EPS 403: GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Guidance and Counselling assist in the complete
development of the individual in a way that ensures
or maximizes personal growth and success in life.

This course recognizes that all students need

guidance to be able to attain their full potential and
maximize the benefit of their educational experience.

It attempts to equip the student reading guidance

and counseling with information that will enable him
to facilitate this process effectively in a school setting.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, it is expected that
students will be able to:
1. Show a clear understanding of the scope and
nature of Guidance and Counselling, and
approaches to Guidance and Counselling
2. Explaining the role of functionaries involved
in the guidance and counselling process.
3. Show how to operationalise each guidance
service.
Course Objectives
4. Acquiring knowledge and skills necessary to
organize Guidance and counselling
Programmes in establishments like schools,
churches, hospital.

5. Determine understanding of some basic

theories of counselling.
6. Demonstrate knowledge of the various
counselling skills, and apply them in the
various stages of counselling.
COUSRE OUTLINE
Unit 1. Scope and Nature of Guidance and
Counselling.
Definitional issues.

Guidance
counseling
Differences and similarities between Guidance and
counseling
The need for student counseling on campuses
The Guidance counsellor
Effective counsellor Characteristics
Unit II. History and Approaches of
Guidance and Counselling
• Development of Guidance and counseling In
Ghana
• Approaches to Guidance and counseling
• Preventive
• Crises
• Developmental
• Remedial
• Principles of Guidance
• Ethical Issues in in counseling
Unit III. The Role of Guidance Functionaries:
• School head
• School Administrators
• Teachers
• Parent-Teachers Association (PTA’S)
• Parents
• Community
Unit IV. Guidance Service

• Orientation
• Counselling
• Information
• Consultation
• Placement
• Appraisals
• Follow-up and
• Evaluation
Unit V. Organization and Administration of
Guidance and counseling Programmes in
Schools

• Planning
• Leading
• Executing
• Assessing
Unit V. Some theories of counseling

• Client-Centered Theory
• Rational Emotive Theory
• Decision Making Approach
Unit VI. Counselling Techniques

and
Stages in the counselling Process.
THE RELEVANCE OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING TO
THE STUDENT

[Link] enable the student to fulfill or meet

the requirements for certification or
graduation.
[Link] prepare students for the masters’
degree in guidance and counselling.
[Link] equip students with the requisite skills
and knowledge for delivering guidance
and counselling services to children,
adolescents and adults.
THE RELEVANCE OF GUIDANCE
AND COUNSELLING TO THE
STUDENT
1. To motivate students to seek guidance and
counselling whenever they have difficulties and
concerns.
2. To enable students to serve as consultants to
parents, families, schools, churches and non-
governmental organizations.
3. To enable students to advocate for the establishment
of guidance and counselling centers in schools,
hospitals, industries, communities and churches.
UNIT 1. SCOPE AND NATURE OF GUIDANCE
AND COUNSELLING

-Definitional Issues
GUIDANCE DEFINED
Guidance is usually defined to
convey author opinion and view and
multiplicity of authors cashing in on
the new field, the word has come to
be rendered virtually meaningless.
UNIT 1. SCOPE AND NATURE OF
GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING
According to laymen or dictionary
definition, guidance means to guide,
direct, pilot, manage, steer, assist, lead,
inform, instruct etc.
This made most parents and other lay
persons to view the guidance personnel as
one who directs or steers children into or
away from certain occupations or
educational endeavours. This is very much
an inadequate view.
Arbuckle (1966), Peters and Farewell (1967) have
drawn attention to the implicit distinctions in the
usage of the term Guidance.
 According to them, Guidance can be used as a
concept, as an educational construct and as an
educational service.
 As a concept Guidance means using an idea or view
point to help another person’
 Guidance as an educational construct refers to the
provision of experiences that lead to total personal
growth and self-acceptance.
 As a service, Guidance denotes the procedures
organized to achieve a helping relationship.
Guidance has also been used to refer to a
means of assisting or empowering
individuals to deal with personal
problems and to make the right
choices.
Jones Steffle and Steward (1970) thus state
“Guidance is the assistance given to
individuals in making intelligent choices
and adjustment in their lives”.
This definition underscore the fact that man
always has a choice to make and a problem to
solve, but the ability to make wise choices is
NOT innate, neither can one instinctively
always handle efficiently the myriad of
problems he faces.

Guidance therefore provides the assistance

individuals need to develop the qualities of
managing problems effectively and making
well-informed decisions.
B. The American Personnel and
Guidance Association [APGA] stated
that guidance can best be defined
as the services available to each
student to facilitate his academic
success in school, to help him
better understand his limitations
and to aid him in planning for and
attaining realistic goals.
Issues
1. What can facilitate academic success?
Dealing with academic difficulties –
forgetfulness, issue of retention, difficulty in
recollection, weak memory, poor study habit,
fear for exam, anxiety, tension etc.
2. Dealing with social problems that limit
concentration. Give examples ………
3. Understand your limitation – e.g. slow
learner, negative self concept, laziness etc.
4. Planning to attain realistic goals. How?...
Isaken and Mink (1963) describe guidance as
a programme of service to individual
students provided by teachers,
administrators and guidance specialists
based on the following:
1. The need of each student
2. The understanding of his immediate
environment which includes his peers,
teachers, parents, friends.
3. The effects of these influences on the
student (positively or negatively)
4. The unique features of each school.
Shetzer and Stone (1976) are of the view
that guidance is “the process of helping
an individual to understand himself and
his world”. This implies that
1. guidance assist people to understand
themselves i.e. strengths and
weaknesses, positive and negative
qualities- awareness, insight,
introspection etc.
2. Your world – People and facilities
around you.
SOME ELEMENTS/FEATURES THAT WOULD
HELP BETTER UNDERSTAND GUIDANCE
1. PROCESS- This implies that guidance is
NOT a single episodic event but rather
takes place over a period of time,
involving a series of actions or steps
which are goal oriented.
2. HELPING – guidance must be seen as
assisting, aiding or availing individuals
and preparing them to:
 Face impending difficulties
COMMON ELEMENTS/FEATURES OF
GUIDANCE
 Deal with prevailing negative
tendencies. EG thoughts, perceptions…
eg too hard…
 Come to terms with their own
capabilities, weakness and uniqueness
to contribute positively to society.
3. Deal with INDIVIDUALS – e.g. students,
people, clients or those in need.
4. understand himself and his world
KEY WORDS NEEDED TO DEFINE
GUIDANCE
• As a process, an activity or a programme.
• A way of helping or assisting individuals
• Creating awareness, understanding or
realization of ones potentials
• In order to function properly, solve problems,
improve inter-personal relationship, develop,
attain realistic goals, adjust satisfactorily in
the environment, take better decision, attain
success etc.
SOME CURRENT DEFINITIONS OF
GUIDANCE.
• Although various authors defined
guidance from their point of view,
there are certain elements that are
common with the various definitions.
These are:
• Guidance as a process, an activity or
a programme.
•A way of helping or assisting
individuals or people.
•Create awareness, understanding
or realisation of ones potential in
order to function properly , relate
well, develop, use his potentials or
take better decisions of life.
• We would therefore take some definitions in
the 1980’s, 1990’s and 2000’s and analyze
them as per above.
• Guidance is a generic label, an umbrella
term that covers all the means whereby
an institution identifies and responds to
the individual needs of pupils, students
and thereby helping the individual to
develop his or her maximum potential
(1paye 1983:3).
• “Guidance is the systematic
professional process of helping the
individual through educative and
interpretive procedure to gain a
better understanding of his or her
potentialities and to relate to him/
herself more satisfactorily to social
requirements and opportunities”
(Pecku, 1991).
• “Guidance is a process,
developmental in nature, by
which an individual is assisted
to understand, accept and use
his abilities, aptitude, interest
and attitudinal patterns in
relation to his aspirations”
(UNESCO 1998).
• “Guidance is the process of
assisting the individual to
perceive the nature of himself
and understand the aggregate
of his environment so as to
lead to more productive and
happy life” Kankam and
Onivehu (2000).
• “Guidance is a programme
designed to help the individual
to make diligent and useful
decisions of life and to relate
well with people” (Taylor and
Buku (2006).
COUNSELLING DEFINED
To the layman in the street, everyday usage
of the word and dictionary definition shows
that counselling is: advice giving, consultation,
discussion, deliberation, exchange of ideas or
decision making.
Counselling is a service designed to help an
individual to analyse himself by relating his
capabilities, achievements, interest and mode
of adjustment to the decision he had made or
has to make(Pecku 1996).
Counselling Defined

• Counselling is a relationship
between a counsellee who
needs help and a counsellor
who is professionally trained
and educated to give this help
(Taylor and Buku 2006).
Def. contnd.
• According to Rogers (1961), counselling is a
series of direct contacts with the individual
which aims to offer assistance in changing
attitudes and behaviour.
“Effectiveness counselling” consist of a
‘definitely structured relationship’ which
allows the client to gain understanding of
himself to a degree which enables him to take
positive step in the light of new orientation.
• Joseph Perez (1965) summarized the
definition of counselling as “an
interactive process co-joining the
counsellee, who is vulnerable and who
needs assistance and the counsellor who
is trained and educated to give this
assistance, the goal of which is to help
the counsellee learn more effectively
about himself and the reality of his
environment (cited in Kankam & Onivehu
2000).
2. The broad objective of counselling is to help
the individual to clear away the entangling
and hampering tentacles so that he can be
what he really is and contribute more to
himself and his fellows (Arbuckle 1970).
3. Gibson and Mitchell (1986) see counselling
as one of the helping relationships which
focus upon the individual’s growth and
achievement, problem solving and decision
making needs.
• Denga (1986) also, defines
counselling as “a
personalized dialogue,
interview or interaction
between the client or
counsellee experiencing a
problem and the counsellor
who tries to render help.
• “Counselling is a one-to-one
relationship that focuses on a
person’s growth and adjustment,
problem solving and decision
making needs. It is a client centered
process that demands confidentiality
(Gibson and Mitchel, 1995).
• Define counselling/Give/formulate
your own definition of counselling.
SUMMARY
1. In brief, counselling is a professional
service offered by a trained
competent counsellor.
2. It is a relationship or interaction between
a client in need and a counsellor ready to
offer assistance.
3. It is concerned with decision making.
4. It is concerned with solving problems.
5. It involves behaviour modification or
learning new attitudes.
NB

a) Counselling service is the heart of the work of guidance counsellors - It

is the core activity through which other activities become meaningful.
It is the pivot around which the wheel of guidance service revolve.
b) Counselling is a process that demands confidentiality.
c) It progresses on certain condition, essential to the success of the
counselling process. These are congruence or genuineness,
having mutual respect and empathic understanding
of the client.
d) Understanding for the counsellor.
e) Effective counselling requires that counsellors are well trained and
possess specific personality traits including
understanding, warmth, humanness and positive
attitude towards mankind.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING
• GUIDANCE • COUNSELLING

1. Embraces a number of 1. counselling is one of the

services rendered in the services in guidance. It is the
educational system. core activity of guidance
2. Guidance is knowledge based. 2. counselling is affective. It is
It deals with facts, principles, value oriented, deals with
methods and cognition. perception, motivation,
needs and feeling.
3. Guidance is less personal and
less intimate. It is usually 3. counselling is more personal,
structured and more public. intimate and less structured.
It is interpersonal, private
and confidential.
4. Guidance is informative and
didactic. 4. counselling is largely
emotionally stable and less
didactic.

