is characterized by warmth, responsiveness and understanding.
There are quite a few serious misconceptions regarding counselling. It would perhaps be useful
to state what counselling is not, to-help clarify our conception of it Counselling is not:
1. Giving infomation though information may be given.
2. Giving advice, making suggestions and recommendations.
3. Influencing the client's values, attitudes, beliefs, interests, decisions, etc. with or without any
threat or admonition.
4. Interviewing clients.
Counselling is concerned with bringing about a voluntary change in the client.
To this end, the counsellor provides facilities to help achieve the desired change or make the
suitable choice.

Psychotherapy Counselling
Similarities

Provides the person with a confidential Provides the person with a confidential
space in which to explore personal space in which
difficulties to explore personal difficulties

Effective practice depends to a great extent Effective practice depends to a great extent
on the on the
quality of the client–psychotherapist quality of the client–counsellor relationship
relationship

Differences

A wholly professionalized occupation An activity that includes specialist

professional workers, but also
encompasses paraprofessionals,
volunteers and those whose practice is
embedded within other
occupational roles

Public perception: inaccessible, expensive, Public perception: accessible, free, working

middle class class

Perception by government/state: given Perception by government/sate: largely

prominent role in mental health services; invisible
strongly supported by evidence- based
practice policies

Conceptualizes the client as an individual Conceptualizes the client as a person in a

with problems in psychological functioning social context

Training and practice focuses on delivering Training and practice involves not only
interventions delivering interventions, but also working
with embedded colleagues, and promoting
self- help

Psychotherapy agencies are separate from Counselling agencies are part of their
the communities within which they are communities – e.g., a student counselling
located service in a university

Treatment may involve the application of The helping process typically involves
interventions defined by a protocol, manual counsellor and client working
or specific therapy model collaboratively, using methods that may
stretch beyond any single protocol or
manual

Treatment has a theory- derived brand Often has a context- derived title (e.g.,
name (e.g., interpersonal therapy, CBT, workplace counselling, bereavement
solution- focused therapy) counselling, student
counselling)

Many psychotherapists have a psychology Counsellors are likely to be drawn from a

degree, which functions as a key entrance wide variety of backgrounds; entrance
qualification qualification is life experience and maturity
rather than any particular academic
specialism

Predominant focus on the pathology of the Predominant focus on personal strengths

person and resources

Psychotherapy is the treatment of problems of an emotional nature by psychological means.

Counselling also treats such problems by psychological means, the difference being that in
counselling, the emphasis is on the individual. The treatment is started with the establishment of
a professional relationship between the therapist/counsellor and the patient/client. The object of
this relationship is to remove, modify or retard (lessen) the existing symptoms and promote
positive personality growth. Though there are no differences between psychotherapy and
counselling, certain distinctions are made and these need to be examined at some length. The
distinctions are made on the basis of:
1. Individuals receiving help.
2. Persons giving help.
3. Severity of the problems concerned.
4. Setting in which help is rendered.

Psychotherapy is concerned with the alleviation of human suffering. In psychotherapy the goal
is to overcome certain weaknesses by any practical means, including psycho-surgery. The
counsellor, on the other hand, is concerned with the identification and development of positive
strengths in the individual. This is done by helping the client become a fully functioning person.
The techniques employed in the two fields may be disparate. In psychiatric psychotherapy the
treatment is physical, that is, it is either through the administration of drugs, elèctro-convulsive
therapy or psycho-surgery largely on the organic basis, in terms of the medical model of
treatment. On the other hand, in counselling, results or objectives such as ego enhancement,
self-integration and self-direction are secured through the psychological techniques of
establishing rapport and providing warmth and support to the client to help him gain insight into
himself. The counselling process is essentially a learning process.

According to Patterson (1973), the two disciplines overlap greatly. Both draw their inspiration
from the same personality theories. If we were to examine the definitions of each, we would
notice the following similarities
1. The specific kind of relationship between the therapist/counsellor and the client.
2. The techniques employed by both of them.
3. Their objective which is essentially to assist the patient/client.

Counselling is said to deal with normal individuals whose problems are related to the
development of their potentialities. On the other hand, psychotherapy is supposed to handle
clients who are "deficient in some respect" (Vance and Volsky, 1962). The distinction obviously
cannot be sustained on closer scrutiny. Both the clients in counselling and the patients in
psychotherapy could be said to be deficient in some respect, that is, they have adjustment
problems. In Patterson's (1973) view the term psychotherapy is used for the treatment
employed to remedy the patient of his emotional disturbances of a deep-lying and serious
nature. On the other hand, when the disturbances are not serious enough to incapacitate a
patient but are like the problems of a normal person which interfere with the development of his
potential, it is called 'counselling'. Patterson remarks that "the so called counsellors practiced
psychotherapy while psychotherapists practiced counselling". The counsellor need not and
often cannot limit himself to working with 'normal clients'. The distinction made on the basis that
the counsellor works in a non-medical setting while the psychotherapist works in a medical
setting is superficial and cannot be sustained. The clients in counselling are supposed to be
'reality oriented', that is, their problems, are conscious. Most of the problems dealt with by
counsellors, it is claimed, are concerned with making educational and vocational choices.
Psychotherapy, on the other hand, is said to be exclusively concerned with problems emanating
from the personality of the clients and are primarily related to the unconscious. This distinction
cannot be sustained on close examination. According to most authorities, counselling deals with
all the dimensions or domains of the client's personality-cognitive, affective and conative. Hence
counselling approaches psychotherapy very closely when it handles affective problems.
However, when no affective problems are involved, counselling is avowedly most differentiated
from psychotherapy. If this were true, it could perhaps be at best information giving or
discussing, but not counselling.

