1.

1 Definition of counselling

Counselling is a interactive process; it involves unique relationship between counsellor

and client that leads to change in the client. The change can be in their behaviour, beliefs or level
of emotional distress

Behaviour change can be observable in the ways client act, their coping skills decision
making skills and relationship skills

Change in beliefs may include thinking about oneself, others and the world or emotional
concerns relating to all these

Changes in emotional distress may relate to uncomfortable feeling or reactivity to

environmental stress

The desire for change can come from identified problems such as loneliness,
uncontrollable anxiety, or poor social skills or from a desire for a good life. Sometimes the desire
for change can occur even in the absence of clear problems. For example: a couple may seek
counselling for more intimate relationship though there is no serious problem

Counselling process

Expected changes in the client

Behaviour Beliefs Emotional distress

 Client actions  Thinking about  Uncomfortable

 Coping skills oneself and others feelings or
 Decision making and the world  Reactivity to
 skills  Emotional concerns environmental stress
 Relationship skills of above perceptions

Counselling is developmental:

Oriented to personal growth.

Remedial counselling:

Oriented to the resolution of problems.

Best explanation about counselling can be given with reference to CarlRogers

Carl Rogers (1942) explained that the solutions imposed by others are likely to fail
because others do not know the uniqueness of the individual or the person’s power to change.
Therefore, Counsellor needs to help clients to understand themselves their problems better. The
clients also need to understand their personal resources for change. Counsellor do not impose
goals from outside the individual

1.1 Counselling is different from Guidance:

Guidance focuses on helping individuals to choose what they value most. Guidance help
individuals to make important choices that affect their lives, such as deciding a course of study at
college, career for future. It is used in helping the less experimental person. For example students
have received guidance from teachers, parents and coaches. Religious leaders also help in
guiding individuals to make choices. For example, guidance from religious leaders are obtained
to perform rituals for child and marriage
 So, guidance means helping individuals to choose what they like most whereas
counselling means helping them when they need to make changes

1.3 Definition of counselling and psychotherapy

The word “counselling” is used in many areas like college admissions, course selection,
and employment / job selection and in hospitals for pregnant woman, new mothers, and those
aspiring parents.

In reality, counselling is an activity that rarely involves advice giving. Actually it is a

profession which provides help for the individual, of any age, to make good choices in life and to
live effectively

Counselling is defined as “a professional relationship that empowers diverse individual,

families, and groups to accomplish mental, health, wellness, education, and career goals”.

This definition contains these important points:

1. counselling deals with wellness, personal growth, career, education, and empowerment
concerns
2. counselling can be conducted individually or in groups and in families
3. counselling deals with variety of individual and different cultures also
4. counselling is a dynamic process. Counselling focuses on clients goals, and helps them to
achieve it

The term psychotherapy is closely related. Psychotherapy has originally focussed on

serious problems associated with internal and personal issues and conflicts. Psychotherapy has
involved a long term relationship lasting for a period of 6 months to 2 years. It has been
associated with inpatient settings; such as residential or hospital settings

However, in modern times, professionals who provide clinical services, decide whether
the client should receive counselling or psychotherapy. Counselling and psychotherapy process
overlaps most of the time.

1.4. Goals of counselling

 Counselling leads to change behaviour, beliefs and level of emotional distress of the
client, the change happens in any one of them also. This is the goal for individual counselling
and also for group counselling. This is called outcome goals of counselling.

Goals of counselling

Outcome goals process goals

(Intended results of Counselling) (Plans of counsellor)

(What the client desire) (Counsellors action or behaviour)

1.4.1. Outcome goals of counselling

Outcome goals are the intended results of counselling. They are what the client desires to
achieve as a result of his or her interactions with the counsellor.

Outcome goals are described in terms of change in the client that will be observed after
the counselling and outside the counsellor’s office

The expected change in client:

May be oriented to personal growth or oriented to the resolution of problems. If the

change is oriented to personal growth, it is called developmental counselling. If the change is for
resolving problems, it is called remedial counselling the change that occurs may be observable or
it may be known to the client alone. It is difficult to being change in the client. It requires many
sessions and hard work for the counsellor. So successful counselling is not just a conversation
between the counsellor and the client

Categories of possible changes

1)overt behaviour change

2)improvement in decision making or coping skills

3)modification of beliefs or values

4)reduction in the level of emotional distress

Categories of possible changes

1) Overt behaviour change

Change in the client can take place in several forms the first one is behaviour change.
This type of change is the easiest type to recognise, because it is external and observable.
Behaviour change may be solution to a problem – for example a child learns to request and get
things, instead of using physical aggression to get whatever he wants

A behaviour change might also lead to interest for personal growth. For example: a
middle-aged individual who shows interest in higher education or learning computer skills for a
new career.

2) Improvement in decision making or coping skills

Counselling may also improve an individual ability to cope with life situations. Certain
environmental conditions are difficult to manage if we learn to manage such situation it may lead
to satisfaction in life. For example: adolescent who fails in the school final exams has to face the
shame and disappointment and also the Parents reaction to his failure. If He learns to manage the
situation he will be able to move forward in life. If he as poor coping skills he would decide for
poor decision such as suicide

Coping ability depends on the individual’s skill in

 identifying the problems to the resolved

 the alternatives that are available and
 the possible consequences or results of different actions

For example
 As mentioned before, the adolescent who fails in his final exam, can identify the problem
of failing in exams; more specifically low marks in any particular subject or subjects. The
solution is to reappear for the subject in the next exam.

The alternatives that are available may be reappearing for the failed subjects, or joining a
coaching class, learning from the concerned teacher, friends or a neighbour who is helpful

The adolescent can also think about the possible consequences, in which parent
appreciate preparing for the next exam, or approaching somebody coaching for the subjects.

A counsellor can help the client to think about the possible solutions, alternatives and
consequences of decisions

Counselling may also contribute to make important life decisions. Counsellors helps the
client to make self-assessment to use the information available and to identify relevant sources
for information, this will help the client to arrive at a personally satisfying answers.

3) Modification of beliefs and values

This type of change in beliefs and values are not directly observable. A change in beliefs
may occur due to the counselling. This may be seen from their talk or conversation changes in
beliefs often lead to behaviour change, but they can also make present behaviour more satisfying.

For example: a parent who changes his/her view point about an adolescent daughter’s
behaviour, will see her disobedient behaviour as normal for the adolescent age; will he less upset
by it and does not react with anger.

4) Reduction in the level of emotional distress

An additional result of counselling is the relief of emotional distress. Many times, the
relief from emotional distress is the only one expected necessary change. When individuals have
been troubled by a loss or tragedy in their lives, they would benefit largely from the emotional
release. For example, when somebody’s house has been destroyed in the cyclone or tsunami or
earthquake may need counselling to vent the fear during the event and the sad and angry feelings
about the losses. (The affected individuals enter professional counselling because they need a
place to safely vent out those feelings and feel sure they will be accepted and understood)
 This emotional stress may be interfering with their activities and they need relief from
this psychic pain. Counsellors need to attend to the irrational thoughts, inadequate coping skills
that Continues the emotional distress which will release their distress and bring about a change.

Change that occurs in counselling can influence feelings, values and attitudes, thoughts
and actions. If change occurs in one dimension, counselling is said to be a success

5).Free and responsible behaviour:

Another goal of counselling is to make the client understand the true margins of their
freedom to behave

Freedom is the power to determine one’s own actions, to make one’s own choices and
decisions. Freedom is limited by the responsibility it is not a license to do whatever one likes to
do. An individual’s behaviour should not be threatening to the family, friends, teachers,
employees or the society at large. So the freedom is limited by the responsibility towards others
and society

It also means that the individual should not make decisions which affect their own lives
for the future. Counsellor works with the client to make him understand personal freedom. Free
and responsible behaviour means individuals are in the change of their own lives and also
recognizes that they are part of the society. The freedom to behave may be limited by social rules
and laws

6).Understanding and managing negative feelings

We need to realise that negative feelings are present even in people who are leadings
satisfactory lines. Therefore, counsellors should not be tempted to help the client for eliminating
anxiety, sadness or anger. The goal of counselling is to leave clients with situation appropriate
levels of negative feelings. It is normal to feel anxious about an important decision or event. It is
normal to feel very angry at someone who has stolen things at home. Grief is also normal after
experience of death of a friend or a member of a family

Therefore, the goal of counselling is to help individuals understand these feelings, and to
reduce debilitating anxiety, over whelming sadness or extreme anger
1.4.2. Process goals of counselling

We shall refer to the definition of counselling once again. We have so far understood one
part of the definition – counselling leads to a change

Now we shall look into the other part of the definition – counselling is an interactive
process – characterized by a unique relationship between counsellor and client

Now we shall understand the goals of counselling process. Process goals are different
from outcome goals.