5. Guidance is usually initiated by 5. counselling is usually

the counsellor.
initiated by the client.
SIMILARITIES
• They are both person centered.
• They both make use of qualified personnel to
help the individual.
• Both are geared towards positive change in
the individual.
• Both endorses clients own choice and
satisfaction.
• Both take place over a period of time.
THE NEED FOR STUDENT COUNSELLING ON
CAMPUS
• Counselling deals with the needs and
problems of students as there are numerous
needs and problems all over. Students
therefore need counselling because‫׃‬
1. there is the need to understand their
immediate environment and the world.
2. there is the need to understand themselves
as individual.
3. Of the need to achieve academic excellence
4. Of the need to adjust well wherever they are.
5. Of the need for decision making in life.
6. there is the need to achieve realistic goals.
EFFECTIVE COUNSELLING CHARACTERISTICS /
ATTRIBUTES
• The following are some of the attributes or qualities
a good or effective counsellor should possess.
A. The American National Vocational Guidance
Association has proposed that general
characteristics should include‫׃‬
 A deep interest in people.
 Patience with clients and sensitivity to the
attitudes and behaviour of others.
 Should possess emotional stability
 Show objectivity
 A capacity of being trusted by others and
 Respect for facts.
B. The Association for counsellor Education and
Supervision identify six basic qualities
effective counsellors must possess as‫׃‬
 Belief in each individual
 Commitment to individual human values
 Alertness to the world (current trends and
changes)
 Open mindedness
 Understanding of self and
 Professional commitment.
C. Okoye, Adejumo and Achebe (1990) also
suggested the following ‫׃‬
1. counsellors who have above average
intelligence are more effective than those
with less intelligence‫׃‬
Effective counsellors must possess problem
solving skills and knowledge about human
beings and how they respond to various
environmental situations. Counsellors must
know the psychological principles
underlying human behaviour, the causes of
major problems and how they could be
handled.
2. A humane and sensitive approach to
human problems enables counsellors to
handle clients and accord them with
dignity and consideration. Effective
counsellors should have the ability to
handle clients with care and “feel the
pulse” of their problems. The facial
expression and overall comportment of
the counsellor should be appropriate and
avoid being carried away by emotions.
3. Patience: Being patience with people
and their problems is vital for
counsellor effectiveness. The counsellor
should not rush, interrupt or
communicate boredom. This will make
the client to ‘recoil into his shell like a
snail’.
4. Having a transparent interest in
people. An effective counsellor should
understand people and show genuine
interest in people. Clients often draw
closer to those who have interest in
them.
cont’d
• An empathic approach to people
who have problem is critical to
counsellor effectiveness; being
empathic refers to the ability to
perceive other people’s problems
from their own perspective or
point of view.
SOME CURRENT DEFINITIONS OF
COUNSELLING.
• Like Guidance, there are certain
elements that cut across the various
definition of counselling. Knowing
and understanding these elements
make things easier for the student
when defining the term counselling.
These are:
A process, service or relationship
• Helping or assisting.
• Two or more people are involved
especially a trained counsellor and a
client.
• Solving a problem or making a decision.
• Assisting or guiding a person to be out of
a situation contrary to his expectation.
• Changing bahaviour.
Let us look at the following definitions:

• “Counselling is the relationship between

a professionally trained and competent
counsellor and an individual seeking
help in gaining greater self
understanding, improved decision
making and behaviour change- skills for
problem solution and or developmental
growth” (Pietrofesa, Hoffman and Splete
1984).
• “Counselling is a process in
which the counsellor assists
the counsellee to make
interpretations of facts relating
to a choice, plan or
adjustment” (Oladele 2000).
Counselling may be defined as
ultimate and purposeful
relationship between the
counsellor and the client with
the sole aim of helping the client
to clarify his goals and gain an
insight into his areas of concern
so as to take self committed
decisions (Kankam and Onivehu,
2000).
• Counselling is seen as a
relationship bringing together
the counsellee who needs help
from the counsellor who is
professionally trained and
educated to give this help. (Taylor
and Buku 2006).
UNIT II
THE HISTORY OF GUIDANCE AND
COUNSELLING IN GHANA
Guidance was first started in large
industrial cities in the United State of
America. Some of these cities are New
York, Chicago, Boston, Detroit among
others.
In 1885, George Merill started guidance
services in San Francisco and was
counselling students for job placement
and follow up of the graduates.
In 1908, Frank Parson also
organized the Vocational Bureau
in Boston to provide vocational
assistance to young people and
to train teachers, to serve as
vocational counsellors. Parson’s
efforts and publications brought
into being guidance and
counselling.
Contd.
• The development of guidance and
counselling in Africa was informal or
traditional where traditional
practitioners functioned basically as
advisors who advised on various
aspects of social life such as work,
marriage, morals etc.
The service was also provided by
traditional medicine men, fetish
priest, witch doctors who try to
alleviate people from problems,
issues or challenges. These
practices were not refined and
unsystematic (Taylor and Buku
2006).
EARLY YEARS GUIDANCE IN GHANA
The beginning of guidance and counselling
in Ghana dates as far back as 1955 when
the government attempted to organize a
national system of vocational guidance
by establishing Youth Employment
Services for all youth under 20 years who
hold Middle School Leaving Certificate.
This system was designed to give
vocational guidance to help young
The strong need for vocational guidance led the
Chief Education Officer and the Minister of
Labour to established a National System of
Vocational Guidance following the
recommendation of a visiting consultant from
Britain. He recommended that:
Introduce occupational literature into the
schools through the Minister of Education.
Develop lines of communication between
various ministries and the Employment
Services Centre.
Contd.
Provide officers employed in the
public employment centres with
course work in counselling and
supervised experiences.
Incorporate clerical labour to ensure
selection that is more efficient and
placement procedures.
Improve contact between the
Ministry of Labour and the Ministry
of Education
One of the objectives of establishing
the National system of vocational
guidance was to reflect the economic
development and the manpower
needs of the country.
THE NEED FOR GUIDANCE
The need for meaningful education led to
the proposed New structure and content
of education in Ghana (1974). This new
structure of education stressed on the
needs of the individual, his community
and the nation as a whole. It also sought
to bring out the best in every individual
and equip him/her with useful skills.
Therefore in addition to the
existing content, vocational
technical and business subjects
were added to the school
curriculum. The students then
had a wide choice to make but
needed guidance to make the
right choice.
ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHOOL GUIDANCE
The Ghana Education Service issued the first
directive on November 4th 1976 to establish
guidance and counselling programmes in
second cycle institutions in Ghana. These
institutions are Secondary, Technical,
Commercial, Vocational schools and Teacher
Training Colleges. Two other directives were
issued in 1980 and 1982 for the introduction
of guidance and counselling in first cycle
schools (Ackumney 1988).
With the introduction of guidance and
counselling in 1st and 2nd cycle
schools, the guidance and counselling
unit which was formally with the
CRDD was transferred to the
Physical/Special Education Division to
be in charge of all matters concerning
guidance and counselling in Pre-
University Institutions.
THE NEED FOR TRAINED GUIDANCE AND
COUNSELLING CO-ORDINATORS
The 1976 directive establishing guidance and
counselling in schools made UCC responsible
for the training of counselling personnel. As a
temporary measure, the Institute of
Educational Planning and Administration
(IEPA) of UCC started conducting intensive 8-
week in-service training Courses in Guidance
and Counselling for teachers of second cycle
institutions who on completion, became
school counsellors and were designated
Guidance Coordinators.
In 1990, the guidance and counselling Unit
of the Ghana Education Service started
organizing one week in-service training
courses for schools and district-based
guidance and counselling coordinators
since the IEPA of UCC had stopped the 8-
week courses it was organizing. The need
for more counsellors became urgent with
the implementation of the New
Educational System and the inception of
the FCUBE system.
THE ROLE OF THE GUIDANCE
COODINATOR
Adopted from Jenson, Quashie and
Kpakpo-Allotey (1970) and Pecku
(1972)
1. Helping to plan and develop the
guidance programme according to
the needs of students.
2. Counselling.
Contd.
[Link] leadership in the schools
programme of pupil appraisal,
information and placement services
to help students make realistic
educational and vocational choices
within the context of the manpower
needs of the country.
4. Assist in bringing about curriculum
change and working on attitudes of
all students towards education.
5. Maintaining laison and co-operative
working relationships with Youth
Employment Service, the Social
Welfare Department, the Ministry of
Health, Local employers and other
agencies.
6. Providing consultation services.
COUNSELLLOR TRAINING INSTITUTION
The University of Cape Coast offers
courses in Guidance and Counselling
for all undergraduate students and
also as a programme at the Masters
level. The University of Education
offers Guidance and Counselling of all
students offering 4-year [Link]
programmes.
Cont.

• Additionally, the University

runs a 2-year Post Diploma
[Link] programme in guidance
and counselling. There is also
[Link] and [Link] programmes
in guidance and counselling.
APPROACHES TO GUIDANCE AND
COUNSELLING
There are four types of counselling
when it comes to approaches as
identified by Pietrofesa etal 1978.
These are Crisis counselling,
Facilitative or Remedial
counselling, Preventive
counselling and Developmental
counselling.
CRISIS COUNSELLING
Crisis counselling occurs when the
counsellor is confronted by a client
who is in a state of disorganization.
Such a person is unable to cope with
events in his life and consequently,
may be wracked by destructive
feelings of self doubt, anxiety, guilt
and may be engaging in hurtful
behaviour.
Contd.
• Crisis according to Brammer
(1973) is a state of
disorganization in which the
client faces frustration of
important life goals or profound
disruption of his life cycle and
method of coping with stress.
People in crisis need immediate
attention to avoid further personality
destruction or behavioural
deterioration. Common crisis may
involve death of a close relative, an
impending divorce (broken heart),
infidelity, drug abuse, loss of job,
chronic illness, terminal disease,
frequent disappointment in life etc.
Crisis contd.
• Clients in crises have intense
emotional disturbance and this
offers a simple challenge to the
counsellor to use his
professionalism to assist the
client and make the necessary
follow up.
FACILITATIVE/REMEDIAL
COUNSELLING
This is a type of counselling where
appropriate techniques are employed to
bring to normalcy a person involved in anti-
social acts or unacceptable behaviour. This
is to bring positive adjustment in the
individual. OR When a counsellor engages
in the measurable weaknesses of clients
and tries to remediate them (Myrick,
1993). This approach tries to avoid possible
crises in the area concerned.
PREVENTIVE COUNSELLING
Preventive counselling is the
provision of assistance to
individuals to enable them avoid
falling into unpleasant situations
or adopting behaviour which
might later give them problems
(Taylor and Buku 2006).
Contd.
• In the preventive model of
guidance and counselling, the
counsellor tries to anticipate
generic problems and to prevent
them from happening (Myrick
1993).
This is programmatic and directed towards
specific concerns.
For example, drug awareness and sexual
education programmes attempt to
prevent the development of problems
(lunacy, unwanted pregnancy, sexually
transmitted infections) in the future.
Other relevant programmes may include
drug abuse, smoking, stress, marriage
problems etc.
DEVELOPMENTAL COUNSELLING
This type of counselling is concerned with
helping individuals to achieve positive
self and personal growth at any stage of
their lives. It is an assistance given to
individuals to cope with problems
associated with developmental stages in
life (Taylor and Buku, 2006). It is
therefore designed to occur throughout
one’s lifetime.
Dev. Contd.
• It is more proactive than the three
other approaches to guidance and
counselling. The counsellor attempts
to aid individuals of all ages to
develop in a relaxed non pressured,
and non-crises atmosphere and also
to take useful or meaningful
decisions.
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF GUIDANCE
Guidance principles are the fundamental
truth, doctrine or practices accepted by
most authorities which characterize or
guides the guidance function. These
principles in most cases, include statements
or assumptions, aims, and practices.
Psychologists like Gibson, Mitchell, Shertzer
and Stone, Pecku, Miller, Peters etc have
outlined the following as basic principles of
guidance and counselling practice.
1. Guidance is concerned primarily and
systematically with the personal
development of the individual: This
principle implies that guidance concept
should seek to develop the totality of
the individual. Schools may focus on the
intellectual development of the child but
guidance must be geared towards the
intellectual, physical, social, personal,
moral and emotional growth of the
student.
[Link] is for all:
The notion that guidance is for the
troubled youth or those regarded as
such should be abolished. So long as
education is for all educable
members of the society and
guidance is part of education, then
all those who stand to be educated
need to benefit from guidance and
counselling services.
3. The primary mode by which guidance is
conducted lies in individual behavioural
processes:
The guidance programme is concerned
with personality development and
practitioner’s subject matter is concern
with the personal world of the
individual. Practioners therefore use
interview, test interpretation etc to assist
students to understand their personality.
4. Guidance is a continuous
process/guidance is a programme for all
ages:
Guidance is considered a continuous,
sequential educational process which is
developmental in nature.
To be precise, guidance must begin from
kindergarten through primary, JHS, SHS
to university or the tertiary level. This
will help to bridge the gap from one
educational level to the other.
[Link] is oriented toward co-
operation and NOT compulsion:
Guidance thrives on co-operation
and not compulsion. Students
cannot be compelled to submit to
guidance. Guidance takes place
by mutual consent or personal
desire from the individual.
6. Guidance is based upon recognizing
the dignity and worth of the
individual as well as the right to
choose:
Guidance recognizes that the normal
individual has the right to choose what he
wants to do. Guidance rests on the belief
in the fundamental dignity and the
importance of the individual in the
essence of equality of human beings and
their need to exercise freedom.
[Link] is a team effort:
The needs to be met by the guidance
programmes are varied and numerous
for the guidance co-ordinator alone to
perform. The co-ordinator need to invite
other resource personnel to assist where
necessary. As such, teachers,
psychologists, social workers,
administrators etc should be part of the
process.
8. Decision making is essential in
guidance:
The programme is directed towards
helping the individual make informed
choices and decisions. Giving
information and providing alternatives
play important role in decision making.
This helps individuals to make wise and
effective decisions that will assist them
to achieve their goals and fulfill their
9. Guidance emphasises the positive:
Individuals frequently perceive
guidance in a negative sense such as
to depress aspirations or eradicate
dreams. Guidance must emphasis
strength and success,
encouragement and the opportunity
to change and grow.
[Link] can be provided in
multiple settings:
As mentioned earlier, guidance is a
‘cradle to grave’ activity (concept)
and consequently can be offered
in a number of settings. It
involves personal, social,
occupational as well as
educational situation’s demands.
ETHICAL ISSUES IN COUNSELLING
Ethical issues are the dos and don’ts of a
profession. They are the agreed standard
or code governing the profession. Every
profession such as teaching, law, medicine
and nursing has it’s own ethics. Counselling
profession in Ghana is still young and does
not have any specific code of conduct.
However, there are general universal
guidelines to which every counsellor is
expected to conform. These are:
1. The counsellor must believe in human dignity:

