PSY 410: GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING
INTRODUCTION:
Why do we need guidance?
Breakdown of traditional ways of dealing with life challenges
Natural calamities e.g. floods, landslides
Man-made disasters like bomb blasts / terrorist attacks e.g.1998 Nairobi bomb last, twin
towers, most recent Westgate attack
Tragedies like fires that kill many any leave others with scars
Indiscipline in learning institutions
Banning of the corporal punishment
Family breakdown occasioned by many cases of separation and divorce
Many incidences of rape, incest and defilement
Emergence of cults that are causing confusion especially among the youth
Political instability as evidenced by tribal clashes, PEV
Technological advancement and many are getting lost in the technology affecting their
growth and social life.
Guidance
Guidance means of helping individuals to understand and use wisely the educational,
vocational and personal opportunities they have as a form of systematic assistance in
achieving satisfactory adjustment to school and to life in general.
A process, developmental in nature by which an individual is assisted to understand,
accepts and utilizes his/her aptitudes, interests and attitudinal patterns in relation to
his/her aspirations.
A broad area of educational activities and services aimed at leading the individual to
the achievement of desired life goals.
Counselling
• A helping process in which clients learn how to use their personal resources to make
decisions/choices, and formulate new ways of behaving, feeling and thinking.
• It is a special kind of relationship aimed at helping clients respond to the challenges of
their lives.
• It is a learning oriented process which usually occurs in an interactive relationship with
the aim of helping the person learn more about self and also to be an understanding and
effective member of the society
• DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING
a. Guidance is cognitive; knowledge based; counseling is affective, focus on thoughts,
feelings, and behavior.
, b. Guidance is mostly impersonal, detached; counseling is intimate and personal.
c. Guidance is public; counseling is private.
d. Guidance is structured; counseling is flexible.
e. Guidance is counselor initiated; counseling is client initiated.
f. Guidance is a lifelong process; counseling is time limited.
g. Guidance is preventive while counselling is curative
h. Guidance involves many professionals e.g. doctors, lawyers, engineers nurses etc
while counselling requires a professionally trained counsellor
SIMILARITIES
Both result to behaviour change
Both processes require professionalism
In both clients go through a process before change can be observed
Both are done within a formal setting.
OTHER FORMS OF HELPING ACTIVITIES:
Active/physical help: Providing assistance in form of tangible, material items. (E.g.
food, clothes, money to someone in need).
Education: Impartation of knowledge, skills and attitudes.( A process, usually within
a formal setting, long term e.g. school)
Information giving: Providing specific and pertinent information relevant to the
clients need (e.g. stages of grief to a student suffering from grief; career information
to a client)
Psychotherapy: In-depth therapy provided by psychiatrists, psychologists and
licensed counselors. It is concerned with deeper psychological issues as that may be
rooted in ones personality.
Advice giving: This is where the counselor/helper gives their opinion of how a matter
should be resolved without exploring the clients issues. It is strongly discouraged in
counseling.
Health counseling: Provided by health professionals to patients/clients in need of such
services.
GOALS OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING:
• Self exploration -To help students better understand themselves and other people and
situations/circumstances hence become fully alive and fully functional
• Determining values -Help individual find possible ways of making good educational and
career choices in relation to the values determined
, • Goal setting -Help individuals in making plans to achieve their life goals by setting both
short and long term goals
• Facilitate behavior change- by altering maladjusted behaviour.
• Enhance coping skills with life challenges e.g relationships, loss of loved ones, sickness
financial constraint
• To help individuals gain an insight into the origins and development of emotional
difficulties, leading to an increased capacity to take rational control over feelings and
actions.
• To assist students to move in the direction of fulfilling their potential, or achieve an
integration of conflicting elements within themselves.
What counseling is?
Helping relationship between counsellor and counselee.
Process of empowering the client.
Involves befriending, listening, helping and empowering.
Counselling deals with personal, social, educational, vocational and empowerment
issues and it is conducted with persons who are considered to be functional within the
normal range.
Focuses on development and on the prevention of serious mental health problems
through education and short term treatment.