(In contrast) but the process goals are those that the counsellor consider helpful in
bringing about the outcome goals.

Process goals are plans for events that take place during the counselling sessions and in
the counsellor’s office

Process goals are described in terms of the counsellor’s actions or behaviour. It includes
active listening by the counsellor to understand the importance of his feelings regarding his
present and future well being counsellors should understand how clients attitudes influence the
way he behaves towards important people. The counsellor should actively listen to understand
the surrounding circumstances, cultural background that relate to clients concerns / problems.

All these are process goals that relate to counsellor’s behaviour.

Experiencing trust, focussing more on primary or important problems, and controlling

fear are all process goals described, which the client should experience

Another kind of process goal relates to how the counsellor acts as a model or an example.
By modelling appropriate responses to frustration, disappointment or negative feelings, the client
learns the ways of responding. For example, when a client is late for the session repeatedly and if
the counsellor deals with him in an appropriate manner without shouting or being aggressive, the
counsellor is demonstrating to the client, an alternate way to react when frustrated.
Stages of the Counselling Process: A process is an identifiable sequence of events taking
place over time. It implies progressive stages in the process. Counseling also has a predictable
set of stages that occur in any complete sequence.

Stage-I Initial Disclosure

Stage-II In-Depth Exploration

Stage-III Commitment to Action

Stage-I Initial Disclosure: At the beginning of counselling the counsellor and the client
typically donot now one another.Perhaps the counsellor has some basic information about the
client from an intake form. And the client is probably anxious about disclosing concerns because
he or she is not sure how the counsellor will receive the disclosures. One important task of the
counsellor in the first stage of counselling is to remove the client’s fears and encourage self-
disclosure. Without honest self-disclosure by the client counselling is an empty enterprise.
Attending is an important counsellor behaviour at the onset of counselling. Attending is simply
paying careful attention to the client’s words and actions. Attending behaviour is apart of the
initial disclosure stage because it begins when the first contact between client and counsellor
occurs. But it remains important throughout all stages of the counselling process. This first stage
is also described as the “definition of the problem”. To encourage client disclosure counsellor
must offer a climate that promotes trust in the client. Carl Rogers described these trust-promoting
conditions as the characteristics of the helping relationship. It includes Empathy; Congruence or
genuineness; and unconditional positive regard. Another condition that has relevance throughout
the counselling process is Concreteness. Concreteness promotes clearer insight by the clients into
his or her life. If these conditions are present in the initial disclosure stage of counselling .clients
will be encouraged to talk freely and to elaborate on their concerns. If clients are not positively
disposed toward the counsellor in the first few sessions they are at risk for dropping out of
counselling.

Stage-II In-Depth Exploration: In the second stage of counselling the client should reach
clearer understanding of his or her life concerns and formulate astronger sense of hope and
direction. At this stage the goals are not precisely defined and the means to reach them are still
not clear. This self-exploration is possible only if the trust and the client engagement that were
built in the first stage are maintained. As the relationship becomes more secure the counsellor
alsobegins to share with the client the observations about the client’s goals and current
behaviour. This is called confrontation. Immediacy is another quality of the counselor’s
behaviour that becomes important in the second stage of counselling. It can refer to general
discussions about the progress of the counselling relationship;counselor’s immediate reactions to
the client’s statements and a self-involving response.Immediacy responses can be openly
supportive or confrontative.

The second stage of counselling frequently becomes emotionally stressful because the client
must face the inadequacy of the habitual behaviours and must give up those inorder to obtain the
desired goals. In the second stage the client and the counsellor come to a mutually acceptable
assessment and diagnosis of the problem.

Assessment is a process of information gathering and hypothesis testing that results in a

diagnosis of the problem that includes the client’s history or life circumstances and strengths.
The diagnosis is determined primarily through careful analysis of the issues presented in the
counselling session. It also includes the use of behavioural observations;.data from others
connected to the client and findings from the standardized tests that focus on academic;.career or
personality aspects. Once diagnosis is established the client and counsellor can move on to the
third stage;.the identification of specific goals for change and the selection of action plans to
implement those goals.

Stage-III Commitment to Action:In the final stage of counselling the client must decide how to
accomplish any goals that have emerged during the previous two stages. If no action has been
taken to accomplish the goals identified through the counselling process;then the third stage of
counselling can focus on increasing the client’s commitment. The third stage includes identifying
possible alternative courses of action the client might choose and assess each of these in terms of
the likelihood of outcomes. Various courses of action are developed by the client with
encouragement from the counsellor. Once an action plan is chosen the client usually tries some
new behaviours while remaining in touch with the counselor. The counsellor gives support for
trying new behaviours and helps the client to evaluate the effectiveness of new behaviours or
new conceptions of reality which may relate to reduction of stress. When the client is satisfied
that the new behaviours are woring satisfactorily counselling is complete.
Nonlinearity of stages: The process explained depicts each succeeding stage as dependent
on the preceding one. That is unless problems have been defined it is not possible to establish
goals and unless one has established goals it is not possible to effectively evaluate possible
courses of action. The counselling process also needs to be modified somewhat in certain
situations . the special needs of clients from diverse backgrounds .clients in crisis minor clients;
and those not competent to manage their own affairs require that counsellors be flexible in their
counselling. This implies that the stages are fluid as new insights open up; depending on the type
of client or the problem.and will lead to further exploration of previous stages as counselling
progresses. The linear conception of stages is an oversimplification and it is important to
recognise the limitations of such a stage mode It means that the stages may not follow the
sequence and can be nonlinear also.The third stage is a decision maing and action time.

1.5 Summary :

 Counseling is an interactive process between the client and the counsellor. It is a

helping relationship.It leads to changes that are observable in behaviour,beliefs, and
emotional distress of the client
 Guidance focuses on helping individuals to make important choices which they value
most.
 Psychotherapy focuses on serious problems and healing is done by qualified and trained
practitioners.
 Two types of Goals for Counselling which are categorised as Outcome Goals and Process
Goals. Outcome goals refer to the desired changes in the client.Process Goals refer to the
Counselor’s plans and actions for the counselling process.
 Outcome goals --Overt changes in the client include 1) Behavior change 2)Improvement
in Decision Maing Or Coping skills 3)Modification of Beliefs and Values 4) the relief of
Emotional Distress .5) Free and responsible behaviour and 6) Understanding and
Managing Negative feelings.
 The process of counselling includes three stages. They are Initial disclosure;in-depth
exploration and commitment to action. The flow moves from the initial meeting of
counsellor and client to thorough exploration of client concerns to goal setting and action
planning. The flow of these stages may be varied depending on the background of clients
 or clients in crisis and those clients not competent to manage their own affairs. The
counsellors become flexible in their approach.

2.1 History of counselling

The field of counselling developed in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Before 1900s counselling
was in the form of advice or information. In the united states counselling developed to improve
the lives of those affected by the industrial revolution.

They focussed on teaching children, young adults about themselves, others and the world of
work. Their counselling was based on moral education about being good and doing right and to
deal with relationship problems.

Let us look into the important events and significant contributions by some of the authors.

1900 – 1909: During this period, three persons made important contributions to the area of
counselling.

Frank Parsons, called the founder of guidance, focused his work on the growth and prevention.
He started Boston’s Vocational Bureau in 1908, which is a major step in institutionalising
vocational guidance. He was working with youth as a lawyer, engineer, a college teacher and a
social worker. At the bureau, parsons was working with young people who were in the process of
making career decisions. His book on “Choosing a Vocation” (1909) lead to the recognition of
vocational planning.

Jesse B. Davis was the first person to set up a systematised guidance program in the public
schools. He suggested that classroom teachers of English composition to teach their children, a
lesson in guidance once a week. Goal of this program was to school guidance program.

