Guidance and counseling services,

techniques of counseling, diagnostic

and remedial co-ordination and
organization of services
Submitted to: Mrs Thresiamma Peter
Senior lecturer,
SME,Angamaly.

Submitted by: Riya Rachel S

1st year Msc nsg
SME,Angamaly.

Submitted on:
03-01-11
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INTRODUCTION

Very few terms have been more freely or interchangeably used than the terms guidance and

counseling. Guidance is mainly preventive and developmental. Intellectual attitudes are the raw

materials of the raw of the guidance process but emotional rather than purely intellectual

attitudes are the raw materials of the counseling process. Thus, in the guidance, decision making

operates at the intellectual level, whereas in counseling it operates at emotional level.

As far as education is concerned, the counseling service is one among various services offered by

the guidance programme. Thus, in education, our goal is guidance, and our technique among

others is counseling. Counseling is the crux, heart, essence or pivot of the guidance programme.

The success or failure of the guidance programme is determined by the counseling service. This

importance has helped the counseling to outgrow all other services of the guidance programme

and to a status moiré or less equal to the guidance. Thus in strict sense, mentioning guidance and

counseling instead of guidance in the educational context is just like mentioning central nervous

system and brain

THE GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING SERVICES

Since guidance programme is concerned with meeting student needs, it can be structured

properly only as a service- to aid the student in the identification of his abilities, aptitudes,

interests and attitudes; to help him to understand, accept and utilize his traits; to provide him

with opportunities for learning about areas of educational endeavors; to help him in obtaining

experiences which will assist him in the making of free and wise choices; to assist him in

developing his potential to the optimum so that he may become the individual who is capable of

becoming and to aid him in becoming more and more self-directive. To achieve these manifold
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objectives an effective guidance programme will have to be organized in the form of a

constellation of services comprising of the following specific services:

1. The pre-admission service

2. The admission service

3. The orientation service

4. The student information service

5. The information service

6. The counseling service

7. The placement service

8. The remedial service

9. The follow-up service

10. The research service

11. The evaluation service

it needs to be pointed out that different labels have been given to the different services for

practical considerations only. A good guidance programme, in fact, as a unified programme- all

the specific services woven into it. The various services have to be supportive of one another for

best results.

1. The pre-admission service

after completing high school education, students aspiring for higher education join colleges or

universities. To enable the students to get admission in the right course, the pre-admission

service is needed to ensure that:

1. The occupational aspirations of the students are correlated with their scholastic achievement;
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2. The occupational aspirations of the students are in consonance with the economic condition of

their families;

3. Their social bearings are also in tune with their job aspirations;

4. There is positive relationship between the subjects of education and their job aspirations; and

5. The students are familiar with the repercussions of choosing a particular course of study.

It is very essential that the students are acquainted with the present supply and demand position

in various occupational fields, estimation of manpower requirements, projected picture of

employment opportunities, shortages and surpluses of occupations so that they plan to follow

these occupations where shortage of manpower exists.

The prospective candidates for admission to colleges and universities should be made familiar

the following;

a. Importance of selecting subjects and combinations of subjects.

b. planning for the future

c. Best possible courses where there is demand of trained personnel

d. Knowing one's own assets and liabilities

e.g. Enhancing the prospects through correspondence and part-time courses

This service may be arranged in collaboration with the employment exchanges, university

employment information and guidance bureau, student advisory bureau, and local resource

persons. Faculty should be provided to those students who might feel the necessity of further

guidance and information before deciding a line of action. It may be providing in the form of

meetings with faculty advisors and deputy chiefs the university etc
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2. The admission service

There is no doubt this fact that the kind of students which pass out from a college or university

depends more upon the kind of students admitted than it does upon the faculty, the physical plant

or even the curriculum. If we are concerned with the total development of students, we must be

careful about the characteristics of the students admitted to a particular institution. That way,

admission service is one of the important links in the chain of guidance services. This service is

needed to

1. Admit the right persons for the right course for the maximum advantage both to the individual

and the society;

2. Select those candidates most likely to succeed to keep stage figures and dropout rate at

minimum level.

Admission service, to be effective, will comprise a carefully framed criterion of admission, some

entrance and interview.