Every human being is entitled to respect and

must be treated humanely (kindly,
compassionately). Despite individual
differences, each student must be treated
with due respect regardless of gender, social
status, appearance, age, tribe, religious
affiliation among others. Under no
circumstance should a counsellor refuse to
offer guidance to a student because of
offences.
• Belief in human dignity implies the
student should be accepted for what he
is. Carl Rogers unconditional positive
regard and the three core conditions
(unconditional positive regard, warmth
and empathy) need to be observed by
the counsellor.
• Accept the client as he is and be non-
judgemental
• Warmth boosts the confidence level of
the client.
2. The counsellor must protect the welfare
of the person who is seeking help:

The ultimate purpose of the guidance and

counselling programme in schools is to
seek the well-being of students. All
activities should be geared towards this
purpose. Students should not be
intimidated when soliciting information
from them.
3. The counsellor must not abuse
his/her professional position or
relationship:
Any misconduct by the counsellor or
guidance personnel can be particular
damaging to the counselling process.
This misconduct may be financial or
using confidential information for profit,
social or sexual contact. The introduction
of any other purpose into the treatment
undermines it‘s outcome.
• Never allow the counsellees transference feeling
such as unrealistic feelings for the counsellor,
including anger, idealised love or sexual attraction
affect you.
• Avoid sexual contact-It is never a valid method of
treatment even if the counsellee has sexual
problems. It is unethical even if the client consents
to or initiate it.
• Never take advantage of students because they are
in need. Never ask for favour, demand money or
coerce student into unhealthy relationships. They
are unacceptable.
4. Counsellors must not under any
circumstance infringe on the freedom of the
counsellee or client
The counsellee should not be forced to
engage in any activity against his will. The
individual is entitled to his privacy and
not under obligation to divulge any
information. Privacy is an important
ingredient of counselling and the client
must be given freedom of choice and
individuality.
5. The counsellor must maintain the
highest standards in the services offered:
The counsellors approach to issues can
make or mar the counselling relationship.
The counsellor must be knowledgeable,
competent and efficient. Counsellors are
encouraged to constantly update their
skills through conferences, workshops
and sharing experiences with their
senior colleagues. Below are some
critical attributes of effective counsellors.
 Knowledgeable  Courteous
 Resourceful  Empathic
 A self learner  Honest
 Humourous  Genuine, sincere
 sensitive to other  Tactful
people’s view  Self controlled
 Outgoing, open, warm  Responsible
 Relaxed and calm  Objective
 Trustworthy  Co-operative
 Attentive  Imaginative
 Appreciative
6. The counsellor must show regard to the social
codes and moral expectations of the
community:
The effective counsellor must be an accepted
and responsible member of the community
by conforming to the moral codes of the
community. Christian counsellors living in
Muslim communities and look down on the
Islamic religion and practices do not conform
to ethical standards. Breaking taboos in the
community with impunity will generate
hostility from the community.
7. Safeguard information about an
individual obtained in the course
of counselling:
Information on students can be divided into two
main categories. These are;
1. Matters of judgment i.e. data that is both
descriptive and evaluative of an individual
and that requires interpretation.
2. Matters of record i.e. data that are purely
descriptive. Data may also be restricted-i.e.
health and disciplinary records; unrestricted
e.g. name, sex etc.
FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN
COLLECTING INFORMATION FROM
STUDENTS
No information should be collected without
prior consent of the person involved or the
parents.
Information collected by the school should be
classified and different arrangement made for
security and access to the data.
The school should establish procedures to
verify the accuracy of all data maintained in
the records.
 Parents should have full access to their children’s
records.
 No agency or person other than school personnel
who deal directly with students should have access
to students data unless in the case of a minor.
 The counsellor should make provision for the
maintenance of confidentiality in the preservation
and ultimate disposal of confidential records.
 Counsellors are ethically obliged to keep the
communication of counsellees confidential. At
times the identities of students must not be
disclosed.
ETHICAL PRINCIPLES OF COUNSELLING-Adopted
from Ackummey (2003)
COUNSELLORS SHALL:
Act with care and respect for individuals and
cultural differences and the diversity of
human experience.
Avoid doing harm in all their professional
work.
Promote the safety and well being of
individuals, families, homes, societies, schools
etc.
Seek to increase the range of choices
and opportunities for clients.
Be honest and trustworthy in their
professional relationships.
Practice within the scope of their
competence.
Treat colleagues and other
professionals with respect
THE ROLE OF GUIDANCE FUNCTIONARIES

Guidance is a co-operative activity.