What counselling is not
Not in a relationship of advice giving
Not preaching
Not solution giving
Not fault-finding
Not interrogation
Not a business
Not patronizing
Not prejudging
Not prescription giving
Not blame shifting
Stages of counselling
The conceptualization of counselling as a series of stages begins to impose a sense of
order on what would otherwise might be a random activity. The stages of counselling
have thus been divided into three. Exploration, understanding and action. However long a
counseling relationship lasts it must have theses three stages.
, 1. Exploration
This involves the client presenting their concern. Exploration takes time and involves
helping the client to focus on the real issue without going off into too many
directions. Help the client to talk about themselves and their concerns in a specific
and focused way.
2. Understanding
Once the main issue has been determined, the next step is to help the client
understand gain a better perspective of the problem.
3. Action
It is now possible to move towards action because the issues have been clarified and
understood. This can be done through goal setting, actual implementation and
evaluating the plan of action for its success or drawbacks. It will also be time of
preparing the client to end the relationship.
AREAS OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM
i. Personal and social guidance: Helps the youth to have a deeper understanding of
the challenges they could be going through. Issues include self awareness, peer
pressure, relationships, and personality differences.
ii. Educational guidance: Equips learners in areas related to their educational and
academic advancement. Issues addressed include: preparation for study,
developing interest in subjects, reading skills, developing memory skills, note
taking skills, note making skills, making a personal study timetable, study
techniques, how to use the library, preparation and sitting for exams.
iii. Health guidance: addresses growth, maturity and health issues. Includes: good
grooming, good hygiene, good mannerisms and food and environmental hygiene.
iv. Career and vocational guidance: Provides learners with skills to be aware of their
aptitudes and capabilities and equip them with skills for success in the world of
work. Skill areas include: mental development, body skills, word skills, creative
skills, intuitive skills, etc; other areas include information on careers, attachments
and work ethics.
v. Civic guidance: The process of facilitating the awareness of the dynamics of the
civil society, the aims of the government and governance. Issues include: respect
for self and others as members of the society, knowing their rights, appreciate the
importance of working towards national unity and understanding the feature s of
good governance.
vi. Disaster preparedness and Trauma management. Disaster preparedness is the
equipping of individuals and society with the knowledge, skills and resources that
would help them to respond to a disaster of crisis effectively. Trauma
management is the process of helping individuals to cope effectively with the
short or long-term effects of a disaster.
INTRODUCTION:
Why do we need guidance?
Breakdown of traditional ways of dealing with life challenges
Natural calamities e.g. floods, landslides
Man-made disasters like bomb blasts / terrorist attacks e.g.1998 Nairobi bomb last, twin
towers, most recent Westgate attack
Tragedies like fires that kill many any leave others with scars
Indiscipline in learning institutions
Banning of the corporal punishment
Family breakdown occasioned by many cases of separation and divorce
Many incidences of rape, incest and defilement
Emergence of cults that are causing confusion especially among the youth
Political instability as evidenced by tribal clashes, PEV
Technological advancement and many are getting lost in the technology affecting their
growth and social life.
Guidance
Guidance means of helping individuals to understand and use wisely the educational,
vocational and personal opportunities they have as a form of systematic assistance in
achieving satisfactory adjustment to school and to life in general.
A process, developmental in nature by which an individual is assisted to understand,
accepts and utilizes his/her aptitudes, interests and attitudinal patterns in relation to
his/her aspirations.
A broad area of educational activities and services aimed at leading the individual to
the achievement of desired life goals.
Counselling
• A helping process in which clients learn how to use their personal resources to make
decisions/choices, and formulate new ways of behaving, feeling and thinking.
• It is a special kind of relationship aimed at helping clients respond to the challenges of
their lives.
• It is a learning oriented process which usually occurs in an interactive relationship with
the aim of helping the person learn more about self and also to be an understanding and
effective member of the society
• DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING
a. Guidance is cognitive; knowledge based; counseling is affective, focus on thoughts,
feelings, and behavior.
, b. Guidance is mostly impersonal, detached; counseling is intimate and personal.
c. Guidance is public; counseling is private.
d. Guidance is structured; counseling is flexible.
e. Guidance is counselor initiated; counseling is client initiated.
f. Guidance is a lifelong process; counseling is time limited.
g. Guidance is preventive while counselling is curative
h. Guidance involves many professionals e.g. doctors, lawyers, engineers nurses etc
while counselling requires a professionally trained counsellor
SIMILARITIES
Both result to behaviour change
Both processes require professionalism
In both clients go through a process before change can be observed
Both are done within a formal setting.