3. The orientation service

A very heterogeneous population gets admitted to a college or university- students coming from

cities, towns and villages, from happy and unhappy homes, from highly educated parents and

totally illiterate parents etc . Adequate arrangements need to be made in colleges and universities

for raising efficiency of all these students not only in their scholarship but also in citizenship,

social skills, vocational skills, sense of responsibility, courage and poise. Hence the need and

importance of orientation service so as to:

1. Provide for articulation and continuity from one level of education to another; from town and

village to city and from individual life to college community;

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2. Provide the fresher with every type of information about college/university routine, its

traditions and rules and regulations, facilities and personnel;

3. Help the student to become established in his college/ university environment so that he may

carry on as smoothly as possible with a minimum of mistakes and worry and a maximum of

success and satisfaction;

4. Help the student in academic success by offering him help with (a) learning to study

efficiently, read faster with good comprehension, develop interest in the study, take examinations

and notes more efficiently and budget time effectively, (b) information regarding physical plant-

library, hostel, classrooms, laboratories, student centre, playgrounds, swimming pools and other

physical facilities, (c) facilities for remedial reading and language programme;

5. Help in social adjustment and citizenship education by welcoming the new students as

members having a specific place, rights and responsibilities and informing them about the

facilities available in the form of student services on the campus;

6. Communicate to the new student that college/university is a self-directed, intellectually-

oriented experience.

7. Show to the students in addition to the procedural and socially pleasant experiences of

college/university life, there will be high scholastic achievement standards to meet, greater

personal qualities to develop, high moral values as well as ethical standards to attain from a rich

college/university experience; and

8. Provide a mutual process of learning on the part of new students, the faculty, and the student

body of an institution, whereby each group becomes better acquainted with the others, and

participates in an ongoing process which will help the new students to become an effective
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functioning part of the institution and help the institution to become responsive to the needs of a

changing student body.

The orientation service may include issue of printed material like:

1. A leaflet containing campus map and the names of the heads of departments and staff

members;

2. Time table for the welcome day;

3. Calendar of events for the whole year;

4. Students handbook which should include a welcome letter by the principal/vicechancellor,

summaries of courses, degrees and certificates offered, and qualifications for each academic

information etc

Orientation day

a day may be fixed for giving all types of information to the students regarding the clubs and

societies, cultural activities open to fresher, financial counseling, health services, student centre,

honorary organizations, athletic teams, recreational facilities, special interests clubs, hobbies,

hostel accommodation, student government, rules of conduct, etc. The members of the faculty

may also give their self-introduction.

Campus tour- this can prove helpful to orient the new students to the physical aspects of the

campus,- the general setup, location of various blocks. During the tour the guide may give

special information such as what services are provided by offices in each building, the traditions

of the college/university, the illustrious alumni etc

WELCOME DESK AT THE ENTRANCE

For the first week, the college and university may have a welcome at the entrance of the college

or university, continually manned by senior students. They should greet every new student . They
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should also give him a folder containing a map and a handbook, they may also assign him an

advisor, book him up for a campus tour under a senior student or faculty member, help him with

the luggage and make him feel he has joined community which welcomes him wholeheartedly

and is keen to help him.

TEAS, PICNICS, GAMES.

These may be arranged so as to enable the new students allay their fears and worries. Let them

have the best of the seats and best of the attention and best of the welcome. Short skits or plays

along with an informal tea will introduce an informal atmosphere both for the faculty and the

students- new and old.

SOCIAL EVENING

Social evening which may include plays, exhibitions, screening of films, talks by the guest

speaker may be arranged. Orientation has to be a continuous service in an institution. During

early days the programme may be concerned with orienting the students regarding the physical

facilities offered by the institution, its rules and regulations, expectations and standards. Later the

emphasis may shift to study habits, library orientation and information regarding new policies

and circular received from different agencies as director of public instruction, director, NCC.

Every term, semester or year of college/university has its own peculiar problems which needs

constant help on the part of faculty and administration.

Special efforts need to be made for orienting the foreign students in particular. They need

orientation at 2 stages

1. Prior to their arrival: that need general information about the country they are about to visit;

the city they are going to live in; and the college/university they are about to join;
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2. On arrival; they need specific information such as local transportation, hostel, the whereabouts

of organizations and individuals who are in position to assist them with special services and

opportunities. such students also need to be oriented to the culture and society of the host country

the orientation service is well-organized the students will surely get off to a good start.