Clifford Beas, wrote a book titled, “A Mind that found itself” in which he described poor
conditions in mental institutions. He suggested better mental health facilities and reforms in the
treatment of people. His look was a “Forerunner of Mental Health Counselling “.

1910s – In this period, three events had a profound impact on the development of counselling.

The first was in 1913 in which “The National Vocational Guidance Association”(NVGA) was
founded. This lead to the legislation which provided funding for public schools to support
vocational guidance.

The next event was World War 1. During the war, counselling became more widely recognised
for testing and placement for military personnel. Psychological instruments were developed for
use with army personnel. Significant among them were Army Alpha and Army Beta Intelligence
Tests. After the war, psychometrics became a popular movement and became an early
foundation for counselling.
1920s – During this period, education courses for counsellors had began at Harvard University in
1911. This course exclusively emphasized vocational guidance during the 1920s.

A notable event was the certification of counsellors in Boston and New York in Mid 1920s.

Another turning point was the development of standards for the preparation and evaluation of
occupational materials. As a results, Edward Strong’s Strong Vocational Interest Inventory
(SVII) was published in 1927. This gave future direction for assessment in counselling.

Another interesting event was the establishment of the first marriage and family counselling
center in 1929 by Abraham &Haunah Stone in New York city.

1930s – Important event of this decade was the development of the first theory of counselling,
proposed by E G Williamson and his colleagues at the university of Minnesota. He modified
Parsons theory and used it for counselling students and the unemployed. He emphasised on a
direct, counsellor – centred approach known as trait factor counselling.

Another major occurrence was the broadening of counselling beyond occupational needs. John
Brewer brought this change as he proposed that every teacher should be a counsellor and the
guidance should be part of the school curriculum. Brewer published a book titled education as
guidance in 1932.

US Government became more involved in guidance and counselling. Government passed the
George – Dean Act in 1938, which created The Vocational Education Division. US Employment
Service published the first edition of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles in 1939. This became
a major source of career information for guidance specialists.

1940s – During this period, three major events shaped the practice of counselling:

1. Theory of Carl Rogers

2. World War 2
3. Government involvement in counselling after the war
Carl Rogers became prominent in 1942 with the publication of his book “Counselling and
Psychotherapy”. He emphasized the client-centered approach to counselling using a non-
directive approach. He challenged the counsellor-centered approach of Williamson. Rogers
proposed that clients should be given responsibility for their own growth. He described the role
of a professional helper as being non – judgemental and accepting.

The second event was world war 2. War resulted in a new way of looking at vocations for men
and women. US Government needed counsellors and psychologists to help select and train
specialists for the military and industry.

After the war, US Government further promoted counselling through the George Barden Act of
1946, which provided vocational education funds for counsellor training institutes. In addition,
veterans administration ------------------------- specifications for vocational counsellors and coined
the term “Counselling Psychologist”. Counselling psychology growing further as a profession.

1950s – This is the period which produced atleast five major events that contributed most to the
history of counselling.

1. Starting of the American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA)

2. Beginning of the American School Counsellor Association (ASCA)
3. Establishment of Division 17 – Society of Counselling Psychology ( within the American
Psychological Association, APA)
4. Passing the National Defence Education Act (NDEA)
5. Introduction of new guidance and counselling theories
American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA) grew out of the Council of Guidance
and Personnel Association (CGPA). This is concerned with educational and vocational guidance
and other personnel activities. APGA was formed in 1952 with the purpose of formally
organising going interested in guidance, counselling and personnel matters. It had four divisions.

Beginning of the American School Counsellor Association (ASCA). In 1953 ASCA was
chartered. It joined APGA as its fifth member or division, and increased its membership.

Establishment of Division 17: In 1952, the society of counselling psychology of APA was
formally established. It is known as the Division of Counselling Psychology. APA influenced
this division, to work with a more normal population than those seen by clinical psychologists.
This division had a major impact on the growth and development of counselling as a profession.

National Education Act: This act was passed in 1958 with a purpose to identify scientifically and
academically talented students and promote their development. In 1964, NDEA was extended to
include elementary counselling and the results were impressive. The number of school
counsellors increased to a bigger member.

New Theories: The last major event during this decade was the emergence of new guidance and
counselling theories. During the 1950s, the new theories emerged: Applied Behavioural
Theories, such as Joseph Wolpe’s Systematic Desensitization began to gain influence. Cognitive
theories such as Albert Ellis’s Rational Emotive Therapy, Eric Berne’s Transactional Analysis
and Aron Beck’s Cognitive Therapy. Learning theory, self-concept theory, Donald Super’s work
in career development and advances in developmental psychology made an impact.

1960s, GilbertWrenn released the book titled “The Counsellor in a changing world” in 1962. The
focus was on counselling as a developmental profession. Gilbert Wrenn’s approach was
supported by Leona Tyler and Donald Blocher, and used counselling to resolve developmental
needs.

Importance of this developmental model decreased because of three events:

 1) Vietnam war 2)The civil rights movement 3)The women movement
Many counsellors started concentrating on these issues by attending to special needs created by
the events.Other powerful influences were due to humanistic counselling theories of Dugald
Arbuckle, Abraham Maslow and Sidney Jouvard. Emphasis of counselling shifted from one to
one to small group of interaction. Behavioural counselling also gained importance.

Another important event was the passage of the 1963 Community Mental Health Centers Act,
which authorised the establishment of community mental health centers. These centers lead to
drug abuse counselling in 1960 in the mental health centers.

In 1961, APGA published a “sound code of ethics for counsellors”. Also during 1960., AGPA
report summarized role definitions and training standards for school counsellors. The division
published a professional journal “The Counselling Psychologist” with Gilbert Wrenn as its first
editor.

Another noteworthy development was the establishment of Eric Clearing House on Counselling
and Personnel Services (CAPS) at the University of Michigan in 1966. It also sponsored
conferences on leading topics in counselling.

1970s – This period is noted as special with the formation of helping skills program, also it was
the beginning of licensure. Counselling related to diversity such as working with women,
minorities and people with disabilities were initiated.

Diversification in Counseling settings:

The rapid growth of counselling for diverse groups emerged as a result of title IX of The
Education Amendments, along with affirmative action laws and antidiscrimination against
people with disabilities.

The diversification of counselling led to specialized training as counsellor education programs.

Lewis and Lewis (1977) coined the term community counsellor for a new type of counsellor who
can function in multidimensional roles. Counsellors became more common in many community
counselling programs such as mental health clinics, hospices, employee assistance programs,
psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation centers and substance abuse centers.

In 1976, American Mental Health Counselling Association (AMHCA) within APGA, was
formed, which become the largest professional organization.

Helping skills programs: This program was begun by Truax and Carkhuff (1967) and Ivey
(1971). These programs concentrated on relationship and communication skills. They taught
basic counselling skills to the professionals and non-professionals equally. The emphasis was
humanistic and eclectic.
State Licensure: Board of examiners for psychologists had restricted graduates of education
department counselling programs from taking the psychology licensure exam, which caused
tension. The result was APGA’s decision toward state and national licensure for counsellors.

A strong APGA: The association had built its own headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. In 1973,
The Association of Counsellors Educators and Supervisors (ACES), a division of APGA,
outlined the standards for a masters degree in counselling, ACES also approved guidelines for a
Doctoral preparation in counselling.

1980’s: Counselling continued to grow as a profession with events such as

a. Standardization of training and certification

b. Recognised counselling as a distinct profession
c. Increased the diversification of counsellor specialities and emphasized human growth and
development.
d. In 1981, The Counsel for Accreditation of Counselling and Related Education Program
(CACREP) was formed as an affiliated organization of APGA. It refined the standard and
accredited four programs
Complementary to the work of CACREP, the National Board for Certified Counsellors (NBCC)
was formed in 1982. It certified at a national level. It developed standardized tests and defined
eight major subject areas in which counsellors should be knowledgeable. To become a national
certified counsellor, candidates have to pass a standardised test and meet experiential and
character reference qualification.

NationalAcademy of Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselors, began training supervisors of

Mental Health Counsellors in 1988.