Counselling and psychotherapy developed as methods of rehabilitation. The concern was to

help those considered 'off the track' and unable to adjust to life. This popularized the view that
psychotherapists and counsellors were persons who helped individuals return to normal.
Gradually the counselling process came to be understood as a means of prevention as much as
treatment. More recently counselling has come to be viewed as an instrument or technique of
self-actualization. It is no longer enough for an individual to be 'well' and 'unsick', it is necessary
that he becomes the best he is capable of and counselling must help him in this process. This
offers a challenging and creative role for the counsellor. It is not enough to maintain status quo,
counselling should go further to help the client transcend the status quo.

The counsellor has the goal of understanding the behaviour, motivations and feelings of the
counsellee. The counsellor'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.
The goal of counselling is to help individuals overcome their immediate problems and also to
equip them to meet future problems. Counselling, to be meaningful, has to be specific for each
client since it involves his unique problems and expectations. The goals of counselling may be
described as immediate, long-range, and process goals. A statement of goals is not only
important but also necessary, for it provides a sense of direction and purpose. Additionally, it is
necessary for a meaningful evaluation of the usefulness of it. It is only in terms of the defined
goals that it is possible to judge the meaningfulness or otherwise of any activity, including
counselling. It establishes a congruency between what is demanded or sought and what is
possible or practical.
Specific goals are unique to each client and involve a consideration of the client's expectations
as well as the environmental aspects. Apart from the specific goals there are, however, two
categories of goals which are common to most counselling situations. These are identified as
long-range and process goals. The latter have greater significance. The process goals comprise
facilitating procedures for enhancing the effectiveness of counselling. The long-range goals are
those that reflect the counsellor's philosophy of life and could be stated as:
1. To help the counsellee become self-actualizing.
2. To help the counsellee attain self-realization.
3. To help the counsellee become a fully-functioning person.
The immediate goals of counselling refer to the problems for which the client is seeking
solutions, here and now. The client fails to utilize his capacities fully and efficiently and,
therefore, is unable to function efficiently. The counsellee could be helped to gain fuller
self-understanding through self-exploration and to appreciate his strengths and weaknesses.
The counsellor could provide necessary information but information, however exhaustive, may
not be useful to the client unless he has an integrative understanding of himself vis-a-vis his
personal resources and environmental constraints and resources.
The long-range and immediate goals are not unrelated. There is an inter-relation between them
as both depend on the process goals for their realization. The process goals are the basic
counselling dimensions which are essential conditions for counselling to take place. They
comprise empathic understanding, warmth and friendliness which provide for inter-personal
exploration which, in turn, helps the client in his self-exploration and self-understanding and
eventually lead to the long- range goals, namely, self-actualization, self-realization and
self-enhancement. The client may have certain inhibiting and self-destructive patterns of
behaviour which are eliminated and overcome to enable the individual become a
fully-functioning person.
Discussing the goals of counselling, Parloff (1961) distinguishes between Immediate and
ultimate goals. According to him, the former refers to the steps and stages in the counselling
process which lead to the realization of the ultimate goals. Patterson (1970) suggests a third
level of goals, namely, intermediate goals, in addition to mediating and ultimate goals. Ultimate
goals refer to the broad and general long-term outcomes like positive mental health. When the
goals of counselling are stated as 'self-actualization', 'self-realization', 'self-enhancement', etc., it
is often difficult to find a meaningful and suitable criterion to evaluate the achievement or
otherwise of the goals. These concepts appear to be meaningful as ultimate goals.
Self-actualization and the like refer to the general goal of life. Since life is not static,
self-actualization as a goal of life cannot be static-it is a continuous process. Goldstein (1939)
states that an organism is governed by a tendency to actualize as much as possible its
individual capacities, its nature in the world. In the words of Rogers (1951), "the organism has
one basic tendency and striving to actualize, maintain and enhance the experiencing organism".
A major criticism levelled is that goals such as 'self-actualization', 'actualizing potentialities', etc.,
are too general and amorphous and hence not useful in actual practice. Krumboltz (1966) holds
that an operational definition of terms would be a more useful approach. He suggests that a
general concept could be reduced to specific, objective and measurable variables. Ultimate
goals, owing to their very broad and general nature, cannot be evaluated as immediate or
mediate goals.