4. THE STUDENT INFORMATION SERVICE

A proper choice of courses and careers can be made if the students not only knows the

opportunities available and the requirements of particular courses and careers but also what he

has to bring to any course or career that he may choose . The student information service is

intended to:

a). Assist the student to obtain a realistic picture of his abilities, interests, personality

characteristics, college/university achievement, level of aspirations, state of health, etc;

b). Enable the student to know himself on a socio comparative basis;

c). To provide a record of the student's progress; and

d). Help the guidance workers and others to understand him more adequately.

The service involves:

a). Collecting essential data about the students;

b). Orderly maintenance of records to assist the students as well as their advisors/ tutors in

making important decisions.

A). Collecting essential data about the students: essential data about the student may be collected

through two sources- psychological tests and inventories; and non testing devices which include

observation, interview, questionnaires, records, case study, case conference

etc.
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Psychological tests and inventories: the various types of psychological tested as intelligence

tests, aptitude tests, personality tests and inventories, interests tests and inventories, and

preference record cards reveal valuable information regarding the differ facets of the personality

of the student. This information can help the counseling officer to gain a deep insight regarding

the student, and the information supplemented through non-testing techniques can prove

beneficial in providing educational, vocational and personal-social guidance to the student. The

psychological tests leads to probable information rather than fixed conclusion. They must be

supplemented by non-testing techniques to study the significant aspects of individual behavior

which by their very nature' defy reduction to neat tests'

non-testing techniques

observation: it is a good technique of obtaining information about the student if we could

combine with good method of recording the observation. Special stress should be given to an

understanding of the dynamics of human behaviour. Every item of information needs to be

interpreted in the light of the total picture presented by the inindividual data.

Interview.: it can be used to elicit predetermined kinds of information for definite purposes; for

example the intensityof an interviewer's attitudes towards persons and situations which he cannot

or will not reveal in writing or in response to formalised questions. It can also be used to obtain

information concerning relationships with other persons and about activities that are carried out

with them. Interview permits flexibility, clarification and explanation of certain points.

Questionnaire: this technique may be used to obtain meaningful information about the student

in a quicker way. Carefully worked out questionnaires can be of great help in collecting general

information about the student, his needs and problems and the adjustment difficulty he may be

facing.
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Anecdotal record: it is a description of the student's conduct and personality in terms of

frequent, brief, concrete observations of the student made and recorded by the teachers,

counselling officers, administrators etc. If these observations are summarized chronologically, a

fair account of personality of the student can be built up. Anecdotal record can reveal valuable

information about the students attitude toward work, how serious he is at class-work, how

difficult does he find to concentrate, how hard working he is, how does he adjust with his peers

and teachers, what are his reactions to this institution.

Case-study: this is another technique of collecting comprehensive information regarding the

student, his surroundings and his behavior, sequence of his development in different areas like

emotional, social, intellectual and personal. Its major function is to bring together the

information collected y the other tools and techniques in such a manner that these data can be

systematically reviewed and analysed and clinical weighted given to them.

Case conference: it is a co-operative effort to the psychologist, the counselling officer and the

teacher to help an individual student, counselling officers understanding and the teacher's

practical experience with his behavior in the class.

b). Orderly maintenance of records

all sorts of information collected about the student should be suitablu compiled preferably in a

cumulative record card which may take any one of a number of forms such as a file folder,

loose-leaf note-book, a jacket into which sheets of paper containing the data may be kept. It

should be progressively developed and maintained and give a summarized 'growth record'

indicating the direction and rate of development. If well-maintained, it can furnish clues

regarding the causes of behavior and weakness and thus can prove a valuable guide for the

counselling officer.
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5. THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Information is an essential part of virtually every guidance programme, whether we want to

assist the student to make better choices, help him in better adjustment or optimum development.

This is the reason that information needs to be organised and utilised as a distinct guidance

service so as to:

A). Develop in the students a broad and realistic view of life's opportunities and problems at all

levels of training

b). Create awareness the need and an active desire for accurate and valid occupational,

educational and personal-social information;

c). Assist in learning the techniques of obtaining and interpreting information for progressive

self-directiveness;

d). Promote attitudes and habits which will assist in the making of choices and adjustments

productive of personal satisfaction and effectiveness;and

e). Provide assistance in narrowing choices progressively to specific activities which are

approximate to aptitudes, abilities and interests manifested and to their proximity of defined

decisions.