2.2 Counselling as a distinct Profession:

In 1984, after much debate, AGPA changed its name to The American Association for
Counselling and Development (AACD) to suit the changing functions.

Chi Sigma Iota, an International academic and professional honoursociety was formed in 1985
by Thomas. J. Sweeney, to promote excellence in the counselling profession.

Followed by this in 1986, American Association of State Counselling Boards (AASCB) was
established by Ted Remley. AASCB was legally responsible for the registration, certification or
licensing of counsellors within USA.

More diversification of counselling: It’s a result of diversification of counsellors, The

Association for Adult Development and Aging (AADA) and The International Association for
Marriage and Family Counsellors (IAMFC) were organized and charted as divisions of AACD.
Special issues of AACD journal focused on topics such as violence, the gifted and talented, the
arts and prevention. These publications helped broaden the scope of counselling services and
counsellor awareness.

Increased emphasis as human growth and development: This emphasis took several forms.
Developmental counselling across the life span was focussed. As a result of increased emphasis
on the development of adults and the elderly resulted in the formation of Association for Adult
Aging and Development (AAAD).

The resulting developments were attention to gender issues, sexual preferences, and feminist
theory based on the development of moral values of females by Carol Gilligan. An emphasis on
moral development and models of moral reasoning referring to Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory
(1969). In focussing on multicultural issues, The Association for Multicultural Counselling and
Development took the lead.

1990s – This period had a significant change in 1992, during which AACD modified its name
and become American Counselling Association (ACA)

A second event was, counselling was included as a primary mental health profession in the
health care human resource statistics compiled by the centre for mental health services and The
National Institute of Mental Health in 1992.

A third event was the writing of the multicultural counselling competencies and standards by
Sue, Arredondo and McDavis in 1992.

A fourth issue was a focus on health care and an increase in managed health care organizations.

Many counsellors became provider under these organized ways of providing services. Emphasis
on legislation forced counsellors to become increasingly informed.

In addition, there was a renewed focus on counselling issues related to whole person, and
importance of Organism-Context interaction.(Contextualism). These factors include spirituality,
family environment, socio-economic considerations, impact of groups and group work and
prevention.

2.3 Current trends in twenty first century

Counselling is continuously facing changes due to many changes in human lives and also due to
development in science and technology. Needs of the client and society also changed in the beginning of
21st century. Changes are observable in the roles of men and women in the media and technology. Natural
disaster like hurricane, tsunami and earthquake, lead to poverty, trauma, homelessness, lonliness required
counsellor attention.

Some of the topics demanding counsellor’s attention in the new century, are violence, trauma, and crises,
managed care, wellness, social justice, technology, leadership and identity.
In 2002, counselling, finally celebrated its 50th anniversary, as a profession under ACA

2.3.1 Dealing with violence, trauma, and crises.

Counselling became important due to school shooting such as columbine, and the olahoma city bombing,
in which innocent people were killed. Also the conflict and violence in 9/11/2001, when terrorists crashed
world trade centre tower in New York City and the pentagon in Washington DC. Few other tragedies like
hurricane Katrina, the Iraq and Afganistan was and the Virginia tech shooting signalled the beginning of
counselling to deal with trauma and tragedies.

Another emphasis was to help the individuals with acute stress disaster(ASD) and post traumatic stress
and disorder (PTSD). Crisis counselling gained importance for dealing with stress resulting from trauma.

2.3.2 The challenge of managed care

Managed care involves a contract between a mental health professional and a third party regarding the
care of the client companies in the managed care business, determine how counsellor should deliver their
services and what rights counsellors have. Managed care has advanced the counselling profession by
including counsellors on managed care boards and as provides of services.

2.3.3 Promoting wellness A model for developing wellness has been developed by Myers Et al
(2000) Myers, Sweeney, and Witmer (2000) defined wellness as a way of life oriented toward optimal
health and well being: the model consisted of five life tasks:

1) Spiritually – Sense of worth

2) Self direction – sense of control
3) Work and leisure – problem solving &creativity
4) Friendship – sense of human
5) Love – self care
It appear that wellness will be one of the major emphasis within counselling in the 21st century

2.3.4 Concern for social justice & advocacy

Major elements of social justice approach include helping clients to identify and challenge environmental
limits to their success. For example, group of people who do not share the power in society because of
their immigration, community, socio-economic status, physical disabilities, and sexual orientation(
transgender groups ) social justice help counsellor to become more sensitive to social injustice and
thereby work with clients in a just manner

The purpose of advocacy is to increase a clients sense of personal power and to help socio-political
changes that can take care of clients personal needs.

Counsellor for social justice (CSJ) and ACES are the leading groups, in the American counselling
association, for advocacy and social justice
2.3.5 Greater emphasis on technology
Technology use has grown rapidly in counselling. The no of network based computer applications in
counselling has been increasing

Listservs and bulletin board system (BBSs) have become popular for posting messages and encouraging
dialogue between counsellors. For example CES net. Email and websites are maintained by individuall
counsellor and counselling organisations.There are even online professional Counselling Journals, the
first being the Journal of technology in counselling and the recent being – The Professional Counsellor
Research and Practice

Wellness – a positive state of well being through developmental, preservative and wellness enhancing
interventions

Social justice – it refers to valuing of fairness in sharing the resources, rights and treatment for those
individuals who do not share the power in society because of immigration, community, age, socio-
economic status physical disabilities or due sexual orientation.

Cyber counselling – It refers to the practice of professional counselling and information delivery
through electronic means usually the internet .Both the counsellor and client interact on the internet for
counselling purposes. When the client is geographically far away, when the client is shy to meet in person
or during emergencies, interacting on the Net is found to be very helpful.

2.4 Rehabilitation Council of India-

The Rehabilitation council of India (RCI) was set up as a registered society in 1986. On September, 1992
the RCI act was enacted by parliament and it became a statutory body on 22 June 1993. The act was
amended by parliament in 2000 to make it more broad based. The mandate given to RCI is to regulate
and monitor services given to persons with disability, to standardise syllabi and to maintain a central
rehabilitation register of all qualified professionals and personnel working in the field of rehabilitation
and special education. The act also prescribes punitive action against unqualified persons delivering
Service to persons with disability

2.5 Summary
 Counselling is a profession concerned with wellness, prevention, development and
situational difficulties. It also gives importance to wellness of the helping persons with
psychological disorder.
 Counselling is based on principles and theories that has evolved over the years.
Important developments and events in the history of counselling are as given below;
 It began with the simultaneous activities of Frank Parsons, Jesse. B. Davis and
Clifford Beers
 Frank Parson started Boston vocational bureau in 1908. His book on “choosing a
vocation” lead to vocational planning
  Clifford Beers wrote a book on poor conditions in mental health institutions. Title of
the books was “A mind that found itself”. This book lead to the mental health
counselling
 Jennie B. Davis was the first person to set up a systematic guidance program in the public
schools
 In the period between 1910 and 1920 the national guidance association (NVGA) was founded.
Psychology instruments were developed for use with army personnel psychometrics became
popular

In 1920’s

 education courses for counsellor had begun at Harvard university certification of counsellor
began in boston and New York
 Importance for assessment in counselling was created
 First marriage and counselling centre was started in New York city

In 1930’s

 first theory of counselling, called counsellor – centred approach, was proposed by EG

Williamson and his colleagues at university of minuesota
 John breweu published a book titled “Education as guidance”
 Vocational education division in US employment was started. Dictionary of occupational
titles was published

In 1940’s

 Carl Roger emphasized client – centred approach to counselling.

 Increased need for psychologist for selecting and training people for military and industry
 The term counselling psychologist was coined, counselling was promoted by the US
government through the George Barden Act.

In 1950’s

 five major events contributed to the development of counselling field.