OTHER FORMS OF HELPING ACTIVITIES:
Active/physical help: Providing assistance in form of tangible, material items. (E.g.
food, clothes, money to someone in need).
Education: Impartation of knowledge, skills and attitudes.( A process, usually within
a formal setting, long term e.g. school)
Information giving: Providing specific and pertinent information relevant to the
clients need (e.g. stages of grief to a student suffering from grief; career information
to a client)
Psychotherapy: In-depth therapy provided by psychiatrists, psychologists and
licensed counselors. It is concerned with deeper psychological issues as that may be
rooted in ones personality.
Advice giving: This is where the counselor/helper gives their opinion of how a matter
should be resolved without exploring the clients issues. It is strongly discouraged in
counseling.
Health counseling: Provided by health professionals to patients/clients in need of such
services.
GOALS OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING:
• Self exploration -To help students better understand themselves and other people and
situations/circumstances hence become fully alive and fully functional
• Determining values -Help individual find possible ways of making good educational and
career choices in relation to the values determined
, • Goal setting -Help individuals in making plans to achieve their life goals by setting both
short and long term goals
• Facilitate behavior change- by altering maladjusted behaviour.
• Enhance coping skills with life challenges e.g relationships, loss of loved ones, sickness
financial constraint
• To help individuals gain an insight into the origins and development of emotional
difficulties, leading to an increased capacity to take rational control over feelings and
actions.
• To assist students to move in the direction of fulfilling their potential, or achieve an
integration of conflicting elements within themselves.
What counseling is?
Helping relationship between counsellor and counselee.
Process of empowering the client.
Involves befriending, listening, helping and empowering.
Counselling deals with personal, social, educational, vocational and empowerment
issues and it is conducted with persons who are considered to be functional within the
normal range.
Focuses on development and on the prevention of serious mental health problems
through education and short term treatment.
What counselling is not
Not in a relationship of advice giving
Not preaching
Not solution giving
Not fault-finding
Not interrogation
Not a business
Not patronizing
Not prejudging
Not prescription giving
Not blame shifting
Stages of counselling
The conceptualization of counselling as a series of stages begins to impose a sense of
order on what would otherwise might be a random activity. The stages of counselling
have thus been divided into three. Exploration, understanding and action. However long a
counseling relationship lasts it must have theses three stages.
, 1. Exploration
This involves the client presenting their concern. Exploration takes time and involves
helping the client to focus on the real issue without going off into too many
directions. Help the client to talk about themselves and their concerns in a specific
and focused way.
2. Understanding
Once the main issue has been determined, the next step is to help the client
understand gain a better perspective of the problem.
3. Action
It is now possible to move towards action because the issues have been clarified and
understood. This can be done through goal setting, actual implementation and
evaluating the plan of action for its success or drawbacks. It will also be time of
preparing the client to end the relationship.
AREAS OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM
i. Personal and social guidance: Helps the youth to have a deeper understanding of
the challenges they could be going through. Issues include self awareness, peer
pressure, relationships, and personality differences.
ii. Educational guidance: Equips learners in areas related to their educational and
academic advancement. Issues addressed include: preparation for study,
developing interest in subjects, reading skills, developing memory skills, note
taking skills, note making skills, making a personal study timetable, study
techniques, how to use the library, preparation and sitting for exams.
iii. Health guidance: addresses growth, maturity and health issues. Includes: good
grooming, good hygiene, good mannerisms and food and environmental hygiene.
iv. Career and vocational guidance: Provides learners with skills to be aware of their
aptitudes and capabilities and equip them with skills for success in the world of
work. Skill areas include: mental development, body skills, word skills, creative
skills, intuitive skills, etc; other areas include information on careers, attachments
and work ethics.
v. Civic guidance: The process of facilitating the awareness of the dynamics of the
civil society, the aims of the government and governance. Issues include: respect
for self and others as members of the society, knowing their rights, appreciate the
importance of working towards national unity and understanding the feature s of
good governance.
vi. Disaster preparedness and Trauma management. Disaster preparedness is the
equipping of individuals and society with the knowledge, skills and resources that
would help them to respond to a disaster of crisis effectively. Trauma
management is the process of helping individuals to cope effectively with the
short or long-term effects of a disaster.