Information provided by this service can be divided into three categories:

1. Educational information

2. Occupational information, and

3. Personal-social information

6. THE COUNSELLING SERVICE

the service is intended to establish a relationship between guidance worker and the student in

which the former assist the latter in achieving optimum educational vocational and personal-
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social development and adjustment. The service may be performed by the counseling officer,

liaison officer, teacher, administrator etc provided they are adequately trained.

The service involves helping the student to:

A). Understand what he can do and what he should do

b). Understand the choices he faces- the opportunities open to him and the qualifications he

possesses for the goal he has chosen

c).'handle his difficulties in a rational way and strengthen his best qualities;

d). Make his own decisions and plans on the basis of self understanding, accept responsibility for

the decisions and take action on the plans developed.

Counseling is possible if the counseling if the counseling officer has enough information

regarding the individual's assets and liabilities and of the possible courses of action open to him.

It consist of an interview or a series of interviews between the counseling officer and the

counseled. It may involve the administration of certain psychological tests.

7. THE PLACEMENT SERVICE.

This is another important service in the guidance programme. It is intended to help the student

in:

A). Situation himself in the proper scholastic track in the proper course.

B). Finding a proper place in the post-college/university or post-university environment.

C). The proper choice of co-curricular activities available in college/.

D). The choice of job-oriented courses.

E). Getting admission in a college or professional institution/university.

F). Getting part-time jobs, during work session and whole-time jobs after getting education and

training.
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Appropriate data from sending school, colleges and universities needs to be collected and

transmitted to receiving colleges, universities and prospective employers. Close contact with

institutions of higher learning as well as with personnel managers in business and industry, and

co-ordination among teachers, guidance workers etc, are essential to, make a success of this

service.

The service is useful to all of the students- the normal, the intellectually gifted, the emotionally

disturbed, the artistically talented, the mentally retarded etc

8. THE REMEDIAL SERVICE.

There is no doubt about the fact that the defects in speech, hearing, reading and study habits can

seriously impede the functioning of many able students and restrict the contributions which may

be made by otherwise adequate personalities. Arrangements for remedial help in these and

similar there areas need to be made in colleges and universities. Almost all students old profit by

some training in study skills. But efforts should be made to identify those whose reading skills

and oral speech competence are below average; special arrangements may be made to enable

them overcome these handicaps. Speech articulation at low cost can be arranged with the help of

taperecorders. This help is particularly needed by the pre-university or first year of TDC students

who are exposed to lectures in english for the first time. Similarly this service is odds great value

to students going abroad for further study.

9.THE FOLLOW-UP SERVICE

the follow up is that review or systematic evaluative which is carried out to find out whether

guidance service in particular and educational programme in general satisfy the needs of the

student. It has to be seen to what extent have the students been able to achieve according to their

abilities and aptitudes what extend curricular and co-curricular choices have been wise, and how
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are the students adjusting with the part-time or whole-time jobs. The students need to be

followed in order to determine the nature and extent of their need for assistance.

The typical follow-up technique employs one or more of the following techniques- interview,

post-card survey, or questionnaire. Each approach has certain advantages and limitations. For

example, the interview results in the most valid information but it is time-consuming and

expensive. The post-card survey is inexpensive and easy to conduct, but the results are extremely

limited. The questionnaire accomplishes some of the objective of the other techniques and also

overcomes, in part, the limitations of the approaches.

The follow-up service can be maintained by follow-up interviewswith the student and those

involved in his new setting e.g. His employers, follow-up questionnaires to the student asking his

degree of satisfaction in his new setting and follow-up guidance bulletins giving him relevant

information helpful in achieving self-actualization in his new environment.

Information obtained through follow-up techniques can be used for improving the curriculum,

stimulating better teaching, increasing the value of the guidance services and establishing the

value of the guidance services and establishing better college/university and community

relationships

for the success of this service, it is necessary that all the members of the staff join hands. There

should also be some means of bringing about coordination in follow-up activities

10. THE RESEARCH SERVICE

Research, naturally, is one of the most important guidance services. It is needed for a better

understanding of students as well as for a working knowledge of college/university needs and

resources and for evaluation of achievement in relation to goals. The findings of studies form the

basis for curricular enrichment and/or redirection and also reorientation of other services.
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The service is intended to examine both the personnel in the college/university guidance

programme and the techniques of guidance used by them so as to discover their strong and weak

points and ultimately strengthen the whole of the programme.