 Starting of American personnel and guidance association (APGA)
 American school counsellor association was started
 Society of counselling psychology was started in APA
 National defence act was passed
 New counselling and guidance theories were introduced

In 1960’s

 The focus was a developmental needs and counselling. Gilbert Whemer released the book
titled – the counsellor in a changing world
 Focus was a attending to special needs created by war, civil rights movement and the
movement’s movement
  Humanistic counselling theories were proposed by Douglas Arbrickle, Abraham Maslow and
Sidney Jerard
 Behavioural counselling also gained importance
 Community mental health centre were started drug abuse counselling gained importance

In 1970

 Formation of helping skills and counselling relating to diverse population was developed
1980’s: Counselling continued to grow as a profession with events such as

Standardization of training and certification

1990s – This period had a significant change in 1992, during which AACD modified its name
and become American Counselling Association (ACA)

 A second event was, counselling was included as a primary mental health profession
in the health care human resource statistics compiled by the centre for mental health
services and The National Institute of Mental Health in 1992.
21st century Some of the topics demanding counsellor’s attention in the new century, are
violence, trauma, and crises, managed care, wellness, social justice, technology, leadership and
identity.

 In 2002, counselling, finally celebrated its 50th anniversary, as a profession under ACA
 APG and published code of ethics for counsellors
 Professional journal of ‘the counselling psychologist’ was published

Books released during this period is as follows

Authors Books
Frank Parsons 1909 Choosing a Vocation
Clifford Beers 1908 A mind that found himself
John brewer 1932 Education as Guidance
John Krumboltz 1966 Revolution in counselling
Carl Rogers 1942 Counselling and Psychotherapy
Gilbert Wrenn 1962 The counsellor in a changing world
John Kimboltz 1966 Revolution in counselling

Abbreviations and their Expansion

Abbreviations Expansion
NVGA National Vocational guidance association
APGA American Personnel and Guidance
Association
ASCA American School Counsellor Association
CGPA Council of Guidance and Personnel
Association
ASCA American School Counsellor Association
ACES Association of Counsellor Education and
Supervisors

First Psychological Tests

Army alpha and army beta intelligence test World war 1
Strong Vocational Interest Inventory (SV11)

Personal and Professional aspects of Counselling

Counselling is a noble profession to serve people in difficult situations counsellors and

counselling process have a dynamic effect on individuals. If counselling is not beneficial to the
person, it is likely to be harmful therefore it is necessary that the counsellor’s personality is
suitable for counselling profession. Counsellor should possess personal qualities of maturity,
empathy and warmth. They should be also emotionally stable.

They should follow the ethical standards and legal limits. The ethical behaviour in counselling
can cause serious problems to the profession and the clients

The effectiveness of a counsellor and counselling depends on many aspects. There are three
important factors we shall discuss, in their lesson.

1) Personality and background of the counsellor

2) The formal education of the counsellor
3) The ability of the counsellor to engage in professional related activities

3.2 Personality and background of the counsellor

A Counsellors personality is very important in counselling. Counsellor should possess personal

qualities such as maturity, empathy and warmth. They should be service minded and should not
be easily upset or frustrated

Everyone who qualifies for a counsellor profession should not enter the field. Before taking up
the education or counselling career, each individual should analyse themselves, motivation for
becoming a counsellor
Because, the individual personality has to match the demands of counselling. They should
understand their own personal qualities and ability to understand clients in difficult situations

But sometimes it is seen that individuals choose counselling profession, for personal reasons.

Personal reasons may include unresolved personal problems, unable to lead a meaningful life,
not having friends, desire for power, need for love, and the unresolved anger. Individuals with
these problems and satisfy their need for love and friends. If these personal reasons have
motivated the individuals to take up counsellor profession, they are called dysfunctional
motivators

3.2.1 Negative motivation for becoming a counsellor

There are positive factors of an individual that motivate them to be a counsellor. These
qualities of an individual are called functional motivators. These qualities make a person best
suited for the career as a counsellor. The positive qualities identified by foster (1996) and Guy
(1987) are curiousity and inquisitiveness, ability to listen, comfort with conversation, empathy
and understanding, and comfort in dealing with different emotions.

They also pointed out that the counsellor should have the ability to set aside personal needs to
take care of others needs first. The individuals need to have tolerance for the emotional
closeness due to sharing of personal problems of the client. The counsellor should be capable
of accepting power with a certain degree of detachment. An important additional quality is the
sense of humour

3.2.2 Personal qualities of an effective counsellor

Effective counsellor should have

1) The ability to learn and thin creativity; which is called intellectual competence

2) Active in sessions even if the sessions are long or when many clients are met

3) Capacity to encourage clients in making their own decisions while helping to instill hope in
the
clients is characteristics of an effective counsellor

4) The desire to work with clients in a constructive way to promote independence

5) Knowledge of self, his own attitudes, values and feelings and his own limitations

6) Multiple life experience to realise and understand what their clients are going through
7) Successfully integrated scientific knowledge and skills into their lives

 Effective counsellors are sensitive to themselves and others

 They respect themselves and do not use the clients to satisfy their own needs.
 They are caring and communicate respect for the clients. They attempt to understand
the behaviour of the people without imposing value judgements
 They possess expertise in some areas to help different types of clients. For example
career counsellor has the knowledge about the career development process and the
career and skills needed for them
 Effective counsellors understand the social, cultural and political context in which the
client functions.
 They use system and theories to reason out systematically

3.6.3 Maintaining effectiveness as a counsellor:

Persons who became counsellors also experience the same problem like others, in their personal life.
They may undergo happy events like marriage, birth of a child, and acquiring new comforts. They may
also experience traumatic life events such as aging, illness, loss of a family member, job changes,
divorce, loneliness and many such events like an ordinary person.

Both happy and traumatic experiences are problematic because of the stress they create. Counsellors
have to carefully monitor, so that it does not affect their effectiveness with clients.

A counsellor who is in need of help and unable to focus on the client interests is referred as an impaired
counsellor or a wounded healer. Effective counsellors maintain their health and health by taking
preventive measures to avoid burn out. Burn out is the state of becoming emotionally or physically
drained to a point that one cannot perform functions meaningfully.

To avoid burn out, counsellors need to develop interests outside counselling. They must avoid taking
their work home, either mentally or physically. They can change the interior for the office setting and
create new files for rejuvenating themselves.

Few suggestions to avoid or treat burnout of counsellors

3 Associate with good friends

4 Use stress reduction exercise
5 Modify the environmental stressors
6 Engage in self assessment
7 Periodically examine and clarify roles
8 Set aside free and private time
9 Maintain an attitude of detached concern of clients
10 Obtain personal therapy
Professional aspects of counselling

3.7.1 Levels of helping

There are three levels of helping relationship: non professional, paraprofessional and professional.

The first level of helping involves non- professional helpers. They may be

Level 3 Professional
Level 2 Paraprofessional
Level 1 Non- professional Friends colleagues untrained
volunteers

Kinds of helping relationship

Level-1 Friends, colleagues, untrained volunteers no specific educational requirements are

involved and the extent of help varies

Level-2 A second and higher level of helping is known as generalised human services workers.
These individuals have received some formal training in human relations skills but work as part
of a team. They usually work as mental health workers, child care workers, and youth
counsellors.

Level-3 Finally, there are professional helpers these persons are educated to provide assistance
on both preventive and remedial level. This group of helpers include counsellors, psychologist,
psychiatrist, social workers, Psychiatric nurses, and marriage and family therapist. This level
people have undergone supervised internship. They are well prepared to deal with variety of
situations.

3.7.2 Professional helping specialities

Counsellorsfrequently interact three kinds of helping professionals. They are three

psychiatrists, psychologist and social workers.

Psychiatristhas a medical degree and complete their training in psychiatry. They are trained to
focus on the physical process underlying mental and emotional disorder. They are not engaged
in counselling activities.

Psychologists are qualified in advanced degrees in psychology. They obtain a doctor of

philosophy (Phd), a doctorate in education (EdD) or a doctor of psychology (Phd). These
degrees are given in United States of America. In India, psychologists are qualified with a doctor
of philosophy (Phd) with a specialisation in the feild of psychology.
Social workers usually have a master’s of social work degree (MSW). There is also advanced
training at the doctoral level. Social workers at all levels have completed the internship in social
agency settings. Some of them administer government programs for the under privileged and
those neglected their main function to understand clients physical and social settings and to
provide necessary social services

3.7.3 The education of professional counsellor:

Professional counsellors obtain a masters degree or a doctorate in counselling from an

educational institution. They complete internship in speciality areas such as school counselling,
rehabilitation counselling, mental health counselling, career counselling, gemmologist
counselling, de – addiction counselling or marriage, couple and family counselling. They are
usually certified by the national board of certified counsellor (NBCC) as a national certified
counsellor. They have credentials on a specialist level, are licensed to practice.