Mediate goals (Parloff, 1967) may be considered as specific steps contributing to the realization
of general goals. Behaviourists place much emphasis on mediate goals. These comprise the
reduction of anxiety, feeling of hostility, undesirable habits, etc., on the negative side; and the
increase of pleasure, acquisition of adaptive habits, understanding of self, etc., on the positive
side. The immediate goal of counselling is to motivate a potential counsellee to make an
appointment with a counsellor and go through the counselling process till the mediate goals are
realized. It is through the realization of mediate goals that the ultimate goals of 'self-
understanding', 'self-realization' and 'self-actualization' can be reached. The process of
self-exploration is perhaps a kind of immediate goal which sets the counselling process in
motion.

According to Rogers (1951), an important outcome of counselling is that the client feels less
anxious about the possibility of achieving his goals. Rogers (1954) further holds that counselling
produces a change in personality organization and behaviour, both of which are relatively
permanent. Desirable change may be understood as the bringing about of more positive
responses to frustrating situations through adopting different attitudes towards other people as
we as towards onself.

APPROACHES
THE DIRECTIVE OR AUTHORITARIAN APPROACH (PSYCHOANALYTIC)
The authoritarian point of view is largely associated with the work of Sigmund Freud. According
to the psychoanalytic theory, the client is ignorant and unaware of the reasons for his difficulties
or suffering which are deeply embedded in the unconscious.
The personality structure is explained to comprise the id, the ego and the superego. The id is
the source of all energy which is sought to be expanded for the gratification of libidinous urges.
The id functions on the 'pleasure principle' and is subject to the predicate error, that is, it
confuses the idea or image of an object for the object itself. The ego is essentially a part of the
id which has been socialized as a result of its contact with reality. The ego, therefore, functions
on the 'reality principle' and has often to turn down the demands of the id. Consequently, tension
develops between the id and the ego. Just as the ego develops from the id and is a part of it,
the superego also develops from the id. The superego is the moral governor of the individual. It
is his conscience. A very important distinction between the ego and the superego is that the
former is conscious while the latter is not conscious. The id, owing to its primitive and
unsocialized nature, is raw, infantile and irrational. The superego partakes of the characteristics
of the id. When the id desires gratification of its 'urge' or 'wish', its energy is drawn and
expended by the ego. The superego also uses the libidinal energy of the id for its activity. The
ego and the superego have no independent source of energy. The libidinal urges emanating
from the region of the id are gratified through the ego. Therefore without the ego, the id is blind
and helpless. But the demands of the id are not always manageable. Sometimes they may be
grotesque and bizarre. They may even be incestuous. The ego cannot gratify such demands
and turns them down. This process is known as inhibition. Inhibition is a normal process and it is
one of the defense mechanisms commonly employed by the ego. Often the libidinal urges may
come into direct conflict with the injunctions of the superego. The result is repression.
A repressed idea, wish or desire is relegated to the depths of the unconscious or id but does not
become extinct. A repressed wish or idea is dynamic and ever active and wants to thrust itself
into the region of the conscious.
Freud explains that what the adult individual experiences as a problem is only the result of a
repressed complex in his early childhood. Psychotherapy or psychoanalysis is a method of
unearthing these repressed complexes and this process is called catharsis. When a repressed
idea is brought to the conscious and interpreted it ceases to be a problem. The symptom
caused by it disappears.
The psychoanalytic point of view, as explained by Freud, looks upon the individual as a
biological entity craving for the gratification of instinctual urges. The present state or condition of
the individual is determined by the active forces (libidinous gratifications, fixations, repressions,
etc.) operating in his early childhood. The present environmental conditions as represented by
the social forces have little, if any, role to play in the manner in which libidinous urges are
expressed. Harper (1959) identifies four important concepts which, according to him, are central
to the Freudian point of view:
1. The concept of bisexuality of human beings-This idea, later elaborated by Adler, is a natural
phenomenon observable in the lower organisms.
The concept of bisexuality implies homosexuality. Since homosexuality is not accepted in most
cultures, it constitutes rich material for repression and formation of complexes with different
degrees of emotional charge.
2. The concept of bipolarity of human nature-This underlies the love-hate relationship. Positive
feelings are always accompanied by negative feelings. According to Freud, excess of love or
affection is only a subterfuge for underlying hate.
3. The concept of sublimation-This is perhaps the most valuable of all Freudian concepts. Freud
explains that all higher things, finer things and nobler things are only sublimates of their
opposites. In modern chemistry it is known that the ugly coaltar gives the most exotic perfumes
and brilliant colours. Freud holds the process of civilization to be an instance of sublimation. The
incestual and sexual urge is sublimated and the finest creations, such as music, sculpture, art
and literature are all a result of it.
4. The concept of displacement-Freud discovered this phenomenon of displacement in his
analysis of dreams. Usually the object or goal or motive is disguised by substituting it with
something else. The process is known as displacement. In modern living displacement is
perhaps one of the most important modes of survival. For example, one may get very angry with
a stronger or more powerful person. It may be suicidal to give vent to this anger. Instead, the
individual may let out steam on a weak or helpless being.