Research can give the guidance staff greater psychological security because of a knowledge of

the effectiveness of its efforts. It can also provide a basis for guidance development programme.

Research has to be a continuous process it cannot be done and forgotten. It would be advisable if

one part of a student counseling entree should function exclusively on research activities.

11.THE EVALUATION SERVICE

the evaluation service completes the entire process of guidance. It is essential to evaluate the use

and application of information to established activities in order to determine their effectiveness

and their efficiency. This can be done by finding out:

1. degree of harmony between educational and vocational plans and capacity of the students;

2. Agreement between subjects taken planned and the entrance requirements of the

college/university the student plans to enter;

3. Extent of participation of the students in co-curricular activities;

4. Extent or nature of shifts in vocational choices;

5.the amount of maladjustment among students;

6. Extent to which students are aware of the type of information to be considered in making an

occupational choice and e source of information.

COUNSELLING TECHNIQUES

counselling is the core of the guidance programme. It is considered to be the most intimate and

vital part of guidance programme. Colleges and universities, industries and business
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establishment are becoming increasingly interested in counselling and its potential for improving

interpersonal relationships.

Three techniques are used for counselling. These are divided on the basis of the nature of the

counselling process and the part of the counsellor:

1. Directive or prescriptive or counsellor-centered counselling

2. Non directive or permissive or client-centered counselling

3. Eclectic counselling.

Counsellor-centered counselling: This type of counselling involves six essential steps:

analysis: collecting fro, a variety of sources the data needed for an adequate understanding of the

student.

Synthesis:

summarizing and organizing the data aol that they reveal the students assets, liabilities,

adjustments and maladjustments

diagnosis: formulating conclusions regarding the nature and cause of the problems exhibited bo

the student.

Prognosis:

predicting the future development of the students problems.

Counselling:

the counsellor's taking steps with the student to bring about adjustment and readjustment of the

student

follow-up:

helping the student with new problems or with recurrence of the original problem and

determining the effectiveness of the counselling provided to him.

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Here the counsellor plays the major role; he does all that he can to get the counselled to make a

decision in keeping with his diagnosis. He tries to direct the thinking of the counselled by

informing, explaining, interpreting and advising. Considerable use of interpretations and

direction by the counsellor has led to this type of counselling being described as directive or

Counsellor-centered or active approach technique.

CLIENT-CENTERED COUNSELLING:

in this type of counselling it is the client - the counselled who is the pivot. He takes an active

part in the process or therapy. He gains insight into his problem with the help of the counsellor. It

is he who takes decisions as to the action to be taken. The counsellor's role is passive. This type

of counselling is a growth experience. The goal is the independence and integration of the client

rather than the solution of a particular problem.

The principle function of counsellor is not to cultivate self-understanding in the client but

instead, to create an atmosphere in which the client can work out his own understanding. In this

type of counselling, we make use of few or no diagnostic instruments, except in typic situations

when the individual is handicapped due to certain limitations

ECLECTIC COUNSELLING

when a counsellor deliberately tries to incorporate in his practice both directive and non-directive

techniques, the result is eclectism. F C THORN ' who is the exponent of this view, finds that it is

possible for a counsellor to alternate between directive and non-directive methods even in the

same interview without disrupting the non-directive permissive relationship with the client. Here,

the counsellor first studies the personality and needs of THE individual. He then selects the

technique that would be more helpful to the individual. He can start with the directive one but

when the situation demands the counsellor may switch over to the non-directive and viceversa.
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The process of eclectic counselling proceeds somewhat along the following lines:

1. Counselling may be preceded by an intake interview.

2. During the opening phase of counselling, the counsellor tries to establish rapport and may

have to do structuring so that the client understands what to expect of counselling.

3. Often a tentative diagnosis is made whichmay include the collection of a case history and a

plan for counselling is formulated.

4. To enhance the client's self-understanding information, about him and his background may be

gathered from various sources

5.the educational, occupational and social information, if needed by the client, may be supplied

to him.