The accrediting body for counsellor education program is the council for accreditation of
counselling and related educational programs (CACREP). This CACREP is to establish standards
and guidelines for counselling. For accreditation the standards are

a) Masters level program must be a minimum of 2 full academic years, with a minimum of
48 semester hours

The skill competence along with curricular experiences are required in eight core areas of
Counselling :

a) Human growth and development

b) Social and cultural foundations
c) Helping relationships
d) Groups
e) Life style and career development
f) Appraisal
g) Research and evaluation and
h) Professional orientation

For clinical experience, student must complete 100 hours of a supervised practicum which
include individual supervision and group supervision

After student practicum, 600 hours of supervised internship has to be completed.

CACREP accredits programs on the doctoral level too in education and supervision (EdD and
phD)
Credentialing of counselling: With the recognition of counselling as a separation profession,
obtaining proper credentials to practice has become important credentialed counsellor possess
enhanced visibility and credibility.

3.7.4 Credentialing of counsellors

Obtaining proper credentials to practice as a counsellor is important for individual counsellors.

Credentialed counsellors possess enhanced visibility and credibility.

Two types of professional credentials have considerable prestige. They are certification and
licensure. The other two types of professional credentials are inspection and registration.

Credentialing procedures have four levels, they are given in the table given below

Four types of professional credentials

1) Inspection
2) Registration
3) Certification
4) Licensure

1) Inspection: A state agency periodically examines the activities of a practitioners to check if

they are practicing with the care for public safety, health and welfare.Many state agencies who
employ counsellors in their centre, such as mental health centres, are regularly inspected.The
inspection may include a review of case notes on treatment during a specific period, agency
procedure and personal interviews.

2) Registration: For registration purpose, practitioners are required to submit information to

the state concerning their practice.A professional organisation such as American counsellor’s
association takes up the responsibility for setting standards to qualify as a registered
practitioner. Registration is for the purpose of legal recognition for counsellor.

3) Certification: It is the professional process in which agency or an association grants

recognition to an individual who as professional qualifications. Certification basically implies
that the person meets the minimum skills necessary to engage in that profession.And
certification also implies that this individual has no known character defects that would
interfere with the profession. School counsellor were the first counsellors to be
certifiedNational board of certified counsellors (NBCC) is the main national organisation that
certifies counsellor.
4) Licensure: Licensure is the statutory process by which an agency of government grants
permission to a person with suitable qualification to engage in a particular occupation to
perform specified function. Licensure differs in purpose from certification, but similar in terms
of education and testing for competence. A licensure is subject to disciplinary action if he or she
commits and offense or violates the legal or ethical codes prescribed by the licensing authority.
The American association of state counselling boards AASCB was formed in 1986.

3.8 Attribution and systematic framework of counselling:

Attribution is what the counsellor attributes the cause of a clients problem. It may be an
external circumstance or an internal personality problem.

A system is a unified organised set of ideas, principles and behaviours System associated with
counselling are interrelated to attributes and theories. System is concerned with how the
counsellor approaches clients.

Counsellor work is usually based on two systems:

1) Based on developmental issues and

2) Based on the diagnosis of disorder

3.8.1 Attributes
Both counsellor and clients enter a relationship with some assumption about what may have
caused the problem. However, diagnostic decisions, symptom recognition and prediction
regarding response to treatment and treatment outcome are often influenced by counsellor’s
explanation about the cause of the problem.

For example: If client’s problem is due bad decision making, then the client may be blamed. If
the cause of a problem is viewed as beyond their control such as trauma of an expected death,
the client may be treated sympathetically.

There are four attribution models that counsellors use either consciously or unconsciously they
are

1) Medical model
2) Moral model
3) Compensatory model
4) Enlightenment model
1 Medical model – according to this, clients are not held responsible for either the cause of
their problem or its solution counsellor who adopt this model act as experts and provide the
necessary services for change. Clients may become dependent.

2 Moral model – according to this, clients are seen as responsible for both causing and solving
their problems. Therefore counsellors provide coaching or motivation to the client. In this, the
client who is a victim of circumstances may be held responsible for their own victimization.

3 Compensatory model - according to this model, clients are held responsible only for solving
their problems but not for causing them. Clients are viewed as suffering from the failure of their
social environment to meet their needs.Therefore, clients and counsellors form a partnership to
overcome problems. In this, counsellor takes the role of a teacher, provides education, skills
and opportunities for clients.

4 Enlightened model – this model holds clients responsible for causing their problems but not
for solving them. Clients are seen as guilty individuals whose lives are out of control. They need
enlightenment into their problem, which the counsellor can provide. Clients may become
dependent on the counsellor.

3. 8.2 System of counselling

As mentioned before, effective counsellors adhere to certain system of counselling as well as
theories of counselling. By the year 1990, many systems of counselling had emerged. The two
most dominant systems are the

a) Wellness approach/developmental approach and

b) Medical/pathological approach

a)Developmental/wellness approach:

This approach to counselling is based on stages that people go through as a normal part of
human growth. Counselling from this perspective is to understand whether the clients problem
is part of a developmental task of life or not. Behaviours that are appropriate at one stage of
life are not as healthy at another stage of life.

Allen Ivey (1990) integrated developmental growth with counselling strategies. It is the first and
unique approach. He also suggested that piagetian concepts of cognitive levels can be applied
to clinical interviews with adults and children. For example: if clients do not initially recognise
their feelings, counsellor will work from a sensor – motor level to bring out emotions. In
another situation, clients can be helped using a formal pattern of thought, to plan strategies for
change.
Developmental counselling and therapy (DCT) developed by Ivey and Ivey (1990) specifically
deals with sequence and process of development as it occurs.

In the wellness perspective, individuals are seen as having the resources to solve their own
problem in a practical and immediate way. Rak and Patterson (1996) point out that at risk
children show resilience and become coping adults. An example of a counselling approach
based on the wellness model is solution – focussed theory. In this approach, the emphasis is on
health and strength. In this clients are helped to look into their inner resources and find
solutions which exist already in their lives, some of them are common to others.

Another example of a present and future wellness approach, is stress inoculation training (SIT)
(Meichenbaum 1993) a psycho- educational intervention. It can be used in schools and with
adults. In this model, individuals are helped to understand their problematic situations, acquire
skills for coping with them. They are trained to apply this knowledge to present and future
events.

b)The medical/pathological model: The professional who use this model have their treatment
plans in accordance with the diagnostic and statistical manual mental disorder. This DSM is
comparable with the international classification of diseases manual (ICD) which is published by
the world health organisation, in codifying psychiatric disorders.

The chapter in the fifth edition of the DSM are organised in a developmental life spam. DSM
deals with individual diagnoses, many of which is severe. Therefore the classification system is
of limited value to group workers, marriage and family counsellor, and counselling
professionals. These counsellors do not work with highly disturbed populations DSM is logically
and developmentally organised and is useful for neurobiological research.

The DSM system helps counsellor to recognise patterns of mental distress in clients; so that
such clients can be referred to other mental health professionals.

Engaging in professional – related activities:

Becoming a counsellor is a life – long process. It continues beyond academic qualification and
training. It is necessary to participate in professional activities relating to counselling.

One of the activities is participating in continuing education units ( CEUs ) to stay upto – date on
theories and practice, and also to get needed supervision.

Continuing education:
New ideas in the treatment and practice of clients are always evolving and must be mastered.
Therefore there is a need for continuing education for all counsellors. CEUs are offered by
approved professional counselling organisations.

Supervision:

This is another way to improving professional counselling sills. Supervision is an interactive and
evaluative process in which someone with more proficiency overseas the work of someone
with less knowledge and skill. This helps to enhance the professional functioning of the junior
member.

Supervisory techniques in counselling are reflective team model, triadic supervision and peer
supervision.In the reflective team model, graduate students are asked to collaborate, brain
storm and tae their clients’ perspectives. It is an innovative way of providing group supervision,
especially working with couples and families.

In triadic supervision, as described by CACREF as two supervision working with one supervision
in a process that involves all the three members simultaneously. It is also a good method of
supervision in which growing counsellor can gain insight from both their supervisor and a peer.