It is a team work which requires
the contribution of many persons
called functionaries. These and
their roles are;
1. THE HEAD OF THE SCHOOL/ADMINISTRATOR
 To recognise and encourage guidance programme in
the school.
 To secure adequate number of competent
counsellors for the school.
 To ensure that other counselling functionaries play
their roles well.
 To provide physical facilities for the work e.g. office,
furniture, tape recorders, TV, deck etc.
 To release funds for counselling activities.
 To consult counsellors on the specific needs of the
school.
2. THE SCHOOL COUNSELLOR
Plan and develop the guidance
programme according to the needs of the
school.
Offer counselling to students and staff
Offer consultation services to teachers,
parents, administration etc.
Provide information services to students
on academic, vocational and personal-
social issues.
Provide placement services and
other guidance services to
students, parents, teachers etc.
Serves as a Public Relations Officer
(P.R.O) for the school.
Conduct research on social issues
like divorce, suicide, HIV/ADIS etc.
3. THE TEACHER
To serve on school guidance committee.
Reffering students with special needs to
the counsellor.
Help the counsellor to diagnose the
problems of students.
Arrange special guidance and remediation
courses for students to overcome their
learning difficulties.
4. THE HEALTH PERSONNEL
Visiting homes of reffered students to gather
their complete health history.
Accepting referrals from teachers and counsellor.
Giving treatment within her professional
competence.
Referring difficult cases for medical attention
elsewhere.
Assisting school administration to develop a
sound and effective health policy for the school.
5. THE PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION
Providing financial assistance to the
guidance programme.
Reffering undesirable behaviour of
students in the community to the
counsellor.
Serving as resource personnel for school
guidance programmes.
To link the school to other institutions or
organizations in the community.
6. THE DISTRICT CO-ORDINATORS
 Organization and development of guidance services
in the first and second cycle institutions.
 Organization of District in-service courses,
workshops and seminars for school co-ordinators.
 Development and promotion of career guidance
 Dissemination of information on new trends and
techniques in guidance and counselling and
placement services to guidance co-ordinators.
 Establishment of guidance and counselling projects
in the educational institutions-e.g. peer educators.
7. THE PARENTS
Providing social and emotional support for
their children.
Assisting the counsellor to understand their
children.
Refer their children to the counsellor for
help.
Cater for the moral needs of their children.
Provide educational materials for their
wards.
8. THE COMMUNITIES
Providing facilities like library, health centres,
recreational centres that will promote
development among students
Establish educational funds, scholarship
schemes for students
Opinion leaders and professionals in the
community could assist the school as resource
persons.
Providing financial support for guidance and
counselling activities in the school.
9. NON-GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATIONS
They could serve as resource persons by
giving talks to students-e.g. PPAG, World
Vision etc.
They provide financial support to
students
Offering internship and part-time
employment opportunities to facilitate
students career development.
GUIDANCE SERVICES
According to Shertzer and Stone (1976),
guidance services are formalized actions
undertaken by the school to make
guidance operational and available to
students. These are; orientation service,
appraisal service, information service,
placement service, counselling service,
consultation service, evaluation service
and follow-up service.
THE ORIENTATION SERVICE
This service is provided to help students or new
employees adjust to a new environment. The
purpose of orientation is to;
 welcome fresh/new students to school, college, or
university.
 assist fresh students to adjust socially and
psychologically to their new environment.
 let student know and understand their rights,
privileges and responsibility in the school.
 expose students to the services and facilities
available in the school.
HOW TO OPERATIONALISE/IMPLEMENT
THE ORIENTATION SERVICE
To achieve the purpose of orientation services, many
institutions use the following methods;
 Organise talks for fresh students on health,
academic,…..
 Disseminating information to students using notice
boards
 Providing reading materials for students.
 Making students visit the library, classrooms or
lecture theatres and other important places to
acquaint themselves with the facilities available.
THE APPRAISAL SERVICE
This is a service in which data about
the individuals are analysed with the
aim of making the individual have
better understanding of himself and
also providing data which counsellors
or guidance co-ordinators, teachers,
administrators and other helpers can
use to assist the individual student.
PURPOSE OF DATA COLLECTION
A basic assumption of the appraisal
service is that people are alike and in many
other respects, different. The aim of
appraising people is to highlight the
uniqueness of each of them. This
makes it possible to show how one
person is different from the other. A
second aim is to show how people
are similar.
Another major aim of the appraisal
service is to assist people to understand
themselves (self awareness) and make wise and
useful decisions. This is important because
many students have little idea about their
personality. Some students depend on
external sources for direction in many
matters. These sources often give
conflicting reports that need to be
resolved. Such resolutions can only be
made by an expert in the field.
Other purposes of the appraisal service are;
To facilitate the individual’s attempt to
clarify and develop identity. It is necessary
for the individual to know who he is. This
will enable him to know what he wants to
be.
To provide feedback concerning the
current status of the individual
(performance or change in behaviour).
To enable students to detect trends and
patterns in his behaviour.
To provide a basis for judging relative
achievements in various areas of
interest and for comparing
accomplishments with well defined
norms.
To assist the individual to know where
he can fit properly or appropriately.
To enable students to understand their
potentials, evaluate their achievements
and see how they can perform better.
The guidance personnel should ensure
that the;
available data are adequate for self
evaluation.
individual understands the
information.
individual can interpret the
information with respect to the
realities of the external world.
AREAS OF DATA COLLECTION
The major areas of data collection are;
 Mental ability: This is the ability of the individual to
think in abstract terms with the aim of solving
problems.
 Achievement: This refers to how much a student
has been able to attain from his classroom learning.
 Interest: This is concerned with the individuals
feelings, like or dislike for an object or an activity.
 Personality Characteristics: These are the affective
traits of an individual. These include emotions,
morality, attitudes, sociality, interest etc.
TECHNIQUES OF COLLECTING APPRAISAL DATA
Basically, Test and Non-Test techniques.
TEST TECHNIQUES
These comprise standardized tests and teacher
made tests. According to Shertzer and Stone
(1976) most authorities defined a standardised
test as “an objective sample of some aspect of
behaviour”. The test is described as objective
because it’s administration, scoring and
interpretation is not limited to the examiners
individual judgment but any examiner can use
the same methods to administer the test, score,
interpret and arrive at the same interpretation.
For a test to be objective, it should
be valid and reliable. For a test to
be valid, it should measure what it
is supposed to measure e.g. good
memory or speed.
The reliability of a standardised test
refers to the consistencies with
the result of the test.
NON TEST TECHNIQUES
These are ways of collecting data
without the use of tests. They are
more qualitatively based than
quantitative. Examples are;
observation, interviews, rating scales,
sociograms, anecdotes,
autobiographies etc.
The use of the cumulative record is
also non test technique.
PURPOSE AND USE OF TESTS
The purposes of tests are related to user
objectives. Users includes teachers,
counsellors and administrators. Generally,
there are four purposes of tests. These are;
1. For Prediction: Test scores help us to
predict how well an individual can perform
or behave in future. This offers a good basis
for decision making. For example, a student
who performed very well in the BECE is also
expected to perform well in SHS (1).
II. For Selection: Tests scores are
used by educational
institutions, employment
agencies, scholarship Board etc
for selecting individuals for
admission into higher
educational institutions, job
vacancies or for awarding
scholarships.
For Classification: Test scores are used to
classify learners into groups according to
types and not levels e.g. according to
courses to be offered in future.
According to Shertzer and Stone (1976)
classification is different from placement.
In classification, test scores are used to
group people into different types of jobs
but placement assign individuals into
different levels of jobs.
For Evaluation: Tests are used
to evaluate the effectiveness
of guidance programmes, the
effectiveness of counselling or
classroom instruction.
COUNSELLORS USE OF TESTS
According to Shertzer and Stone (1976) Traxler
and North (1966) tests can be used in
counselling to:
obtain accurate and reliable information
about students’ aptitude, interest and
personality traits.
predict future performance of students and
counsel them on courses to pursue.
assist students and parents to plan for their
future career.
diagnose students academic, social
and emotional problems and provide
appropriate treatment to resolve
them.
help counsellors to evaluate the
objectives of their guidance
programmes.
provide data for testimonial to higher
institutions or employers.
Aptitude Test: This is used to access knowledge,
skills and other characteristics to predict
learning success. They are designed to
estimate the future performance and success
of a person in school work, various
occupations and further education.
Aptitude, according to Lennon, cited in Shertzer
and Stone 1976 “is a combination of abilities
and characteristics, whether native or
acquired believed to be indicative of an
individuals ability to learn in some particular
area.
SOME NON TEST METHODS
Observation: In observation we use the
natural sense of seeing hearing, tasting,
touching and smelling to collect data
from our environment.
Observation according to Taylor and Buku
involves listening, looking, noting and
recording of facts, behaviour and events.
Observing a person’s behaviour in
counselling should be done effectively.
Shertzer and Stone (1976) gave six (6)
ways we can improve observation.
Determine what to observe first.
Observe one person at a time.
Watch out for significant behaviour.
Have a number of brief period than
one of a long period of observation.
Avoid writing notes while observing.
2. Interview: An interview is a
method of obtaining
information about or from an
individual usually through oral
interaction with the individual.
(Essuman 1989)
Cunningham (1986) defines an interview as
a purposeful conversation aimed at
providing information on quasi-informal
basis. The counsellor however uses
interview differently from researchers or
journalists point of view. The counsellor
uses interview to seek information about
the counsellee to enable the counsellor
help the counsellee resolve his problems.
For interview to be effective, the counsellor
must be able to;
Establish good rapport.
Brief the counsellee about the purpose
of the interview.
Skillfully conduct the interview with
appropriate relevant questions.
Close the interview in such a way that
will motivate the counsellee to come
again.
3. Questionnaire: A questionnaire
is an appraisal instrument in a
written form comprising a
number of items. In the school
situation, a questionnaire may be
used to collect data about
students, home, family, health,
study habits and activities outside
the school.
[Link] Records: This is
a means of storing
information on students
longitudinally. It is
longitudinal because the
record accompanies a student
as he moves from one level or
class to the other.
The cummulative record contains the
following information;
 Personal data
 Family data and background
 Health record
 Achievement result
 Hobbies of the student
 Anecdotal reports
 Date of admission into the school.
Cummulative records are
entered on a folder, book or
card. Confidential or sensitive
information of students should
not be recorded in the book. It
is used by the counsellor, head
of school and teachers.
INFORMATION SERVICE
This is designed to provide students with a
greater knowledge of educational, vocational
and personal-social opportunities so that they
are able to make better informed choices and
decision in an increasingly complex society.
Society is in constant flux with advances in
science and technology, politics and the
industrial world complicate issues for
decision making. The useful information
service is what helps young people to meet
challenges for today and tomorrow.
REASONS FOR INFORMATION SERVICE
To become a fully functioning member of
the society, realise their potentials, be
aware of opportunities and make
meaningful choices.
To help students assume more
autonomous responsibility, be self
regulatory and free from ignorance.
Individuals are therefore expected to
assume more independent roles in the
Information service assists students to
explore and become aware of the
contingences of stability and change
that mark their development.
It assists students to make meaningful
vocational or career choices.
Information service reduces
frustration, failure, rejection, stress,
depression resulting from wrong
decision making.
TYPES OF INFORMATION SERVICE
There are three types of information
service. These are:
-educational information
-occupational information
-Personal-social information.
(Issues for discussion) – Briefly explain
any of the above and mention at least
two sources each.
1. EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION
To Norris, Zeran and Engelkes (1972),
“educational information is valid and
usable data about all types of present
and probable future educational or
training opportunities and
requirements including curriculum and
non-curriculum offering, requirements
for entrance and regulations for
students life”.
According to Shertzer and Stone (1976),
educational information is a valid and
usable data about all types of present
and probable future education or
training opportunities and
requirements including curriculum or
non-curriculum offerings, requirements
for entrance. Educational information
provides data on conditions and
problems of students life.
According to Akinade, Sokan and
Osarenren(2005), citing Gensinde
(1991), Educational service is a
valid and usable data about all
types of the present and probable
future educational or training
opportunities and requirement
among others required to aid the
student in making realistic choices.
The educational service therefore
equips the student with vital and
current knowledge about
educational programmes and
opportunities. It also assists
students in various ways to achieve
their academic or educational
goals. Educational information also
includes the following;
Available tertiary or post secondary
institutions in the region, country, the
world etc.
Curriculum offerings and subjects or
programmes of these institutions
Admission requirements into these
institutions
Subjects required for specific professions
or courses in tertiary institutions.
Cost of tertiary or secondary
education (boarding, day,
residential facilities in and outside
school premises, tuition fees etc).
Ways of financing tertiary
education –scholarship, student
loans, study leave with pay; self
sponsorship, guardian sponsorship
etc.
2. OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION
According to Norris et al (1972),
“occupational or career
information is valid and usable
data about positions, jobs and
occupations including duties,
requirements for entrance and
conditions of work, reward and
sources for further information”.
Akinade, Sokan and Osarenren
(2005) defined occupational
information as a valid and
usable data about jobs
including requirements, work
conditions, reward systems,
supply and demand for that
kind of job, etc.
Taylor and Buku (2006)
defined occupational
information as a true
and reliable data about
occupations, jobs and
positions.
From the above definitions, it is clear that
career or occupational information
includes the following as listed by Shertzer
and Stone 1976.
The structure and major groups within an
occupation. E.g. adm. D.H.R, Transport
section, Estate etc.
The nature of occupations, the nature of
work.
Preparations needed for different types of
occupations. (Give examples)
Qualification necessary for
employment in various occupations.
Procedures for entering and
advancing in an occupation.(how?)
Conditions of work in various
occupations.
Salary structure, wages and other
benefits and.
occupational hazards. (give
SOME OBJECTIVES OF OCCUPATIONAL
INFORMATION
To evaluate client’s perception of abilities and
interest against actual occupational
requirement.
To identify and demonstrate job acquisition
skills
To develop self awareness and self-confidence
in the individual’s anticipated choice of
occupation.
To demonstrate basic skills of competency in
one’s chosen occupation.
3. PERSONAL-SOCIAL INFORMATION
According to Norris et al (1972), “personal-
social information is valid and usable
data about the opportunities and
influences of human physical
environment which bear on personal and
interpersonal relations”. This type of
information is about human beings and
helps individuals to understand
themselves better and thereby improve
how they relate with others.
Norris et al (1972) listed the following aspects
of personal-social information:
 understanding self and getting along with
others. (can this be possible?)
 boy-girl – relations (how?)
 manners and etiquette (give examples)
 leisure time activities
 personal appearance (good or bad?)
 social skills (mode of talking, greetings etc).
 home and family relationships (good or bad)
 financial planning and healthy leaving
Akinade et al (2005) agreed on the following
characteristics:
Understanding masculine and feminine
roles. (gender equality ? How real?)
Understanding one’s and others behaviour.
Developing healthy relationship.
Knowledge of dating practices, sex
education, marriage and responsibilities.
Social skills, financial planning and leisure
activities.
PRINCIPLES OF INFORMATION SERVICE
The following principles underscore the information
service. These are:
I. It is the essential part of the school guidance
programme:
Students have problems to cope with academic,
social and vocational decisions to make which
demand information. Students also need
assistance in acquiring, evaluating and using
educational, vocational and personal-social
information for their own development
purposes. This helps student to be on their
II. The focus of the informational service is
personal study, future trends and change:
Trends in the labour force, shifts in the nature of
occupations and new directions in educational
programmes occur rapidly. Generally, society is
in constant flux and things are changing day by
day (Let stds mention some changes eg pressing
iron). Students therefore need current
information in order to be abreast with the
present changes in order to adjust satisfactorily
and take relevant decision.
III. Both group and individual techniques
are used to convey informational data
to students and assist them in
interpreting and using such data:
Both group and individual techniques of
spreading information aims at personality
change, goal setting, decision making and
planning. Group approaches are built on
interest, attitudinal change and
motivational factors while the individual
approaches are designed to assist
IV. Information service is more than information
giving:
Information service is more than
providing educational, vocational
or personal-social information to
students or handing materials to
students to read. This implies that
students needs must be taken into
consideration, including their
emotional reactions.
V. Qualified personnel to staff
information service is essential:
The information needed to
assist students must come
from a qualified staff in order
to be authentic and meet the
need of students.
VI. The information service
must contain provision for
it’s evaluation:
Formative and summative
evaluation should be carried out
to determine the better ways of
achieving the objectives of the
information service.
METHODS/WAYS OF COLLECTING
AND GIVING INFORMATION
The following are some the ways of
collecting and giving information
to students.
1. WRITTEN SOURCES:
Many industries, institutions, professions,
publish relevant information about
their establishments in booklets,
catalogues, brochures, occupational
monographs/briefs/guides and other
printed materials. Information about
jobs and institutions could also be
obtained from newspapers and
magazines.
2. CAREER CONFERENCES AND
CONVENTIONS:
Organisers of these
programmes often expose
people to the nation and
prospects of certain careers.
3. VISITS/EDUCATIONAL TOURS:
Students can easily obtain more or
additional information through
visiting certain establishments.
Students can visit factories,
industries, schools, colleges,
universities, polytechniques etc to
obtain information on attachment,
job satisfaction, admission
requirements, job hazards etc
4. STREET SURVEY:
Students may be grouped and
assigned to certain working
establishments in the community
to collect information on the
nature of jobs available and the
requirement for entry.
5. TEACHING OCCUPATIONS:
These lessons could be taught in
formal classes for students to
overcome difficulties and seek for
further clarification.
ON THE JOB LEANRING:
Occupational information could be
obtained in the actual work. This
assists people to gain experience.
VARIETY
This includes the use of audio
visual aids, such as slides, film,
radio, cassettes, notice boards,
bulletin boards, internet etc.
PLACEMENT SERVICE
This service is designed to help students
choose and make use of opportunities
available within the school or outside
the school with the aim of improving or
furthering their social or academic
position or securing employment status.
Placement service assists students to
enter into further education, a new
class, a new subject or occupation.
Placement is a selective
assignment of a person into a
position, designed to help
person to be in positions for
which their plans, interest,
skills, aptitudes and physical
activities are suited.
(Taylor and Buku 2006)
According to Shertzer and Stone
(1976) and Pecku (1991), there
are three types of placement.
These are;
-Educational placement
-Vocational placement
-Social placement.
1. EDUCATIONAL PLACEMENT
This is placement with regard to
educational or academic issues.
Students may be placed in new classes
or programmes depending on their
academic performance or as a result of
a problem or difficulty. Educational
placement assist students to adjust to
school life and study courses that are
best suited for their abilities, interest
Counsellors therefore assist
students to change courses
provided there is enough
evidence to prove that they will
benefit more from the new
course or subject. It also assist
students to move from one
educational level to another.
Vocational placement
• This deals with career or vocational matters. It
assist students or places them in courses or
programmes that will assist them to achieve
their career aspirations or objectives.
• This service also assists students to go on
attachment or do part time jobs.
• Finally, this service tries to avoid putting
square pegs into round holes.
Social placement
• This form of placement has to with
social issues. Pupils or students are
placed in special groups with the aim
of enabling them acquire some
special skills. For example, students
who fear to talk should be placed in
debating clubs etc.
COUNSELLING SERVICE
Counselling according to Tolbert (1972) is a personal
face to face relationship between two people in
which the counsellor, by means of the relationship
and his special competencies, provides a learning
situation in which the counsellee, a normal sort of
person, is helped to know himself and his present
and possible future situations so that he can make
use of characteristics and potentialities in a way
that is both satisfying to himself and beneficial to
society, and can learn how to solve future problems
and meet future needs.
This and other definitions of
counselling indicate that counselling
is:
a process
a relationship
a help given to people in making
choices
a face to face interaction and
a learning experience.
Counselling, as discussed
earlier, is the heart of all the
guidance services. It is the
pivot around which the
wheel of guidance service
revolves. Counselling is
therefore indispensable in all
the guidance services.
AIMS OF COUNSELLING
The aims of counselling depends on the
situation, environment and training.
The basic aims of counselling include
the following:
To help students gain an insight into
the origin and development of
emotional difficulties leading to an
increased capacity to take rational
control over feeling and actions.
To change maladjusted behaviour.