The classical psychoanalytic technique consists in bringing repressed wishes, desires and
complexes to the conscious level. This process is long, arduous and time consuming. The client
usually resists and resistance is one of the two psychoanalytic phenomena which serves a dual
purpose. On the one hand, resistance prevents the repressed idea, desire or wish from
surfacing. This process is natural and universal. However, encountering resistance in the
psychoanalytic process is an indication of the progress of therapy. If resistance is not
encountered no therapy worth its name ever takes place. The second important psychoanalytic
concept is the phenomenon of transference. This is the highly sensitive, emotionally charged
relationship between the client and the psychoanalyst. Transference can easily mislead a
therapist and may prove to be tiresome. Successful therapy consists in managing transference
and directing it to its appropriate object.

The psychoanalytic therapy consists of the 'talking' method in which the client is asked to relax
on a couch and give free expression to any and every idea that comes to his mind. The
psychoanalyst sits behind the client outside his visual field so that he does not give any visual,
facial or gestural cues to the client. The analyst patiently prods the client through a series of
sessions until the crucial complexes are brought to the surface. In this process the analyst has
to successfully manage the phenomena of resistance and transference. Dream material is often
analyzed and used in the explanation of the complexes.

Some of the major criticisms levelled against psychoanalysis are the following:
1. The deterministic view of man portrays him as a nasty person driven relentlessly by
animalistic instincts, unconscious needs and repressed urges.
2. Freud's system implies the dualism of the body and mind as a distinct phenomena which
emphasizes psychosomatic phenomena or 'reaction formations".
3. Too much emphasis is placed upon childhood experiences and the present maladjustment is
sought to be explained on the basis of some experience in early childhood. This would make the
individual feel helpless and incapable of overcoming his difficulties.
4. In Freud's system all behaviour is determined by the psychic energy which could flow into or
towards one object or another. This explanation minimizes the importance of situational events.
5. Freud minimizes the role of rationality in human behaviour. But in therapy Freud appears to
unwittingly take recourse to rationality.
In psychoanalysis the repressed material is brought out and interpreted for the client and this
makes him understand his irrational fears, complexes, etc., that is, the individual becomes more
knowledgeable.

THE ECLECTIC APPROACH

There is no gainsaying the fact that counsellors, like medical men, adopt variations of their
theoretical positions in actual practice. This kind of variation becomes necessary to suit different
individuals and specific situations. Most practitioners in actual practice adopt minor to major
variations in their theoretical orientations. They adopt different view points which are
consistently combined into a working theory. This trend in practitioners' approach towards
theory is often described as 'emerging eclecticism'. Each counsellor must sooner or later
develop a point of view which may be called uniquely his own. The divergencies in current
theories of personality also point to the reason why no one theory or method of approach is fully
adequate for any counsellor, for different types of clients and for different kinds of situations.
Such a pragmatic approach is likely to exhibit several theoretical inconsistencies. But it should
be realized that developing a unique view encompassing all the variations and incorporating all
the salient features of all the theories is a very demanding and lifelong task.
English and English (1958) define eclecticism in theory building as the selection and orderly
combination of compatible features from diverse sources and of incompatible theories and
systems into a harmonious whole. The resultant system is open to constant revision even in its
major outlines. Eclecticism is to be distinguished from unsystematic and uncritical combination
of things. The eclectic seeks consistency as far as possible. The formalist sees the eclectic's
position as too loose and uncritical. The eclectic finds the schools (theories) too formal,
dogmatic and rigid. The newer concept of eclecticism is not a theoretical. The recognition that
no one theoretical orientation is adequate to deal with the complexities of a variety of individuals
suggests the need for an integrated, comprehensive and pragmatic approach.