6. the client achieves emotional release and insights, alters his perceptions and attitudes about

himself and his situations

7. During the closing phase, the client makes decisions and plans, modifies behavior, solves his

problems.

8. There may be follow-up contacts, if needed.

No matter what method or viewpoint directive, non-directive or eclectic is employed in the

practice of interviewing and counselling, counselling should have developmental preventive and

remedial values.

INDIVIDUAL METHOD

individual counselling can be done through interviews of different types. Interview is a give and

take of views between the interviewer and the interviewer. It consists of consultation, mutual

interchange of opinions and deliberating together. it can be used to to get information to give

information and to change behaviour. Its purpose, thus is three-fold it involves gathering all
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available pertinent facts, making a diagnosis on the basis of all evidence and formulating an

appropriate plan of action. All problems may not be settled the interview but to be successful, it

should lead to some plan of action. Its aim should be to serve the individual even though the

counsellor may do no more than present the facts in a more objective light, thus enabling the

student to see himself, his assets, his liabilities and his opportunities more clearly than he could

see them unaided.

The interview may be used for any of several purposes it may have. It may be introductory, fact

finding, informative, evaluative, therapeutic in nature and its use for any of these purpose should

be clearly recognised by the counselling officer and his subject. A student who feels a need to be

better informed about his scholastic and vocational prospects may want estimates of his aptitude

for college work , his intellectual promise for special fields of training, his disposition to favour

or avoid various spheres of activity etc. He may wish to ask the counsellor as whether he should

remain in college, hoe much additional training he should take etc.

What is a proper counseling topic for one student may not be suitable for another. There are a

number of problems of the students- academic, disciplinary, economic, educational emotional,

residential, social, etc, which necessitate the use of this tool.

Types of interviews

first interview with a subject should be designed for the purpose of getting mutually acquainted

and building rapport, so that the follow-up conference and procedures will be welcomed and

appreciated. The counsellor may introduce himself, state the purpose of the interview and advise

the subject about the procedures that will be used later. The short ten- to -fifteen minute

introductory interview may end with an invitation to the subject to drop in at any time, with

making a second appointment.

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On the part of the counselled , it involves developing a feeling of ease, born of growing

confidence in the counselors competence interest knowledge skill. On the part of the counsellor,

it entails treating the student as a responsible adult, being considerate of all attitudes and

feelings. The introductory interview should be held very soon after the student enters the college.

The counselling officer should make notes about the introductory interview after the subject has

left the conference room.

Fact-finding interviews: these interviews may be designed to discover the intensity of a

counselor’s attitudes towards persons and situations which he cannot or will not reveal in writing

or in response to formalized questions which do not allow for indications of strong feelings. Thus

interview may reveal interests that has not been previously noted, and it may allow the counselor

to determine their strength and their source.

Informative interviews. A counseled may be interviewed for the purpose of informing him

about data that have been obtained from other sources, for providing information to answer

questions that he has raised or of passing on some decision that has been made about him by a

person in a position of authority.

Therapeutic interviews: all of us like to discuss our problems, dreams and aspiration with others

in whom we have confidence and with whom we have rapport. Interview gives a chance to the

counsellee to talk about himself, his past, his wishes and fears, his hopes and aspirations. The

process of talking things over brings new clarity of thought, relief from tension and a new

objectivity
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interview procedure

interviewing is an art that requires careful planning and preparation for satisfactory performance

and good result. Before the interviews the counselling officer needs to work out the entire

interview procedure.

The following hints can prove useful:

1. Decide what is to be accomplished: the interviewer knows the problem, when the interviewee

comes for the interview, he has his own expectations and objectives. It is, therefore, important

for the interviewer to be clear about what is to be accomplished. It will be desirable to write them

down.

2. Know the interviewer; it is necessary to know the interviewee before he comes for the

interview. This could be done from college records, test records cumulative records, activity

reports, from his friends and if necessary from his parents etc.

3. Make appointments: when the appointments are made, both the interviewer and the

interviewee are prepared. It saves time.

4. Provide for privacy: privacy is an essential condition of interviewing . It is necessary that the

student is in a proper frame of mind induced by privacy and respect for counselling officer's

competence.