To assist students to move in the

direction of fulfilling their potential
or achieve an integration of
conflicting elements within
themselves.
The fundamental goal of counselling is to effect
some changes in behaviour, which help the
individual to live a more productive and self
satisfying life, counselling provides students
with the skills, awareness and knowledge,
that enables them to confront social
inadequacy in life.
According to Brammer (1988) cited in Taylor
and Buku (2006), counselling brings changes
in behaviour and lifestyle, increase awareness
or insight, understanding, relief from
suffering, changes in thoughts and self
Capuzzi and Gross (1991) gave the following
aims of counselling:
To decrease anxiety and depression.
To reduce confusion and loss of contact with
reality.
To increase socialization and improve inter-
personal relationship (behaviour modification
in order to live in harmony with others).
To cope with crises and transitional stress
To accept oneself and the ageing process
To make meaningful choices.
THE NATURE OF COUNSELLING
To the layman, counselling may be
seen as consultation, a simple chat
or an aimless talk. However, Ford
and urban (1963) gave the
following characteristics of
psychotherapy which also
appropriately describe the nature
of counselling as:
 Counselling involves two people in
interaction, a generic term for exchange of
meanings between people which includes
direct communication of talking and listening
as well as gestures, glances, nods, or shakes of
the heads, frowns, and other nonverbal
features by which meaning is transmitted
from one person to another. The interaction is
highly confidential, and since counsellees
discuss themselves in an intimate fashion, it is
highly private and unobserved by others.
The mode of interaction is usually limited
to the verbal realm; the counsellor and
the counsellee talk with one another.
Counsellees talk about themselves, their
thought, feelings and actions. They
describe events in their life and the way
they respond to these events. The
counsellor listens and responds in some
fashion to what the counsellee says to
provoke further responses. The two
think, talk and share their ideas.
 The interaction is relatively prolonged since
alteration of behaviour takes time. Counselling has
as its goal - change of behaviour. It is assumed that
through counselling interaction, the counsellee will
in time revise his distortions and alters his
behaviour.
 The purpose of the relationship is change in the
behaviour of the counsellee. The counsellor focuses
the interaction upon the counsellee. Counsellees
need not be concerned about the happiness of the
counsellor but must devote their energies to
changing themselves.
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT COUNSELLING
• Patterson(1990) describes the nature of
counselling by first describing what it is
not.
He states that counselling is not:
 Giving information, though information
may be given in counselling,
Giving advice, suggestion or
recommendations (advice should be
recognized as such and not camouflaged as
Influence attitude, beliefs or behaviour by
means of persuasion, leading or convincing, no
matter how directly, subtly or painlessly,
Influencing behaviour by admonishing
warning, threatening or compelling, with or
without the use of physical force or coercion
(discipline is not counselling)
Selection for and/or assignment of individuals
to various jobs or activities,
Interviewing (while interviewing is involved, it
is not synonymous with counselling).
The nature of counselling according to
Patterson, is to be found in the following
characteristics:
Counselling is concerned with influencing
voluntary behaviour change on the part of
the client (client wants to change and seeks
counsellor’s help to change)
The purpose of counselling is to provide
conditions which facilitate voluntary change
(conditions such as the individual’s right to
choices, to be independent and
As in all relationships, limits are imposed
upon the counselling goals which in turn
are influenced by the counsellor’s values
and philosophy,
Conditions facilitating behavioural
change are provided through interviews
(not all interviewing is counselling but
counselling always involves interview),
Listening is present in counselling but not
all listening is counselling,
The counsellor understands the
client,
Counselling is conducted in
privacy and the discussion is
confidential,
The client has a psychological
problem and the counsellor is
skilled in working with clients who
have psychological problems.
AREAS OF COUNSELLING
There are three areas of counselling.
These are:
1. Educational counselling

2. Vocational counselling

3. Personal/Social counselling.
EDUCATIONAL COUNSELLING
Educational counselling is a term first coined by
Kelleyin in 1914. This is a process of rendering
service to pupils who need assistance in making
decisions about important aspects of their
education, such as the choice of courses and
studies decision regarding interest and ability, and
choice of college or universities. Educational
counselling increases a pupil’s knowledge of
educational opportunities. Educational counselling
also assist students to overcome learning
difficulties and whatever militates against success
or educational objectives.
VOCATIONAL COUNSELLING
Vocational counselling which facilitate career
development involves:
Helping students to become aware of the
many occupations to consider.
Interpreting an occupational interest
inventory to a student.
Assisting a teenager to decide what to do
after school.
Helping a student apply to a college or
University.
Role playing a job interviewing
preparation for the real thing.
Taking people through the factors to
consider when choosing a career-
ability, aptitude, interest, personality
type, nature of job, gender etc.
Exposing people to the risk involved
in the various occupations.
PERSONAL/SOCIAL COUNSELLING
This type of counselling deals with emotional
distress and behavioral difficulties, which
arise when individuals struggle to deal with
various development tasks. Any aspect of
development can turn into an adjustment
problem, and everyone encounters, at some
time or other, some difficulty in meeting
ordinary challenges. For example we
sometimes face:
anxiety over a career decision
insecurity about getting older.
depressive feeling when bored with
work.
Excessive guilt about a serious mistake in
life.
A lack of assertion and confidence
Grief over the loss of a loved one
Disillusionment and loneliness after
parents’ divorce.
INDIVIDUAL COUNSELLING
Counselling denotes a professional relationship
usually between a trained counsellor and a client.
This type of counselling is called individual
counselling. It involves a person to person
interaction between a counsellor and a counsellee.
One major advantage of individual counselling is
that it offers maximum attention and time for the
counsellee. The whole process is for the counsellee
to verbalize his problem, examine them and learn
how to overcome them with the help of the
counsellor. The major disadvantage of individual
counselling is that it is time consuming.
GROUP COUNSELLING
Group counselling is a professional
relationship that involves two or more
counsellees and the counsellor. In this
type of counselling, the counsellees may
have a common concern like drug abuse,
low academic achievement, study habit,
useful for resolving interpersonal issues
and learning interpersonal skills.
According to Gadza (1984), in group counselling
a feeling or an attitude exist (engender)
because it provides participation, incentive
and motivation to make changes that are in
the client best interest. On the other hand, it
is remedial for those persons who have
entered into self defeating behaviour. Group
counselling however, offers economy of time
and effort but lacks adequate privacy, time
and attention for counsellees.
THE CONSULTATION SERVICE
Consultation service is the aspect of guidance in
which counsellors work together with teachers,
parents and other agencies to resolve the
problems of students (Taylor and Buku 2006)
In the consultative service, the counsellor meets
individuals like teachers, school administrators,
parents and curriculum experts with the aim of
assisting him to overcome certain difficulties he
may encounter while playing his role as the
counsellor.
Consultation enables parents, teachers
or administrators to have a better
understanding of the children or
students they handle. It enable
helpers to realize better ways of
handling students. Curriculum
planners are also helped to plan
better curricula for students when
they understand the nature of
children’s development.
CONSULTATION WITH PARENTS
This may be initiated by the counsellor or the
parents. Shertzer and Stone (1976) suggests
that school counsellors often initiate
consultation with parents for a number of
reasons:
To discuss and interpret test results of their
children.
To have discussions on their children’s
placement or planning with regard to their
education.
To get informed about and be
able to interpret their children’s
behaviour in school.
To discuss how their children are
achieving and developing.
To discuss or suggest the need for
their children to be referred to
appropriate agency or
Consultation enable consellors to
obtain rich information from
parents on the behaviour of the
children at home, parents
relationship with children at home
and the health condition of their
children. Consultation occurs more
at the lower levels (primary
school).
CONSULTATION WITH TEACHERS
School counsellors need to consult with
teachers especially about the academic
problems of their students, social problems
and other personal problems that hinders
smooth academic work. Students may be
referred to the counsellor when they
misbehave. Counsellors can give consultative
help to teachers by:
Interpreting the child’s behaviour for the
teacher to better understand the child.
Collaborating with teachers to help
students in need or those who need
special attention.
Interpret test data of students.
Teachers can also be consultants to
counsellors by providing them with
information on:
How children behave in groups
Children’s style of learning
Pupils reaction to classroom discipline.
CONSULTATION WITH ADMINISTRATORS
Counsellors play useful consultative roles
with school administrators because head
of schools are not in direct contact with
students. The counsellor need therefore
to occasionally inform the school head
about the needs, morale, attitude and
academic performance of students. This
helps to influence administrators policies
in a positive direction to facilitate good
academic and social life in the school.
CONSULTATION WITH CURRICULUM
PLANNERS
The counsellors rich knowledge,
experience and contact with
students places him in a good
position to appeal for changes in
the curriculum taking current
social, economic and occupational
changes into consideration.
EVALUATION SERVICE
Evaluation service helps the counsellor to
systematically determine whether the
objectives set for guidance service or for
the overall guidance programme is being
achieved. In counselling service, the
counsellor may evaluate each step in the
process of counselling an individual. This
builds into the counselling process
corrective measures to ensure
improvement in the service.
According to Robson (2003), the
purpose of evaluation is to assess the
effects and effectiveness of
something typically some innovation,
intervention, policy practice or
service. Evaluation is not only
concerned with assessing the worth
or the value of something but also,
seeks to assist in the improvement of
what is being evaluated.
For example, at the end of a career
conference activity, it is expected that the
conference is evaluated to determine the
benefits students gained with regard to
career information. This evaluation is to
give feedback on how such a conference
can be improved in future. Other
guidance services such as appraisal,
placement and consultative need to be
evaluated.
The guidance services as a whole
should be evaluated after a period of
implementation. This can be done
quarterly, six monthly or yearly for
the counsellor to determine the
effectiveness of the guidance
programme in schools.
This provides information on writing
annual reports to the Headmaster or
other stakeholders in Education.
FOLLOW UP SERVICE
This is the process whereby the
counsellor gets in touch with the
counsellee, student he has
counselled, placed in a higher
institution or a job to assess the
extent of their progress. This service
takes place after the termination of
the counselling session or placement
of the counsellee has been made.
Follow up may be done after one
month, three months, six months
or a year. The counsellor may
invite the counsellee to obtain
data on his progress-e.g. acquired
new behaviour or gone back to his
old habits. This can be done
through interview, phone calls,
mailed questionnaires etc.
Follow up service allows the
counsellor to give further
counselling to the counsellees
who slacked into their old
undesirable behaviours or lost
their goals to come to terms with
their goals through additional
counselling services.
UNIT V: ORGANISATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF
GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING PROGRAMMES IN SCHOOLS