Peer supervisioninvolves supervision among equals. They can both gain and give information
about themselves and their clinical abilities.

Advocacy and social justice:In addition to other characteristics and related qualities,
counsellors engage in advocacy and social justice work. Advocacy is defined as promoting an
idea or a cause through public relations. It involves networking and education.

Social justice refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles
of equality that values human values and also recognises the dignity of every human being.

Portfolios:A Portfolio is a form of communication that documents an individual’s training, work

and pertinent life experiences.

Counsellors need to keep portfolios for the purpose of licensure, managed care organisations,
employer evaluations, and also for new jobs.

Counsellor portfolios

A presentation portfolio usually consists of materials needed for a particular project, such as an
expert witness in a court of law.

3.9 Ethico – legal aspects of counselling

Introduction:

Counselling is an active profession based on values which directs about what is good and how
that is good should be achieved.

`Because counselling is a complex and multi - faceted profession, Counsellors who are not clean
about their values , ethics and legal responsibilities they can cause harm to their clients, though
they have good intensions to help.

It is vital for counsellor to be knowledgeable about themselves, ethics and laws pertaining to
the profession of counselling.

Ethics, Mortality and law:Ethics involves making decision of a moral value about people and
their interaction in society. Ethics is defined as a philosophical discipline that is concerned with
human conduct and moral decision making. Ethics are normative and focus on principles and
standards that govern relationship between individuals.

Professional ethicsare beliefs about behaviour and conduct that guide professional practices,
such as those between counsellor and clients.

Morality,involves judgement or evaluation of action. It is associated with such words as good,

bad, right, wrong, ought and should counsellor have morals and theories which they use also
consist of pre – suppositions about human nature.

Law is the precise codification of governing standards that are established to ensure legal and
moral justice. Law is created by legislation, court decision and tradition. Law explains what is
legal.

3.9.1 Ethics and counselling:

As a group, professional counsellors are concerned with ethics and values. Counsellor’s
professional identity is related to their knowledge and practice of ethics (Pattern 1971). And
effectiveness of counsellor is connected to their ethical knowledge and behaviour.

Unethical behaviour in counselling can take many forms.The temptation common to people
everywhere exist for counsellor also. Some forms of unethical behaviour are obvious and wilful,
whereas other forms are more subtle and unintentional. The following are some of the most
forms of unethical behaviour in counselling.

 Violation of confidentiality
 Exceeding one’s level of professional competence negligent practice
 Claiming expertise one does not possess. Example (case)
  Imposing one’s values on clients
 Creating dependency in a client
 Sexual activity with a client
 Dual or multiple relationships
 Charging excessive fees
 Improper advertising
 Plagiarism

The association for spiritual, ethical and religious values in counselling (ASERVIC) is concerned
with the values and ethics of counselling professionals. ASERVIC is a division within the
American counselling association (ACA)

3.9.2 Professional codes of ethics and standards

Professional codes are designed to provide some guidelines for the professional behaviour of
members on a personal level.According to Van Hoose and Kotler (1985) there are three reason
for existence of the ethical codes.

1) Ethical codes allows the profession to regulate itself and function autonomously
2) It promotes stability within the profession. It controls internal disagreements
3) Ethical codes protect practitioners from the public, especially in regard to malpractice
suit/ case

Like counsellors, client also can use codes of ethics and standards as a guide to evaluate
treatment.

The first code of ethics was developed by the American counselling association (ASD) based on
the original American psychological association code of ethics. The initial ASA code was
proposed by Donald super and approved in 1961. It has been revised periodically.

The ASA code of ethics contains eight topical sectional headings. They include material similar
to other codes, yet they are unique to the profession of counselling

Section 1

This section deals with a counselling relationship, including roles and responsibilities to clients
and the use of the technology. The section also discusses ways to handle troublesome subjects
such as fees, bartering, referrals and termination. ACA clearly states that sexual or romantic
intiuecies between counsellor and former clients must be examined carefully. Such counsellors
should prohibited for a period of 5 yrs after the last professional contact.
Section 2

This section refers to ethical codes relating to confidentiality, privileged communication and
privacy in counselling. The right to privacy, records, minor or incompetent clients, consultation,
research and training are exception to privacy in counselling. These exceptions are not guided
by the ethical codes.

Section 3

Focuses on issues related to professional responsibility, such as professional competence,

advertising and solicitation, credentials an public responsibility

Section 4

Covers relationship with other professionals, including colleagues employers and employees.

Section 5

Deals with evaluation, assessment and interpretation. It includes material competence to use
the interpret tests, informed consent, release of information to competent professionals,
proper diagnosis of mental disorders, conditions of assessment administration. It also refers to
multicultural issues in assessment, forensic evaluation, and test scoring and interpretation.

Section 6

This section focuses on issues related to teaching, training, and supervision, including
expectations and responsibilities of counsellor education and student and counsellor education
programs.

Section 7

This section deals with research and publications. It delimeates research responsibilities, rights
of research participants and reporting of research results.

Section 8

This section explains ways to resolve ethical issues, including how to handle conflicts between
ethics and the law. It also refers to ethical codes related to suspected violations and co-
operation with ethics committees.
Ethical codes are useful in many way but they do have their limitations. It may not include all
situations, and guidance for all conditions.

3.9.3 Making ethical decisions

Professionals are expected to exercise prudent judgement in interpreting and applying ethical
principles to specific situations. While making ethical decisions, professionals can need to the
aware of resources such as books, articles on ethics and more experienced colleagues.
Professional should be aware of the consequences of practicing in a different way which is not
given in the code of ethics. Ethical dilemma occurs when dealing with potentially controversial
behaviours such as collecting fees, conducting multiple relationship or working with individuals
who have values and styles not agreeable to the counsellor.

The decisions depend upon the ethical reasoning. Ethical reasoning refers to the process of
determining which ethical principles are involved and prioritising them based on the
professional requirements and beliefs.

3.9.4 Ethical Behaviour of counsellors

Six ethical principles relate to the activities and ethical choices of counsellor:

1. Beneficence – doing good and preventing harm

2. Non malificence – not inflicting harm
3. Autonomy – respecting freedom of choice and self determination
4. Justice – fairness
5. fidelity – faithfulness or honouring commitments and promises and
6. veracity – truthfulness

All these principles involve conscious decision making by counsellor throughout the counselling
process.

Of these principles, some experts identify non malificence as the primary ethical responsibility.
Non malificence not only involves the removal o present harm, but the prevention of future
harm and passive avoidance of harm.

3.9.5 Ethics in specific counselling situation:

1. hospitals
2. schools
3. use of computers and couple
4. marriage couple and family counselling
 5. older adults
6. multi cultural counselling
7. managed care
8. diagnosis of clients

Counsellors employed in hospital settings, should agree with principles, policies of an situation.

The potential for major ethical dilemmas can arise in many school settings. Therefore, school
counsellor should become familiar with the ethical standards of the American school
counselling association.

The use of computers and technology in counselling is another area for ethical dilemmas. The
possibility exists for breach of client information when computer are used in professional
counselling.

Another counselling situation in which ethical dilemma arises are in marriage couple and family
counselling. The reason is that counsellors are treating a number of individuals together as a
system may not have the same goal.

Other counselling settings include counselling older adults, multi cultural counselling, working
in managed care, diagnosis of clients and counselling research.

In working with older adults, counsellors must assess the unique needs of the aging, who have
cognitive impairments, terminal illness or victims of abuse. For this counsellor may apply
principle ethics, based on a set of obligations that focus on socially and historically appropriate.
They may employ virtue ethics which focus on the question – whether the counsellor is doing
the best for clients.

With reference to research ethics, emphasis is on the protection of human subjects in research.
There are four main ethical issues that must be taken care:

11 informal consent – informing the client about the purpose of research and getting clients
acceptance for participation
12 coercion and deception – the clients should not be formed or given any wrong information
for participation in research

3.9.6 Multiple relationships

Dual or multiple relationships, either sexual or non sexual between counsellors and clients
occur. This may involve more than one professional role or combining professional and non
professional roles. The term multiple relationship is used because of the complexities involved
in these relationships.