Brammer (1969) explains that eclecticism in counselling refers to selecting, or choosing from
various systems or theories. What is selected, presumably, is the best of each system. The
question, 'what is best?' is seldom explained satisfactorily. The matter of choosing what is 'best'
from each system is left to the counsellor to decide under the given circumstances, and this can
lead to much avoidable controversy. It is explained that the choices of principles are never made
in advance but are made as and when they are found to be expedient in working with the
counsellees. It is, therefore, not practicable to predict what an eclectist will do in a given
situation. This suggests that the position of every eclectic counsellor will naturally differ from
every other eclectician, making the position impossible to define or describe.
According to an important protagonist of the eclectic point of view, Thorne (1950), eclecticism is
the most practicable and apt approach to counselling. He points to the fact that there are wide
personality differences and no single theory of personality can justifiably encompass all
phenomena. Similarly, the problems of individuals vary both in content and intensity and an
approach suitable to one individual need not necessarily suit another individual. Therefore, it is
necessary that the therapy be individualized. It must be such that it is relevant to the problem
and the client.
Thorne calls this 'integrative psychology' and claims that it provides systematic theoretical
foundations for eclectic clinical practice. Brammer (1969) is critical about "choosing bits and
pieces from a wide spectrum of counselling theories and methods" and holds that it is a
"hodge-podge of contradictory assumptions and incompatible techniques". He instead suggests
the need for developing a comprehensive, consistent and systematic synthesis "incorporating all
valid knowledge about behaviour".
The therapeutic implications of integrative psychology are:
1. All psychopathological or disturbed conditions are examples of disorders of integrations and
the goal of all methods of psychological counselling is to strengthen and improve the quality of
the integrative process, thus fostering higher levels of self-actualizations. The specific goal of all
therapeutic counselling is to alter the existing psychological state. The counsellor's focus is,
therefore, the person in the present situation: "The psychological state of the person running the
business of his life in the world".
2. The therapist has to assess whether the client has the necessary resources to take on the
responsibilities of his life.
3. If the therapist is satisfied, he gives the client the responsibility of taking on some routine
tasks to start with.
4. Therapy involves the training and re-education of the client in acquiring the controls
necessary for self-regulation.

Case handling

Behavioural approach
Counselling and psychotherapy are concerned with behaviour change and, therefore, according
to some theorists, must involve the applications of the principles of learning or learning theory.
Learning here is understood as changes in behaviour which are relatively long lasting and which
are not due to maturation or to physiological factors like fatigue, effect of drugs, etc. However,
counselling, by and large, has developed outside the learning theory. It is only in recent times
that the principles of learning theory have been sought to be applied in the counselling
technique.

The learning approach employed in the behaviouristic model could be either the classical
conditioning or the operant conditioning model. From the behaviouristic point of view, all
behaviour-adjustive or maladjustive is primarily learnt in the same manner. Hence it should be
modifiable by employing suitable learning principles. All behaviour of organisms, including
human beings, ranging from simple to complex behaviour, is learnt. Four basic principles
(DCRR) are involved in all types of learning. The first is drive or motivation which impels the
organism to act. The drives could be primary (tissue needs) or secondary (learnt). Without drive
there can be no action; consequently, no learning can occur. The second principle is cue or
stimulus. For instance, an organism is hungry and is stimulated by a variety of different objects,
including food. The stimulation by food would be effective while the other stimulations in this
situation would not be effective. Thus, drive and cue together determine the response of the
organism. The third principle of all learning is response. Stimulation leads to responses. The
relevance of a response to a situation at a given time is determined by its survival value or its
serviceability or usefulness to the organism. Reinforcement is the fourth principle of learning.
It is of the nature of a reward. A response that is reinforced or rewarded is acquired, while a
response that is not rewarded is not acquired.
The behaviouristic approach to counselling employs the four principles of learning namely, drive,
cue, response and reinforcement. Every response is considered modifiable by the use of an
appropriate system of reinforcement. The behaviouristic approach differs from the
psychoanalytic and medical approaches with regard to its attitude towards maladaptive or
maladjusted behaviour. The behaviour therapist is least concerned with the past. He is not
interested in knowing what caused the symptom. He is concerned with the symptom here and
now. The past for him is something which cannot be changed. It is irrelevant. But the future can
be modified. Past, however, is not existent and, therefore, unmodifiable. Therefore, the
behaviour therapist is not concerned with the case history and the past. There is no need for
delving into the past life history of the client. It serves no real purpose. Therapy essentially
consists of several simple steps: (1) identifying the undesirable, unwanted, maladjusted and
maladaptive behaviour, (2) careful analysis of the maladaptive behaviour into small units, and (3)
each unit is eliminated by an appropriate technique involving an operant conditioning procedure.
There are different approaches stressing different aspects of the learning theory.

Dollard and Miller's (1950) reinforcement theory is a thought provoking approach. They define
neurosis as learned behaviour. What is more interesting is that, according to them, neurotic
conflicts are taught by parents and learnt by children. Thus, unwanted and maladjusted
behaviour is acquired or learnt. This includes phobias, compulsions, hysterical symptoms,
regression, reaction formation, alcoholism, etc. In the long run many behavioural reactions
become maladaptive. They comprise the techniques by which the responsibility for action is
evaded. They increase the misery though in the beginning the results appear favourable.

In the treatment of clients therapy involves the creation of a new type of social situation which is
the opposite of that responsible for inducing repression. The new social situation provides for
gradually overcoming the repressions under permissive social conditions. The therapeutic
situation is characterized by permissiveness which leads to the removal of repression.
The clients are encouraged to verbalize their experiences, that is, talk about themselves and in
this process the client gives vent to his emotions. In psychodrama a similar principle is
employed. Much of our learning makes use of labels. This is based on principles of
generalization and transference. The fear of one object, by association, leads us to fear several
other objects. We label them all as dangerous so that even a neutral object may arouse anxiety
and fear owing to generalization. In therapy this principle of labelling is used to overcome a
client's own fears by learning to label appropriately. Effective learning involves making proper
choices.
If an individual were to wrongly identify and choose objects, he would perhaps encounter
unpleasant experiences. Labelling as a technique is used by the therapist to help the client
acquire certain desirable behavioural tendencies or eliminate undesirable behavioural
tendencies.