Leadership issues in the School Guidance Programme

Organising guidance and counselling in your
school and making it effective depends on
the co-operative efforts of the entire staff
of your school. This is because guidance
and counselling is intricately intertwined
with both the instructional programme and
the administration of your school.
This also means, among other things, that you have to
develop a programme that is of specific relevance to
your school. Such a programme, according to Hill and
Lucky (1969) is characterised by the acronym “PLEA”.
1. Your programme should be Planned- it is not a hit-
or miss affair.
2. It should also be effectively Led- it demands
constant and well-organised management.
3. The programme should be well Executed. This
means- responsibilities assigned should be carried
out.
4. Finally, the programme should be regularly
Assessed. It must be evaluated and its impact upon
All these mean that your school guidance
programme should be well planned and
effectively led; it should also be reasonably and
rationally executed and it should be assessed
from time to time determine its effectiveness.
Planning:
I. Planning involves the ability to delineate the
philosophy of the school; this in part
determines the objectives of the programme.
II. Desire to prepare clear-cut statements of
objectives preferably in behavioural terms.
iii. Assign specific duties to individuals and
committees to make the organisation and
management of your programme easier. To
execute your programme, you will have to:
• Get each committees/individuals to study
the objectives of the programme and see
how and where his/her own assignment fits
in.
• Get committees/individuals to study the
calendar of guidance activities to know
when, how or where he is involved.
• Ensure close adherence to the calendar.
• Discuss and review immediately
problems that arise.
• Discuss or review each completed aspect
of the programme so as to plan for the
next phase or stimulate suggestions for
improvement.
• Arrange for regular feed-back from
students, staff and parents.
Appraisal:
Another important aspect of the programme is the
careful evaluation of what has happened in relation to
your stated objectives. You could have an in built
evaluation system so that as soon as an aspect of the
programme is executed, you would be able to
evaluate the impact on the students as well as the
people who were involved in it. Based on these, you
would make new decisions to;
I. Retain, eliminate or improve some aspect(s) of the
programme.
II. Retain, change or give further training to person(s)
or committee(s) that executed particular aspect of
A clear statement of objectives is crucial to
evaluation because Zeran and Riiio (1962)
suggested that the “major purpose of
evaluation is to ascertain the current
status of an activity within a specific
frame of reference..” They suggest
further, that the bases of that knowledge
would facilitate the improvement of the
school’s guidance activities in terms of
quality and efficiency.
How to Enlist the Support of the Principal
The headmaster and the assistant headmaster
are the administrative heads of the school.
The headmaster in particular, has the final say
on administrative policy issues in the school,
subject of course, to the pleasure of the Board
or the Ministry of Education. The support of
the head and his assistant are therefore
crucial in initiating and sustaining an effective
school guidance services programme.
Effective planning would involve identifying the types
of records to be kept as well as who would keep
these records and how and where such records
would be kept.
Note that the objective of your programme should be
based on the school’s objectives. You may study the
national objective of high school education
contained in the National Policy on Education. Also,
study your headmaster’s end of year reports for the
previous five years to obtain some recurrent
themes and emphases. Study the minute book and
discuss value-related topics that focus on the
school, the students, and on the goals of education.
Leading:
Zaran and Riio (1962) emphasize the
point that ‘the administration must
believe in, understand and want a
programme, seminar or workshop to
which members of the Board are
invited as participants. This way,
members of the school’s board would
be persuaded to give support to the
concept of school guidance service.
You could get them to understand that the
programme of guidance service is a
distinct part of the total student-
personnel services of the school system;
they should understand that it is a service
of all students to all grade levels. They
need to be convinced and to accept the
fact that though it will cost money, your
programme will be worth what it costs.
Even though the headmaster has
ultimate leadership in the running of
the guidance programme, the
counsellor has his own vital
management role to play. He co-
ordinates the various committees,
gives needed leadership in their
assigned tasks, and encourages staff
leadership to play their roles
appropriately.
Execution (or implementing the programme):
The programme must utilize the
competencies of individual members of
staff to the ultimate. The working
relationship among all involved in
implementing the programme should be
defined, if possible using a flow diagram.
You will need the role of the counsellor in
the school. Do not lecture and do not give
the impression either that counselling can
solve all problems.
According to Muro (1970) the best
approach is to assure teachers of
awareness that some form of guidance
already exists in an informal manner in
the school and that as teachers,
colleagues already hold a guidance-
oriented point of view- since they all
work towards helping students to
maximise their potentials for full growth
and development.
You might then need to drop the hint that
you intend to involve every member of
staff in the running of the programme;
that no contribution is too little and that
with their permission and co-operation, a
committee will be formed for this
purpose. You could end by letting them
know of your intention to submit
proposals for orientation and an in-
service session for discussion at the next
staff meeting.
The Guidance Committee
If the school guidance programme is to
succeed and be effective, you will need to
work with a committee or number of
committees charged with planning,
organising and implementing various
aspects of the programme. To ensure that
every member of staff is involved, it is
better to have several small committees
entrusted with different aspect the
programme and the general planning
committee.
The Assistant head and Heads of
Departments should be members
of the central planning committee.
If you are junior to all of them, you
should be secretary of these
committee since ideally, you must
not be chairman.
Introducing students to and involving Students
in Guidance Activities
More than any other group, the school
guidance programme is meant for students.
They have to be motivated to take a keen
interest and an active part.
One of the most important steps in organising
the programme therefore is knowing how to
introduce your programme to your students
and how to get them fully involved. Your first
contacts with students in large groups, small
groups or as individuals is very important.
a) At a school general assembly: It is normal
practice for school heads to introduce
new members of staff to the students
during the first assembly in the school
year. Before this assembly, you should
discuss with the Head your intention to
make a short introductory speech about
Guidance and counselling. The speech
should be very short-lasting three to five
minutes and touching on things that are
closest to the students’ hearts.
Your speech must be stimulating and be such that
it will make students want to ask questions. You
could end such speech by giving an indication
that you would be visiting the different classes
and dormitories to discuss important issues
with interested students. You could ask those
who have any questions to get them ready for
you to answer.
It is essential to emphasis that counselling and
guidance is for all the students. In this and
subsequent talks with students, it is essential to
avoid any reference to disciplinary issues.
b) Classroom Visit; Follow-up the talk in
the assembly by visiting students in
their classrooms to talk to them
about your roles. This talk should
be more detailed, illustrative and
students should be given the
opportunity to ask questions or
raise issues on which they want
further clarifications.
You could then ask students to fill in
questionnaires supplying some information
about themselves, personal problems they
have and whether they would want to
discuss such issue with you. It is important
to emphasise confidentiality. Try initially to
avoid using the words “problems” and
“difficulties”. Rather, refer to these as
“personal issues”, “matters relating to your
studies” and “your interactions with
others” and give partial examples of what
you mean by these.
Activities
Before you start any guidance
programme you need to plan.
To plan effectively, you need to
know who the programme is
for and why that target group
needs that programme. Good
planning involves:
a) Assessing the general and particular
needs of the school and conduct
needs assessment survey to help you
plan a guidance programme for the
school.
b)Identifying resources (human and
material) available in your school
and the community to help you
implement the guidance
programme.
The counsellor must have a general
idea of human needs. Maslow
(1954) classified human needs as:
[Link]/Survival needs- are basic
needs for which there are no
substitutes.
[Link] or Security needs- the
need for freedom from fear and
anxiety.
3. Social or Love and Belonging needs-
that gives a sense that we are loved
and have a place in the community
4. Self-Respect/Personal Dignity/Self-
Esteem needs- that give one a sense of
independence and confidence.
5. Personal Growth? Self Actualisation- A
sense of satisfaction with one’s self
which reflects the individual’s desire to
grow and develop to his or her fullest
potential.
When these needs are, the individual can
develop the talents and gifts within
him/herself and achieve his or her highest
and greatest level of personal growth. If
there is a problem with meeting any of
the general needs, the child is affected
and his or her academic work is
adversely affected. For example, unmet
physiological need like the need for food
can lead to stealing or the child may not
be comfortable enough to learn well.
Activities
The following are all human needs. Try to match
them to Maslow’s five levels of needs below
using the numbers 1,2,3,4, and 5. example:
For = 1 (meaning, food is a physical need).
Physical Needs
=1
Safety and Security =2
Social Needs/Love and Belonging
=3
Self Respect/Personal Dignity/Self Esteem
List of Human Need List of Human Need
Needs Category Needs Category

Physical Shelter
comfort
Supporter of Self employed
football club business
person
Membership of Respected in
religious body community for
honesty
War Sickness and
disease
Recognition by Achievement of
community a personal goal
Leader Certificate from
communal correspondence
labour project school
Certificate of Food
achievement
Recognised skill Teacher/Worker
as an artisan on the job
Promotion on Attendance
the job without
absenteeism
Selected hair of Air
a local function
Long service Best worker
award award
Marriage Parental love
Clan Outcast from
membership clan
Woman of the Love of a mate
year, women’s
club
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
• This is the last stage of the programme. At this
stage, the counsellor should find out whether
the programme was successful or carried out
as planned. The following questions may
guide the counsellor;
• Was the programme well executed as
planned?
• Were all the objectives achieved?
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
• Were all the resource persons present?
• Did all the committees performed their
duties?
• What problems or challenges did you face
while executing the programme?
• How are you going to solve the challenges
encountered?
REPORT WRITING
• There is the need for you to write a report at
the end of the programme and give copies to
the head of the institution, the various
committees and other stakeholders of the
institution. This report should include the
progress made, the challenges observed and
the way forward.
UNIT VI: SOME THEORIES OF COUNSELLING
THE CLIENT-CENTRED THERAPY (Carl Rogers)
Introduction
• This is a non-directive approach developed by
Carl Rogers (1951) in reaction to the highly
diagnostic, probing and interpretive methods
of psychoanalysis.
• An important focus is on the client’s
immediate situation and his subjective
experience-his feelings, (emotions), thoughts,
fears, and so on.
• The therapist or counsellor assumes
role of a catalyst in assisting the client
to achieve maturity through the client’s
own insight and personal scrutiny.
• The relationship between client and
counsellor is characterised by empathic
understanding and unconditional
positive regard. These are crucial for
the success of the encounter.
View of Human Nature
Rogers’ developed this theory when the
prevailing belief among therapists was that
man basically and innately veil, destructive,
irrational and selfish. Rogers completely
rejected this viewpoint. His view was that man
was basically good and that any badness in man
is the result of negative influences in his society
or environment such as poverty, ignorance,
disease and superstition, constitutes the basic
hypothesis or assumption upon which Roger
builds his approach.
Rogers’ contended that if these
obstacles could be reduced to a
minimum, man would find society
acceptable and also find answers
to his problems. His views can be
conveniently organised into four
(4) basic areas:
1. Belief in the Dignity and Worth of Each
Individual: Rogers believed that all
person :
Have the right to their own opinions
and thoughts.
Should be free to control their own
destiny and pursue their own
interests-so long as they don’t
transgress the rights of others.
2. The Perceptual view of Individual Behaviour:
Rogers said that:
 Individuals behave in a way that is always
consistent with their subjective perceptions
(feelings, views, etc) of themselves and their
situations.
 Even an individual’s most objective functioning-
for instance in Maths and Science is the result
(or certainly not devoid) of subjective
influences.
 This emphasis on one’s subjective influences
makes self-concept an important aspect of
one’s personality.
3. People are Basically Good and
Trustworthy:

Rogers uses of words such as

trustworthy, reliable, good, and
constructive to describe man. Any
badness was the result of negative
influences from his society or
environment.
• Where people present the contrary
behaviours of deceit, hate and cruelty,
the source can be traced to a
defensiveness that has separated from
their inherent good nature.
• The counsellor’s work is to assist the
individual so that his defensiveness
diminishes and he begins to behave in a
socialised and trust-worthy way so he can
begin to strive for a constructive and
meaning relationship with others
4. Tendency towards Self-
Actualisation: Rogers view was that
I. People have specific needs, motives and
inner urges for fulfilment
II. They have the capacity to meet these
needs
III. They actively interact with their
environment and tend to move in the
direction of growth, adjustment,
improved socialisation, self-realisation
and autonomy.
[Link] way they seek to meet these
needs enhances their self esteem
rather than diminishes it.
V. The capacity and tendency to
fully actualise oneself are
released under proper
conditions.
In the client centred Theory, Rogers simply
attempts to specify the conditions that are
conductive for this freeing process to occur .
Two major emphasis of client centred Theory
are:
1. On the Here and Now
 In CCT the counsellor does not need any
knowledge of the client’s history or difficulties.
 What has happened in his past and which might
have resulted in his present difficulties is not
important to the counsellor. What is important is
the question of how the client is feeling now.
 Thus for instance, if a client’s problem is a
feeling of hatred for a sister, how the hatred
developed is not an issue. The issue is how
the client feels now and how those feelings
are affecting her behaviour now.
 CCT makes clients focus on present feelings
by expressing them verbally.
 The theory rejects diagnosis because
diagnosis implies that one individual can
place another individual into a category and
decide what is right or wrong for that
individual.
 Diagnosis is rejected also because it
denies the uniqueness of individuals
and places them into categories. In
CCT only the clients can in accuracy
feel, know or diagnose his internal
frame of reference.
 To Rogers, people cannot be
categorised. Each person is unique
and has a unique potential and
resources for self-diagnosis.
2. On the Emotional Rather than Intellectual
Elements in the Relationship
• In the CCT, pure knowledge is
secondary because intellectually,
the client may know what the
problem is, but being an
emotional being, this knowledge
alone may not help to change his
behaviour.
• Therefore, the counsellor attempt to
help the client to simply focus on his
feelings about himself, about others
or about events.
• The counsellor often reflects and
gives feedback to client. The
expectation is that the client will now
see things and his own self more
objectively and begin to change his
The Process
1. The client is allowed to freely express
his feelings-verbally and non-verbally.
2. Client’s expressed feelings have
reference to self rather than non-self.
3. His expressed feelings are reflected
back by the counsellor until he begins
to see his problems in a new light.
4. Increasingly, client becomes aware of the
inter-relationship been himself, others and
environment in a more objective way.
5. He finally experiences a full awareness of
feelings that were previously denied or were
distorted.
6. He is now able to re-organise his concept of
self with his new feelings.
7. As reorganisation of self continues, there is
now congruence between himself and his
environment.
Important conditions for the Therapeutic
process
• The counsellor must be a very patient listener. An
expert listener in a fact.
• He must fully accept each client in an atmosphere
of unconditional positive regard.
• His job is to help the client develop insight and find
self-understanding.
• By helping his client to reflect on his feelings,
develop insight and self-understanding into his
problems, the client develops new goals and new
modes of behaviour.
Some Problems with the Approach
1. The emphasis on the affective, emotional
and feeling aspects of behaviour and the
complete lack of consideration for
intellectual, cognitive and rational factors is a
problem for many counsellors.
2. The counsellor is expected to be completely
neutral. He is like a mere reflector who
clarifies and throws back to the client the
thoughts and feelings of the client. This is
extremely difficult because everyone does
have his or her own values.
3. The use of information from
psychological tests and inventories
(as in Trait and Factor Theory) is
completely absent.
4. Practice is not effective with
counsellors who have difficult in
communicating. It requires much
skill as client may withdraw if the
counsellor entirely does listening and
only give feedback.
2. THE RATIONAL EMOTIVE THERAPY
This theory was pronounced by
Albert Ellis. The theory has
been variously described as
Cognitive theory, cognitive
behaviour theory, directive
counselling and rational
behaviour theory.
The Rational Emotive Theory is a cognitive
behavioural approach. It emphases
logical reasoning and cognitive processes.
According to Ellis, the known psyche is
intricately intertwined with thoughts and
feelings. In what is known as his A-B-C
theory, he says that people come to
therapy because of some disturbing
consequence (C) which is attributed to an
activating event (A).
To the client, it is as if A is the direct cause
of C. Ellis maintains however, that there is
really no causal relationship between A
and C. People, he says are not disturbed
by events themselves, but by the beliefs
(B) they hold about those events. RET
• Stresses thinking, judging, deciding and
doing.
• Places little emphasis on feeling and
emotions.
View of Human Nature
Ellis point out that:
• All human think, feel and act and the emotions,
reasoning (thinking) and feeling all part of one’s
psyche.
• Our thoughts affect our behaviours and create
feelings.
• Our emotions affect thoughts and actions.
• Continued self-verbalisation of irrational
thoughts lead to continued states of emotional
disturbance because our thinking affects
motions.
Ellis states further that:
• Every individual can behave
uniquely rationally and irrationally.
• Rational behaviour brings peace
and happiness.
Irrational or illogical thinking brings
psychological disturbances.
Irrational thinking is acquired through
one’s parents and culture.
Situations or events do not create anxiety. It is
the individual’s perception of a situation that
causes anxiety.
People have capacity to identify, challenge, and
change their self-defeating tendencies by re-
indoctrinating themselves.
Negative thoughts can be changed by
reorganising one’s thinking.
The goal of counselling is to help identify
illogical or irrational thoughts and to replace
such thoughts with logical or rational
Key Concept
• Emotions and emotional disturbances are rooted in
one’s thinking or thoughts.
• Some emotions are appropriate and others are
inappropriate.
• Appropriate emotions include joy, love, pleasure,
displeasure, sorrow, regret and frustration.
• They are appropriate because they help people to
get more of what they went want and in their lives.
• Inappropriate emotions include rage, mania,
depression, self-pity and feelings of inferiority and
worthlessness.
ELLIS identified 11 Major Illogical Thoughts:-
1. Every one should love, appreciate
and approve of me.
This is irrational because it is an
unattainable goal. It is impossible to
be loved by everybody.
Striving for this leads to self defeat and
disappointment.
2. I should be completely perfect and
completely competent or adequate
in all aspect of life…
it is completely Irrational and
impossible. It leads to an
inferiority complex and unhealthy
competition rather than an
enjoyment of life.
3. Some people are bad, wicked and
should be blamed and punished
Irrational Ellis says, because there is no
absolute standard of right and wrong.
Everybody makes mistakes.
Blame and punishment do not necessarily
lead to less stupidity or a better emotional
state.
Punishment rather tends to bring worse
behaviour and greater emotional
disturbances.
4. It is catastrophic; if things do not
go the way you want them to go.
In life things don’t always go the way one
wants them to go.
Some frustration is normal and should not be
seen to be catastrophic.
To have severe and prolonged upset over such
things is illogical. It only worsens the
situation rather than improve it.
If you can’t change a situation, the sensible or
most logical thing to do is to just accept it.
5. Unhappiness comes from events,
which are beyond one’s power to
control.
Most events are only psychologically
harmful only if we let them harm us
by our own attitudes and reactions.
If somebody is unkind to you, it will
only disturb you if you dwell on it.
Being told you’re stupid does not
make you stupid.
6. If something is dangerous or
harmful you need to be
constantly worried about it.
Irrational- because worrying or
thinking will not change any
situation, it may rather worsen it
7. It is better to run away
from difficulties than
face them.
Irrational- because running
away does not solve problems.
It is always better to face and
solve the problems.
[Link] need to be dependent on
and have others who are stronger to
lean on
Only to an extent, because maximised
dependency only means loss of one’s
independence and self- expression plus a
failure to learn, insecurity and greater
dependence.
It puts you at the mercy of those you
depend on. (eg. Owing sums of money)
9. Past events determine your
present behaviour which you
cannot change
The past may influence the present but
it does not necessarily determine it.
This is just an excuse for non-
acceptance of responsibility to
change or improve oneself.
Such change may be difficult but it is
always possible.
[Link] should be concerned, worried
and upset by other’s problems
Usually, other people’s problems
are none of your business.
Even if they are, worry alone is not
constructive. It rather makes you
less able to help. Rather, you need
to strategise.
[Link] is always a perfect answer to
every problem.
Searching for perfect solutions only
increase anxiety.
There is no perfect solution to any
problem.
People are never satisfied any way.
RET Counsellors:
1. Are active directors. They do a lot of
talking and explaining especially in
the early stages.
2. Confront clients early so as not to
waste time.
3. Take a vigorous approach in getting
the client to straighten their thinking
early and reeducate themselves.
4. Are persistent and repetitive in their effort to
eliminate the irrational thoughts that
underlie the client’s emotional disturbances.
5. Appeal to the client’s reasoning powers and
not their emotions’. They may use books,
tapes, firms and direct teaching to bring
about change.
6. Are didactic, philosophical and logical in their
approach.
7. May use humour and even shame as a way of
confronting client’s irrational thinking.
Counsellor’s Role
RET Counsellors
1. Help the clients to defferentiate between
appropriate and inappropriate feelings or
emotions, and thoughts.
2. Show clients how their irrational thinking is
the source of their inappropriate feelings
and emotional disturbances.
3. Help clients to straighten out their
irrational thinking and replace them with
appropriate ones.
Ellis believed that counsellors
should not waste time in
counselling. They must show
respect for the client in a clearly
expressive way but they must still
go on and show the client his
irrational thought and help him by
re-educating him. They sometimes
need to unmask the past.
RET Counsellor use a lot of
cognitive homework. This may
be in the form of new
behaviours for the client to try
out. Fears are confronted with
logic and reason and persuasion
and there is de-indoctrination
and indoctrination.
DECISION MAKING THEORY
Introduction
At any point in time, students are
confronted with many important
alternatives and decisions. These
decisions may be on educational,
moral, vocational or personal-social
issues, and the choices they make
may have great impact on their
future lives.
This makes equipping them
with decision-making skills a
very important aspect of the
counsellor’s duties.
Gibson and Mitchel (1986) refer
to good decision-making as an
integral part of healthy
personal functioning.
Effective counsellors, do not aim merely at
solving their clients’ problems. They
rather aim at helping clients acquire the
necessary skills that will enable them to
solve their own problems.
Stewart, Winborn, Johnson, Burkes and
Engelkes (1978) suggest a 7-step decision
making model that can be adopted by
school counsellors in teaching students
how to make decisions. The steps are as
follows:
Step 1. Identify the Problem/issue
In trying to identify the problem,
the following questions could be
asked:
What is/appears to be the problem?
When, where, how often and how
does the problem occur?
What prevents a solution?
Step 2. Identify the Values and Goals
of the client
What are the client’s specific values?
What motivates him/her to desire a change in
behaviour?
What specific behaviour changes does he/she
desire?
The counsellor should not presume to know this.
He must find out from the client.
Identifying client goals is important because
when they are known, the final solution will be
consistent with the client’s values.
Step 3. Identify Alternatives
Assist the client to formulate
several possible alternatives.
For example, how will l make
my sour relationship sweet
again? List ten alternatives
Step 4. Examine Alternatives
This involves weighing the relative advantages
and disadvantages of each alternative.
Here, much factual information is required,
such as on the client’s vocational interest, his
aptitude, personality and his level of
intelligence.
Information from books, newspapers, brochures
and consultations or interviews with experts
or institutions and work place officials might
also be required.
In examining the alternative, the
counsellor helps the client to pay
particular attention to the utility
and probability factors.
The utility of, an alternative refers
to the likelihood of success of
each alternative. The probability
factor also has to do with the risk
involved in a particular event.
In client A’s situation the chances of
her being able to complete SHS or
university if she marries, and how
happy she would be are relevant.
Here the counsellor’s skill and
experience must be wisely used to
inform the client and discuss the
likely short and long consequences
of each alternative.
Step 5. Select One Alternative Make a
Tentative Decision
After examining the
alternative, the counsellor
assists the client to prioritize
them, and select the one
with the highest utility and
probability [Link]
Step 6. Take Action on the Decision
This involves searching for
further information if one is
unsure of step 5. If however
the client is confident of his
decision (step 5), then he is
encourage to implement it.
Step 7. Evaluate Outcomes
The counsellor remains available to
assess the effectiveness of the
selected option and to discuss any
problems that may arise from Step 6.
He may simply give encouragement
to the client, if all seems to be going
well or he may need to assist with the
next best option if the selected
option present serious difficulties.
CONCLUSION:
Since the aim is to teach the client to make
decisions the counsellor must be careful to allow
the client himself or herself to select the best
alternative. The counsellor must NOT choose for
the client. He only acts as a guide. It is the client
who makes the selection or choice. The client
must be allowed to be very active and do most
of the ‘work’ involved at each stage of the
process. Finally, the counsellor must take care to
expose the various step in the decision making
process to the client. This helps the client to
learn the process of decision making.
The Behavioural Counselling Theory

Behavioural counselling is relatively

new approach that is primarily
concerned with behaviour change.
Behavioral counsellors emphasize
processes that are cognitive in nature,
recognizing, for instance that there is a
cognitive element operating whenever
behaviour changes.
The Behavioural Counselling Theory
Today, behavioural counselling has
become less significant as a specific
counselling approach but continues to make
a major impact as its techniques, strategies
and scientific emphasis are integrated into
other approaches. Although not closely
identified with any single person, this
approach has several important proponents.
Among these are; Wolpe, Bandura,
Lazarus, Krumboltz and Thoresen.
View of Human Nature
To behavioural counsellors, people
are neither good nor bad; they are
essentially neutral at birth with equal
potential for good or evil. Dustin and
George listed four assumptions
regarding the nature of humanity and
how people change that are central to
behavioral counselling;
Dustin and George’s assumptions of the
nature of humanity
1. Man is neither intrinsically good or bad, but
is an experiencing organism who has
potential for all kinds of behaviour.
2. Man is able to conceptualize and control his
behaviour.
3. Man is able to acquire new behaviours
4. Man is able to influence others’ behaviour as
well as to be influenced by others in his own
behaviour (1977,p.12)
For the behavioural counsellor:
1. The individual is a product of his experience
2. Maladaptive behaviours are learned
behaviours and their development and
maintenance are the same as that of any
behaviour.
3. No behaviours are maladaptive in and of
themselves, rather a behaviour becomes
inappropriate because someone deems it so.
For instance, certain behaviours that may be
considered appropriate at home are not
considered appropriate in school and vice
versa.
For the behavioural counsellor:

4. Any behaviour that brings a pleasant result or

that helps to reduce unpleasant results is likely to be
increased.
5. Since maladaptive behaviour is learned, it can
also be unlearned.
In dealing with such behaviours, behaviourist
generally consider the stimulus-response paradigm
as the basic pattern of human learning. Basically,
this means that each person reacts in a theoretically
predictable way to any given stimulus, depending on
his previous experiences and reinforcements.
Behaviour then is a function of a stimulus.
Classical and operant conditioning compared
The key word underlying behavioural view of humanity is
conditioning. There are several types of conditioning, but the two
major parallel forms are usually discussed are classical (respondent)
conditioning and operant ( instrumental) conditioning.

 Classical conditioning occurs when a stimulus elicits a response,

while operant conditioning occurs when a response is emitted to
obtain an outcome that reinforces the individual.
 Respondent behaviour is controlled by its antecedent, whereas
operant behaviour is controlled by consequences
 Respondent behaviours includes such familiar behaviours as
o perspiration in response to heat
o Blinking the eyelids in response to the nearness of a foreign
object and
o Salivation in response to food.
Classical and operant conditioning compared
A classic example of respondent conditioning is that
reported by Watson and Rayner (1960). They elicited an
emotional fear response in an infant by showing the infant a rat
while a loud noise was produced; after several repetitions the
fear response formerly caused by the loud noise was produced
simply by presenting the rat.
In operant learning, the consequences that strengthen
behaviour are called reinforcers. A reinforce is any event that,
instead of eliciting a specific class of behaviours increases the
probability of any resulting behaviour. For example, a hungry
animal may behave in a wide variety or ways but behaviors
immediately followed by food will be strengthened. The
activity or event is reinforcing simply because it has an effect
on behaviour.
Classical and operant conditioning compared

If a reinforcing stimulus is pleasant- for example,

one that provides an individual the opportunity for
some enjoyable activity-then the event or stimulus
is positive reinforcement; it increases the likehood
that the particular act it is associated with will be
repeated. The initial act may have been learned as
the result of previous consequences or it may be
random, somewhat spontaneous action. In either
case, the action is more likely to recur because of
the pleasant consequences that followed.
EXTINCTION
The process of eliminating undesirable is
referred to as extinction. A behaviour has been
extinguished when it no longer occurs. Counsellors
must be aware of two important strategies of
extinction.

Strategy 1. counterconditioning:
Here, a new, desirable behaviour is substituted for
the undesirable behaviour. By way of example, a
three-year-old boy was afraid of rabbits, fur, white
rats and even cotton wool. A researcher treated the
boy by desensitizing him to these fears.
EXTINCTION CONT’D
she introduced a rabbit during a play period, and gradually increased
the boy’s toleration of the rabbit. At the beginning the rabbit was in a
cage twelve feet away. The cage was gradually moved closer until the
boy was able to fondle the rabbit affectionately.

