Fields of Counseling

Educational Counseling
This is a term was first coined by Truman Kelley in 1914 (Makinde, 1988). Educational counseling is a process of rendering services to pupils who need assistance in making decisions about important aspects of their education, such as the choice of courses and studies, decisions regarding interests and ability, and choices of college and high school. Educational counseling increases a pupil's knowledge of educational opportunities.

Personal/Social Counseling
Personal counseling deals with emotional distress and behavioural difficulties, which arises when individuals struggle to deal with developmental stages and tasks. Any aspect of development can be turned into an adjustment problem, and it is inevitable like lingering anger over an interpersonal conflict, insecurities about getting older, depressive feelings when bored with work, excessive guilt about a serious mistake, lack of assertion and confidence, grief over the loss of a loved one and disillusionment and loneliness after parents' divorce.

Vocational Counseling

Vocational counseling is defined as individual contacts with those counseled, in order to facilitate career development. This definition and category encompasses counseling situations such as:    
  1. Helping students become aware of the many occupations
  2. Interpreting an occupational interest inventory to a student
  3. Assisting a teenager to decide what to do after school
  4. Helping a student apply to a college or university
  5. Role-playing a job interview in preparation for the real thing
Summary
People have provided help to one another from time immemorial. Much of this help has been in the form of giving advice or wisdom. In school, counseling helps young people learn to deal with the problems they encounter in their daily lives and equip them to become adults. Counseling aims to give individuals an opportunity to explore, discover, and clarify ways of living that are more satisfying and resourceful. People's concerns or difficulties are mainly social and personal. It is here that men and women, young people, require counseling.
Evaluation
  1. Define counseling.
  2. Explain the purpose of personal and social counseling.
  3. Discuss the role of advice in families and communities.
  4. Discuss how traditional African ways of helping young people can still be used.
  5. Identify areas where counseling must be provided for young people.
  6. How can you assist the achievement of girls through the provision of guidance and counseling?
  7. Identify an institution in your area which may be providing ‘counseling’ And describe the counseling which it offers at that institution.
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