In the implementation of therapy the client is provided with a permissive social environment
where he is free to talk and express his feelings no matter how shocking or horrifying they may
be. The therapist obtains relevant information from such talk. Gaps are filled by suitable
questioning. In this process, the client starts with relatively unimportant material and progresses
to express more stressful and emotionally-upsetting material. The therapist suitably rewards the
free expression or free-association (talking) of the client. The simplest rewarding technique is to
give exclusive attention to what the client is saying. The second kind of reward is to accept what
the client says without condemning him or giving critical comments. A third reward is to recount
to the client what he has mentioned earlier. Yet another type of reward is not to cross-examine
the client.
The next step in therapy consists in the handling of transference. Through this the therapist
gains information about the client. He has to identify the transferred- responses and clarify them
by questioning and identifying the origin and the person from whom it is transferred. Transferred
responses are learned responses. They can, therefore, be modified and even unlearned.

The reinforcement theory of Dollard and Miller (1950) is an integration of psychoanalytic

concepts with behaviouristic techniques. Since the two belong to entirely different domains,
there are bound to be some gaps and inconsistencies. But the approach has been very useful in
stimulating other thinkers and therapists to explore the use of the learning approach in
counselling..

Behavioural modification is a technique or group of techniques that employ the learning theory.
As far as behavioural counsellors are concerned, behaviour results from the interaction of
heredity and environment. Behavioural counsellors are usually concerned with observable
behaviour, though implicit behaviour is as much a result of the interaction of heredity and
environment. They stress five tenets:
1. Most, if not all, human behaviour is learnt (excluding maturation). Hence it is changeable or
modifiable.
2. Changes in the environment can alter behaviour. Counselling therapists seek to bring about
relevant changes in client behaviour by altering the environment suitably.
3. Social learning principles are of value in effecting behavioural change. The common social
learning principles employed are social reinforcement, modelling, labelling, etc.
4. The counselling effectiveness can be assessed in terms of actual outcomes in behavioural
change.
5. The counselling technique or procedure cannot be a predetermined fixed process. It has to be
designed to suit each client's specific needs.

The most important central principle of behavioural counselling is reinforcement. Reinforcement

could be positive, negative or neutral. Behavioural change is attempted to be brought about by
first identifying the behaviour to be changed and defining the objective (nature of change
sought).

The principles of reward (R), aversion (A), omission (O) and punishment (P) or RAOP are
employed either individually or in combination as required in specific cases. If the client makes a
response which is in the desired direction, it is positively reinforced. The client may also be
shown a model and the behaviour of the client is sought to be modelled by suitable
reinforcement. For instance, if smoking is to be eliminated, every time the client makes a
response in the direction of smoking, such as reaching for the cigarette case or taking a
cigarette, an aversive reinforcement is given. A common aversive technique used in overcoming
alcoholism is that when the client consumes alcohol he immediately feels sick and vomits. Thus
consumption of alcohol is associated with aversive vomiting behaviour. Another technique to
eliminate a behaviour is to ignore it. No reinforcement is given in this technique. This
corresponds to deconditioning or extinction. Punishment is administered as a negative
reinforcement whenever quick results are sought. But punishment by itself may not be useful
because it may harden the organism, that is, the client may develop negative adaptation.
Behavioural counselling has a very significant application in schools and early childhood
behaviour. Whether it would be useful with adults, and if useful, what the permanency of such a
change would be, are questions which have not been satisfactorily answered.

Criticisms of behavioural counselling generally stress the meaninglessness of the mechanistic

view of human behaviour. It is also questioned as to whether the manipulation of client
behaviour in a cold, impersonal fashion is justifiable. The major criticism appears to centre round
the issues of the infringement of human freedom and choice.

HUMANISTIC APPROACH
In contrast to psychoanalysis, Carl Rogers, 'client-centred' approach to counselling is more
directly related to the field of psychological counselling. Rogers did not present his approach as
a systematic theory until 1947 when he presented it in his Presidential address to the American
Psychological Association. The approach caught the attention of psychologists because it was
related to psychology more than to medicine. The course of treatment proposed was relatively
brief compared to that of psychoanalysis. The major concepts of 'client-centered' theory thus do
not arise from psychopathology. Its aim was not to cure sick people but to help people live more
satisfying and creative lives. Rogers was influenced to a considerable extent by the
phenomenological psychology popular during that period. He is also counted as one of the
important protagonists of the humanistic approach popularly known as the 'third force' in
psychology.