 She associated the rabbit with the presence of pleasant stimulus

(food), which aided in the elimination of the fear.
 She brought the rabbit into the room while the boy was eating dinner
in his highchair.
 The rabbit kept at the far end of the room and the boy was hungry, so
the rabbit’s presence did not interfere with the boy’s pleasure from
eating’
 As the rabbit was moved closer to him over a period of days, the fear
response gradually decreased until the boy was able to eat while
petting the rabbit.
EXTINCTION CONT’D

strategy 2. withdrawing the reinforcement that has

previously followed some behaviour

For example, many classroom teachers have the

problemof students who burst out questions and interrupt
the class. The teacher often reinforces such behaviour by
answering the student quickly so that the lesson that the
lesson can continue. To extinguish this behaviour,
 the teacher must ignore the student
 Deny him attention and
 Prevent him from getting his question answered.
Partial re-enforcement
The period of extinction is often difficult. The individual who controls
the reinforcing events sometimes fails to wait long enough for extinction
to take place and gives the student the added attention. If this occurs too
often, partial -reinforcemnt effect occurs.
Partial reinforcement explains resistance to extinction however it can be
used to increase the permanence of an appropriate or desired behaviour.
New behaviours are more quickly learned when the behaviour is
reinforced each time it occurs. However, those behaviours are also easily
unlearned.
To bring about more permanent learning, the behaviour should be
reinforcrd every time it occurs, at the beginning. After the behaviour is
acquired, partial reinforcement builds a tendency to perform the
behaviour even when no reinforcement follows. the percentage of
behaviour reinforced should be decreased gradually to prevent
extinction.
SHAPING
Sometimes it is difficult to create condition that elicit a desired
behaviour for the first time so that the behaviour can be reinforced.
If the probability of the desired behaviour, occurring is low, or if the
counsellor does not wish to wait for the behaviour, then the
counsellor must shape the response. Shaping is the procedure that
reinforces successively closer approximations of the desired
behaviour.

The way most children learn to talk illustrates the way shaping
works. The first babbling sounds made by infants are certain to
cause the parents to smile, speak warmly, and pay attention.
Gradually, as the babbling sounds become more and more like
words, only those sounds that parents find similar to their language
are reinforced. Later, closer approximations are reinforced, until the
child learns to make sounds that are meaningful to adults.
KEY CONCEPTS
In behaviour therapy,
 Clients feelings are secondary to client behaviour
 Whiles many of the problems brought to the counsellor may
seem to be emotional in nature, the problems are actually failures
to deal successfully with problems in living. Thus the client who
says “ I fee rejected” or “ I feel lonely” is actually expressing a
need for more successful behaviours that will enable him to
relate more satisfactorily with other people.

 therapy is characterized by:

1. A focus on specific, overt behaviour,
2. Very precise therapeutic goals,
3. The development of a specific treatment procedure appropriate
to the client’s problem, and
4. An objective assessment as to whether the therapeutic goals
KEY CONCEPTS

 the counsellor adopts a somewhat experimental approach, concerned

primarily with whether or not a desired effect occurs.
 The emphasizes on specific counselling goals that are both observable and
measurable means that both the client and the counsellor will understand
precisely the change that is desired.
 The specification of concrete, reachable goals provide greater opportunity
for clients to see progress, which is a motivating force in itself.
 Basically, then, behaviour therapy attempts to help clients:
o Establish desired goals
o Alter maladaptive behaviour,
o Learn the decision –making process and
o Prevent problems by strengthening desirable behaviours

This is done by assessing the nature and extend of the problem, specifying
counselling goals and choosing the most appropriate counseling strategies. It
also involves periodically reevaluating client progress to determine if the
counselling has been successful. This depends entirely on whether the goals
have been accomplished.
PROCESS AND GOALS
• Behavioural counsellors are generally less concerned about
process per se than are most counsellors.
• They place central importance on specific counselling goals.
• Goals are chosen by the client with help from the
counsellor.
• New conditions for learning are created.

The rationale is that all behaviour is learned, including

maladaptive behaviour: if neurosis is learned id can be
unlearned and more effective behaviours can be acquired.
Thus behavioural counselling is essentially a process that
focuses on changing the client’s behaviour by helping him to
unlearn inappropriate behaviours and replace those with more
desirable ones.
To increase the frequency or strength of a desired
behaviour, six steps are typically employed:

1. Identify and state the behaviour to be changed in

operational terms
2. Obtain a baseline of the desired target behaviour.
3. Arrange the situation so that the target behaviour will
occur
4. Identify potential reinforcing stimuli and events.
5. Reinforce the desired target behaviour or successive
approximations of it.
6. Evaluate the effects of the treatment procedure by
maintaining records of change in the target behaviour.
Although counselling goals must be tailored to the individual client,
behavioural therapy may be said to have five general goals:

1. To alter the maladaptive behaviour in the client under therapy,

2. To solve the specific behavioural problem requested by the client,
and
3. To achieve behavioural changes that translates into action in life.
4. To help the client learn a more efficient decision- making process,
5. To prevent future problems.

In sum:

Behavioural counsellors typically use specific techniques, the results of

which can be evaluated in terms of the client’s progress towards his
goals. The techniques are employed in a systematic plan, although
counsellors with other approaches can use many of these same
techniques.
UNIT SEVEN
The counseling process is a sequence of
events that are determined by the
interaction of personality variables of
the counsellor and the client. Both
brings into the session their
experiences, attitudes, values,
assumption, beliefs, likes and dislikes.
Counselling is organized into five main
stages
STAGES OF COUNSELLING
• Relationship building
• Problem identification (assessment and
diagnosis)
• Goal formulation
• Intervention and problem
solving/solution/application of skills and
techniques
• Termination and follow up
STAGE ONE
RELATIONSHIP BUILDING
• This stage is also know as rapport building. This
stage is very necessary in the counselling
relationship. It is the stage that the counsellor
welcomes the client by showing warmth and
concern for the issues of the client. It is the stage
that the counsellor introduces himself and express
his deep willingness to assist the client out of his
problem or issue. The counsellor is also expected
to provide the necessary conditions that will
enable the client to change.
CARL ROGER CORE CONDITIONS OF
COUNSELLING
• Empathy
• Unconditional positive regard and congruence
Rogers later expanded the core conditions to include
• Respect
• Immediacy
• Confrontation
• Concreteness and
• Self disclosure
STAGE TWO
ASSESSMENT AND DIAGNOSIS
• At this stage the counsellor tries to
identify and define the problem facing
the client. The counsellor also tries to
explore the major causes of the problem
or the underlying factors or dig for more
information
STAGE THREE
FORMATION OF COUNSELLING GOALS
• The counsellor is expected to assist the client to formulate
goals for the counselling interaction. These goals must be
specific, realistic, achievable and measurable. The goals set
must also be motivational (m), educational (Ed) and
Evaluative (Ev)
• M- motivation makes clients to focus their energy and
attention on specific issues
• Ed- helps clients to learn new skills and behaviour that will
help them achieve their goals
• Ev- this gives both the counsellor and the client the
opportunity to evaluate the extent of progress
STAGE FOUR
INTERVENTION AND PROBLEM SOLVING
• At this stage, the counsellor and the client decide on
the intervention strategy that will help them achieve
the goals of counselling. This stage involves the
following
 Identify possible solutions to the problem
 Evaluate or project the consequences of each
solution
 Prioritize these consequences
 Select the alternative that will best solve the
problem
STAGE FIVE
TERMINATION AND FOLLOW UP
• The counselling session can be terminated
when the client get the solution to his/her
problem. Termination of the counselling
interaction involves the following
A brief summary of the issues discussed
A review of decisions and actions taken
A discussion of the client’s future
Closure of the counselling relationship
COUNSELLING TECHNIQUES

• These are the enabling

skills that counsellors use
to arrive at the desired
outcomes in the
counselling interaction
SOME COUNSELLING TECHNIQUES
• COGNITIVE RESTRUCTURING
This technique is used for people suffering
from illogical thinking that often lead them
to self defeating behaviour, poor self
perception, poor interpersonal relationship,
etc. The counsellor uses this technique to
change their illogical thinking through
stepping, positive self talk and visualisation
RELAXATION TRAINING
• This technique is used to assist people to
cope with the stresses of daily living. It is
very good for people who suffer from
stress, tension, pressure and being
worried in life. This technique is based on
the assumption that tension and
relaxation cannot co-habit. One need to
give way to the other
SYSTEMATIC DECENSITIZATION
• This technique is used to extinguish fear
from people by gradually exposing
people to what they fear until fear is
completely extinguished from their lives.
People are therefore exposed to fear or
anxiety provoking stimuli gradually till
the anxiety provoking stimuli no longer
provokes the anxiety
CONTRACTING
• This technique is used for people
who finds it difficult to change
certain negative behaviours or
lifestyles. The client is contracted
to change habits and is given a
reward or failure leading to the
withdrawal of a reward or an
opportunity
NON VERBAL SKILLS OF COUNSELLING
• Acceptance
This is the way of
recognizing the value and
dignity of people. This is
divided into self acceptance
and acceptance of others
CONT. OF NON VERBAL SKILLS OF
COUNSELLING
• Self acceptance
Self acceptance is having a high regard or value for
oneself. The counsellor is expected to regard
himself as knowledgeable, good and prepared for
the task
• Acceptance of others
This is the act of recognizing the value, worth and
dignity for others. The counsellor should have
regard and also value their client as important and
useful
When they accept others, they:
Listen properly or appropriately to them
Behave/show that they care for others
Are prepare to spend time and help others
People who do not accept others are:
Cold and unconcerned
Do not listen or pay proper attention to clients
Failure to see from the clients perspective
Lack of understanding
RELEVANCE OF ACCEPTANCE
• Self acceptance is relevant because it boost the
counsellors esteem and increases self confidence.
This makes them available, ready and willing to help
• Acceptance of clients makes them to:
 Develop positive feelings to replace sadness,
frustration, sorrow, etc
 Become more open and relaxed
 Build confidence and trust for the counsellor
 Feel secure and safe
RELAXED BODY POSTURE

• A counsellor who is well

relaxed communicates
openness and the
willingness to help. Never
be tensed up
PHYSICAL OPENESS

• This involves good eye

contact and
maintaining a very
good sitting position
GOOD EYE CONTACT

• Always focus on your client

in a friendly manner. Never
stare or frighten your client
with your eye contact or
facial expression
VERBAL SKILLS
• Verbal skills used in counselling includes the following:
 Listening
 Question
 Reassuring, Encouraging and Supporting
 Clarifying
 Reflection of feeling
 Confrontation
 Paraphrasing
 Restatement
 Persuasive invitation
 Motivating the involuntary client
1. LISTENING
This is the process of tuning in carefully to the
clients message/issues and respond accurately
Importance of listening
Create rapport
It helps client to open up
It create a good knowledge base
Create a good influence base
QUESTIONING
Questioning skills helps the counsellor
to seek information from clients. The
counsellor can ask open ended
questions, closed ended questions
and multiple choice questions. This
should be done with wisdom and
properly
SOME ERRORS TO AVOID WHEN ASKING
QUESTIONS
• Do not ask too many questions
• Avoid timing question poorly
• Avoid asking leading questions
• Avoid asking a succession of closed
ended questions
• Avoid asking certain sensitive questions
[Link] ,ENCOURAGING AND
SUPPORTIVE SKILLS
• Reassuring skills- giving a lot of assurance gives hope to the
client that issues will be resolved
• Encouraging skills- this skills encourages the client and
motivates them to go ahead with the intervention strategy that
could solve their problem
• Supportive skills- this involves the emotional support or
assistance given to the client to reduce tension, frustration,
sorrow, regret, etc. This skills is good for client who are;
 Grieving over the loss of a loved one
 Having difficult task to overcome
 Terminally ill
 Have low self esteem
4. SEEKING CLARIFICATION/CLARIFING

• This means making an

educated guess about the
clients message to confirm or
deny what the client is saying.
This is normally used to clear
confusion and distortions in
the clients message
REFLECTION OF FEELINGS
• This serves as a mirror
to reflect back to the
client the feelings and
experiences he/she is
going through during
the counselling
CONFRONTATION
• This skills is used to reduce
the ambiguities and
incongruities in the clients
experience and
communication
PARAPHRASING
• This involves saying
what the client has said
in a slightly different way
to prove to him/her that
you are with him/her
RESTATEMENT

• This is simply restating

what the client has said
as a way of telling
him/her that you are
really listening
SILENT /PASSIVE LISTENING

• This skill is used to assist

clients who refuses to talk
or who finds it difficult to
continue from where they
have ended. This has some
advantages
ADVANTAGES OF SILENT LISTENING
• It gives the client the responsibility to
choose the next topic
• It gives opportunity to both helper and
client to reflect on what has been said
• It gives opportunity to both to think
about what next to say
• It gives opportunity to the helper to
know what the client does not discuss
MOTIVATING THE INVOLUNTARY CLIENT

This skill assists the counsellor to

handle referred clients who are not
ready or willing to subject
themselves for counselling. The
counsellor should therefore create
proper rapport and provide a
conducive atmosphere that will
enable clients to open up and change
EPILOGUE
• Thanks be to God for seeing us through this
last semester of our educational aspiration
• Prayer Deut. 28: 13
1 cor. 16: 57

I LOVE YOU ALL

GOD BLESS YOU ALL