When counsellors blend their professional relationship another kind of relationship with the
client, Ethical concerns must be considered. Some example of multiple relationships involve
bartering for goods or therapentic services; borrowing money from a client; providing therapy
to a friend, an employee, or a relative; engaging in a social relationhip with a client accepting an
expensive gift from a client. Some multiple relationships are clearly exploitative and do serious
harm to both the client and the professional counsellor. For example, becoming emotionally or
sexually involved with a current client is clearly unethical, unprofessional and illegal. Sexual
involvement with a previous or former client is unwise, can be exploitative and is considered
unethical.

Because of this multiple relationships, counsellors may loose their objectivity and clients may
not be assertive, to take care of themselves. Therefore, as a matter of ethics, counsellors should
avoid these multiple relationships. Setting healthy boundaries at the beginning of such
relationships is essential. Sometimes, these type of relationships can be beneficial to clients
such as engaging in business relationship. For example – buying their products to create
confidence, in the client

The ACA code of ethics (2005) stresses that counselling professionals must learn how to
manage multiple roles and responsibilities in an ethical way.

3.10 The law of counselling

The profession of counselling is also guided by legal standards. legal refers to the law or the
state of being lawful and law refers to “ a body of rules recognised by a state or community as
binding on its members”

There is no general body of law covering the helping professions. In most cases, the law is
generally supportive or neutral toward professional code of ethics and counselling in general. It
supports licensure certification of counsellor as a means of ensuring that those who enter the
profession must attain minimal standards. Only time the law overrides code of ethics is when it
is necessary to protect the public health, safety and welfare. This is most necessary when in
situations concerning confidentiality when disclosure of information is necessary to prevent
serious harm.

It is important that the professional counsellors are fully informed about what they can or
cannot do legally. Such situation involves the sharing of information among clients, counsellors
and the court system.
Sharing refers to confidentially privacy and privileged communication.

Confidentiality is the ethical duty to fulfil a contact or promise to clients that the information
revealed during therapy will be protected from unauthorised disclosure.

Privacy is an evolving legal concept that recognises individual’s rights to choose the time,
circumstances and extent to which they wish to share or withhold personal information. If the
clients are forced to reveal information, they may seek legal recourse against a counsellor.

Privileged communication, regulates privacy protection and confidentiality by protecting clients

from disclosing the information in court without their permission. This concept of legal right
does not apply in group and family counselling.

There is a limit to how much confidentiality, a counsellor can or should maintain. When it
appears that a client is dangerous to himself or herself or to others, law specifies that the
information must be reported to proper authorities. For example, when someone is at risk of
being suicidal, the court directs that school authorities including counsellors have to make a
referral and secure assistance from others.

3.11 Civil and criminal liability:

Liability in counselling involves issues concerned with whether counsellor have caused harm to
clients. The concept of liability is directly connected with malpractice.

Malpractice in counselling is defined as harm to client resulting from professional negligence.

Negligence is defined as the departure from acceptable professional standards.

Liability can be classified as civil, criminal and administrative

Civil liability:

In this we can be sued for acting wrongly towards another or for failing to act

Criminal liability:

Involves a counsellor working with a client in a way the law does not allow. Examples of
criminal liability are the commitment of a crime by a counsellor such as failing to report child
abuse, engaging in sexual relations with a client, or insurance fraud.

Administrative liability:

Means that the therapist licence to practice is threatened by an investigation from the licensing
board.
Counsellors are most likely to face civil liability suits for malpractice in the following situations

a) malpractice in particular situations such as birth control, abortion, prescubing and

administering drugs and treatment
b) illegal search
c) defamation
d) invasion of privacy and
e) breach of contract

Three situations that may lead to criminal liability are

a) accessory to a crime
b) civil disobedience and
c) contribution to the delinquency of a minor

3.12 Client rights and records

The records of all clients are legally protected. In some instances an individual has the right
legally to inspect his or her record. In the majority of cases, counsellors are legally required to
protect clients of all ages by keeping records under lock and key. They should not disclose any
information about a client, without written permission

The best method to use in meeting a request for disclosing information is a release – of –
information form , which can be prepared by an advocate. Counsellors should not release client
information that is not obtained firsthand

Counsellor have the legal liability to maintain records that contain all information about the
client, necessary for his or her treatment. Records should be updated when clients are seen or
when there is significant change in the client. And altering or making changes in the records is a
criminal act.

Summary

Effectiveness of a counsellor depends on 1) personality and background 2) formal education of

the counsellor and the 3)ability of the counsellor to engage in profession related activities such
as Continuing Education; Supervision;Advocacy.
Individuals choose counselling profession for personal reasons which may include unresolved
personal problems;unable to lead a meaningful life;not having friends;desire for power; need
for love; and unresolved anger. Such reasons are called dysfunctional motivators. Positive
motivating factors may include curiosity and inquisitiveness; ability to listen; and empathy and
understanding.

Effective counsellors have the ability to learn and think creatively. They have the energy to be
active insessions; capacity to encourage clients; desires to work with clients to promote their
independence; has knowledge of self;his own attitudes;values and feelings and knows heror his
own limitations. Effective counsellors also have successfully integrated scientific knowledge and
skills intheir lives. They possess expertise in some special area to help clients.

Effective counsellors maintain their health by taking preventive measures to avoid Burnout by
developing interests outside counselling.

Effective counsellors are aware of major theoretical approaches such as (1)Wellness or

(2)Developmental approach and (3) Medical or Pathalogical model. Medical Model is based on
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Mental Disorders.

There are three levels of helping relationships. They are

1) Non-professional;2)Paraprofessional;and 3)Professional.

Professional helpers include Psychiatrists, Psychologists and social workers. Obtaining proper
credentials to practice as professional counsellor is important. Two types of professional
credentials are Certification and Licensure. Four levels of Professional Credentials are
1)Inspection; 2) Registration; 3) Certification; 4) Licensure.

Counselors work is based on two systems: They are 1)based on developmental issues 2) based
on the diagnosis of Disorders.

There are four attribution models that counsellors use .They are 1) Medical Model 2) Moral
Model 3) Compensatory Model and 4) Enlightenment Model.

Beyond Academic qualifications and training, it is necessary to participate in professional

activities relating to counselling such as,

(1)Continuing Education Units (CEU)- to stay up-to on theories and Practice and also to get
needed supervision and (2) Supervision-to improve professional counselling skills. Supervisory
techniques in counselling are (a) Reflective Team Model (b) Triadic supervision and (c) Peer
supervision.
Counselors need to engage in Advocacy which involves promoting through public relations.They
also need to practice social justice.

Counselors need to keep portfolios-a form of communication that documents an individual’s

training, work and pertinent life experiences. Counselor’s portfolios may be working portfolios
or presentation portfolios.

Professional counsellors are concerned with ethics and values. Unethical behaviours in
counselling includes Violation of confidentiality, claiming expertise which he doesnot possess,
imposing one’s values on clients,creating dependency in clients, sexual activity with a
client,Dual or Multiple relationships, charging excess fees,improper advertising and Plagarism.

Professional codes provide guidelines for the professional behaviour. Clients also can use codes
of Ethics and Standards as guide to evaluate treatment. The American Counselors Association
has developed code of ethics which contains eight topical sectional headings. They are unique
to the profession of counselling. Section-1 deals with the counselling relationship;Section-2
refers to ethical codes relating to confidentiality; Section-3 focuses on issues related to
professional responsibility; Section-4 covers relationships with other professionals; Section-5
deals with evaluation, assessment and interpretation.;Section-6 focuses on issues related to
teaching training and supervision. Section-7 deals with research and publications; and Section-8
explains ways to resolve ethical issues and law. Ethical decisions of Professionals depends on
the ethical reasoning.

Six ethical principles which relate to the activities of the counsellors are-Beneficence;
Nonmaleficence; Autonomy; Justice; Fidelity and Veracity.

Ethical codes are important for protecting the profession ;Codes of Ethics and standards to
evaluate the treatment. Ethical codes are very important for specific situations such as school
counselling; use of computers in counselling; Marriage .family and couple counseling

Law deals with the liability; malpractice and negligence in counselling. Record keeping is one of
the important aspects relating to legal liability. Client records include documents relating to
identifying information ;assessment information;treatment plan; case notes; termination
summary and other data.