Client-centered therapy, that is, the practical application of humanistic psychology made a great
impact on the academic scene. According to Rogers, in any kind or type of psychotherapy the
underlying basic theme is the helping relationship. In all human interactions, such as
mother-child, teacher-pupil, therapist-client, etc., the helping relationship is fundamental. This
relationship is one in which the counsellor seeks to bring about a better appreciation and a
clearer expression of the client's latent inner resources. Thus the helping relationship is intended
to facilitate the growth of the person receiving help. Such a growth in individuals is aimed at
improving their functioning and/or accelerating their maturity. This is usually called psychological
growth or psychological maturity. Counselling aims at bringing about psychological growth or
maturity in the client. The helping relationship is also generally a one-to-one relationship. It could
also be in some specific cases an individual-group relationship.

Rogers attaches enormous importance to helping relationships. These may often be looked
upon as nurturing and uplifting contacts among people. This can be exemplified by enumerating
the basic characteristics of all helping relationships. These are:
1. It is meaningful to the persons involved; it implies mutual self-commitment.
2. It has a marked tone of feeling, that is, the individuals who are involved experience certain
emotional states.
3. It implies integrity-the persons involved are intellectually and emotionally honest with each
other.
4. It can exist by mutual consent only, that is, there is no compulsion. No person can be
compelled to be helpful and similarly no person can be compelled to receive help.
5. It comes into existence or becomes necessary when one is in need of some kind of help
which another can reasonably provide. For instance, an individual may need information, advice
or assistance in a particular situation while another individual has the necessary knowledge and
capacity to provide him owing to his experience, position or situation.
6. It involves communication and interaction. This may involve non-verbal behaviour, such as
facial expressions, gestures and the like and also direct verbal communication.
7. It is often structured, that is, it is not vague and amorphous. The helping individual knows
what sort of help he could possibly provide and the individual receiving help knows what kind of
help he is in need of.
8. It is sustained through mutual cooperation and collaboration. If a certain kind of help is
provided which is not useful the receiver will indicate the same, and the helping person will
naturally modify his approach.
9. The helping person must have a sense of security. An insecure person obviously cannot be of
much help to the individual who is in need of help.
10. The goal or object of the helping relationship is to change the client positively.

However, sometimes the term 'client-centred' is somewhat misleading. All therapies the orthodox
psychoanalytic and the more recent approaches-are basically client-centered. The goal of all
therapy is to help the client. So the object of every system of therapy is the betterment and
well-being of the client. It is not as if the other therapists are disinterested in the well-being of
clients. Rogers uses the term 'client-centred therapy' to emphasize the role the client has to play.
In psychoanalytic therapy, for example, the client has a passive role. The therapist is. at the
centre of the stage. It is he who directs the course of the therapy, interprets the client's
communications and terminates the sessions.
Rogers' (1961) theory of personality, more popularly known as the 'self-theory' of personality,
has evolved from his counselling practice. Rogers' theory basically views man as a "socialized,
forward moving, rational and realistic" individual. This contrasts with Freud's conception of man
as being irrational and unsocial. Man does not want to hurt himself or hurt others (the death
instinct). He wants to overcome such negative feelings. Human nature is positive, constructive
and cooperative. The individual perceives experience as reality. He has an innate tendency
towards actualizing his potentialities. The child's behaviour is goal-directed and is aimed at
satisfying the need for actualization through interaction with his perceived reality (environment).
The experiences are valued as positive or negative in so far as they help or hinder his
actualizing tendency.
Stages in the counselling process

Stage I
There is an unwillingness to communicate about the self; communication, if any, is only about
externals, such as experiences which have no deep significance for himself. Client's personal
constructs are extremely rigid. Individuals at this stage do not recognize the need for counselling
and do not come voluntarily for help.
Stage II
In this stage the client begins to express his feelings about non-self objects. The client may
speak about other things which are remote in relation to his self. There is no sense of personal
responsibility in problems. Client's personal constructs are rigid. Feelings may be shown but are
not recognized or owned. There is little differentiation of personal meanings and recognition of
contradictions. May begin therapy at this stage.
Stage III
The client feels free to express his feelings. The process started in the previous stage continues
more freely. Another significant improvement is that the client talks about the self as an object.
Past feelings and personal feelings which are usually negative are expressed. However, the
client does not accept them. For most part, the feelings are revealed as something shameful,
bad or abnormal or unacceptable in other ways. The client is able to see his personal choices as
ineffective but not in their proper perspective.
Stage IV
The client describes more intense feelings experienced in the past and does not refer to the
feelings in the present. The client is able to overcome his defenses occasionally and express his
feelings as experienced in the present. Acceptance, understanding and empathy enable the
client to move smoothly in the direction of therapy. There is a realization about contradictions
and incongruence between experience and self. The client shows feelings of self-responsibility
in problems but there is a tendency to vacillate.
Stage V
Feelings are expressed freely in the present. Feelings are very close to being fully experienced
though fear, distrust and lack of clarity are still present. Self-feelings are increasingly owned and
accepted. Responsibility for problems is accepted. The client is increasingly able to accept
contradictions and incongruencies in experiences. There is an increase in free dialogue within
the self and improvement in reducing blockage of internal communication.
Stage VI
The client who was previously inhibiting a feeling is able to experience the same with immediacy
and without any difficulty. Feelings are freely experienced and expressed. The immediacy of
experiencing and the feeling which constitutes its content are accepted and not denied, feared
and/or struggled against. The incongruence between experience and awareness is vividly
experienced as it disappears into congruence, that is, incongruence becomes congruence. In
this stage there are no longer any problems-external or internal. Physiological concomitants of a
loosening, relaxing nature-tears, sighs, muscular relaxation, improved circulation, etc. are
present.
Stage VII
New feelings are experienced with immediacy and richness of detail. Changing feelings are
accepted and owned. There is a feeling of trust in the total organismic process. All the elements
of his experiences are now available to awareness and there is experiencing of real and
effective choice in new ways of being. The counsellee becomes a 'fully-functioning person', by
which is meant that each individual has an innate tendency toward actualizing himself, that is,
realizing his inherent capacities and potentialities.
In brief the counselling process involves:
1. A loosening of feelings.
2. A change in the manner of experiencing.
3. A shift from incongruence to congruence.
4. A change in the manner and extent to which the individual is willing and able to communicate
himself in a receptive climate.
5. A widening of the cognitive maps of experience and a breaking of rigid boundaries.
6. A change in the individual's manner of relating himself to others and to his own experiences.
7. A change in the individual's reactions to his problems.

The major shortcomings of client-centered therapy are:

1. This approach emphasizes the affective determinants of behaviour, ignoring the importance of
intellectual, cognitive and rational aspects of numan nature.
2. It totally ignores the usefulness of providing information which may be of value to the
counsellees.
3. It has the same goal for all the clients, namely, maximizing, that is, making them
self-actualizing individuals. This general goal does not take into account the individual needs of
clients.

NATURE OF COUNSELLING

Counselling, according to Williamson (1950), is "one of the personalized and individual

processes designed to aid the individual to learn school subject matter, citizenship traits, social
and personal values and habits, and all other habits, skills, attitudes and beliefs which go to
make up a normally adjusting being."
Counselling is thus personalized, permissive assistance to develop self-understanding and
self-direction.
The directive approach is also called the trait-and-factor approach by which is meant that the
counselling process consists of analysing and identifying personality traits or factors which could
best be matched with the demands of different kinds of situations educational, vocational,
personal, etc. The counselling process consists of six steps analysis, synthesis, diagnosis,
prognosis, counselling and follow-up (ASDPCF). In this approach there is a strong analogy to
the medical model. The first step in analysis is to obtain as full and complete an understanding
of the client as possible from cumulative records, autobiographies, anecdotal records,
psychological tests and interviews. A trained counsellor will not necessarily limit himself to any
particular approach. He tries to secure as much information as practicable from different tools or
techniques. The information thus obtained has to be synthesized. Synthesis essentially consists
of ordering and arranging the data so that it helps in diagnosis.

Diagnosis as a method in counselling is disfavoured in client-centered therapy. According to

Rogers, in diagnozing, the client is treated as an object. The locus of responsibility is shifted to
the counsellor. Gathering diagnostic information produces no change in the client. Further there
is a danger of the counsellor becoming committed to his diagnosis and, therefore, failing to see
significant new attitudes in the client. Diagnosis is, therefore, considered inimical to
client-centered counselling. However, in the trait-and-factor approach it is considered to be the
necessary first step in counselling. Diagnosis consists of the interpretation of data in terms of the
problems indicated, the assets and liabilities and the strengths and weaknesses of the
counsellee. It is arrived at by a logical process of inference. Diagnosis involves: (1) identifying
the problem and (2) determining the causes, that is searching for relationships, past, present
and future, which may help in the understanding of the causes of the symptoms. Diagnosis is
always of the nature of a hypothesis and, therefore, should be open to modification. Diagnosis is
primarily the function of the counsellor. This does not however mean that the counsellor can do
his work without the active cooperation of the counsellee in the process. The next step after
diagnosis is prognosis. Diagnosis and prognosis are both relevant to the goals the counsellee
strives to achieve. While diagnosis is concerned with the past and the present, prognosis is
concerned with the future.

The next step in the treatment is counselling proper. This is effected through counselling
sessions or interviews in which the counsellee is helped to try different solutions without fear of
ridicule or criticism. There are no limitations imposed on the client regarding the number of
solutions he may try. He is free to try as many as he likes till he is able to reach an optimal
solution.

The last step, usually neglected but most important, is the follow up. This concerns the
counsellor's continued interest in the counsellee and includes the assistance the counsellor
gives to deal with new problems of a recurring nature.

HOW COUNSELLING IS IMPLEMENTED

The directive approach outlines five techniques in the implementation of counselling. These are:
(1) forcing conformity, (2) changing the environment, (3) selecting the appropriate environment,
(4) learning the needed skills and (5) changing attitudes.