5.the practice taking interviewee's point of view: the interviewer must learn to step in the shoes

of the interviewee. He must be able to see the interviewee's point of view, how he looks at the

problem, how he reacts to the interviewing.

6.to know your personality: the interviewer need to be objective. He must be able to introspect,

overcome or least control his opinions, convictions, attitudes, preconceptions, prejudices,

notions,etc.
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The process

Establish rapport: the interviewer should make all out efforts for establishing rapport- a

relationship of confidence, trust and mutual appreciation which helps the counsellee to express

himself without inhibitions and resistance.

Help the interviewee to feel at ease and ready to talk: the interviewer should begin with the

topics which are easy to talk and thus warm up the interviewee. After getting into the main topic,

the counselling officer should make the interviewer talk freely. It is essential that the interviewee

feels free to express his own- ideas unhampered by the ideals, values and preconceptions of the

interviewer. He should give advice only sparingly.

Help the interviewee organise into a meaningful pattern the information he needs: especially

in cases of educational and vocational decisions, the interviewer and the interviewee may discuss

and agree on aptitude tests or interest inventories. The interviewer may also obtain information

from college records or fro an intake questionnaire which the interviewee has filled out at the

time of application.

Ask unambiguous questions: the success of an interview depends a good deal on the form of

questions. Questions should be simple and easily understood, even if the reply they call for is

difficult. Only one question should be asked at a time and the questions asked should carry the

interview a stage further.

Learn to listen: the interviewer should develop the skill of listening. The interviewer should not

only listen but listen with the third ear he must go behind the words of the interviewee to the

hidden feelings, the half expressed or expressed ideas or reactions

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keep control of the interview: sometimes the interviewee does not want to reveal himself- he

may say irrelevant things. At times, this may be allowed- it may help the interviewee feel

relieved of tensions and anxieties.

Watch for additional information in the casual remarks of the interviewee: the interviewer

should be alert to catch the change of expressions which ,ay drop after The interview has ended.

When the tension has been released and he is off guard, he may say things which he may have

wanted to say earlier but which seemed to him irrelevant or too trivial to mention.

Interpretation

unless the interviewer has information from other sources, he is often unable to distinguish

between fact and fiction. there is another difficulty arising out of the interviewer himself- his

tendency to project his ideas and attitudes upon the interviewee.

Developing insights.

The process of clarifying and gaining insight naturally leads to the making of decisions and the

planning of courses of action. The successful interviewer is resourceful in making the counsellee

reach his decisions and put them into practice

recording

there should be efficient system of recording and maintaining the interview notes. If a complete

record is desired, it may necessary to keep a tape-recorder in the room.

Limitations

1. The validity of data obtained from interviews is always suspect because the results are

contained in judgements made by one person.

2. The validity and reliability of this technique varies with how well and skilfully the interview

has been structured and who is conducting it

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3. Interviewers bias is another limitation of this technique. Researchers have pointed out the fact

that the interviewers report a particular phenomenon according to theory own interpretations,

under-standing, beliefs and attitudes

GROUP COUNSELLING

It is the technique where a group of persons is counseled by applying group interaction method

for the purpose of arriving at a solution to the problem to the group. All the group members are

provided with an opportunity discuss their problems together, in a free atmosphere. To the extent

possible group counseling is followed during this type of counseling.

In group counseling the group work helps the students in understanding and finding out solution

to their problem. This id because dynamic interaction occurs among the group members who

meet together for a commonly agreef purpose.several important experiences like knowledge of

reality,self-knowledge and self-realisation can be achieved through group interaction process.

This helps to modify certain faulty behavior and to learn certain attitudes and dispositions which

are essential for healthy adjustment.

Ingroup counseling the counselor has an important role in the beginning. The counselor is

interested in organizing group counseling must have some knowledge about the interaction

process. Several other traits like understanding the background of the group,knowledge of

various psychological problems, specific needs of each participant are needed for organizing

group counsellling.

The following are the phases of activity in group counseling

 Selection of participants.

 Starting the session.

 Orientation towards discusssion

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 Checking the unwarranted behavior.

 Assisting in self-disclosure.

 Assisting in decision making process.

 Closure of the session.

 Follow-up

The participants for the group counseling are chosen on the basis of their common problem.

They must have some similar problem. The group meets as per prior scheduled date and time. the

counselor starts the session by introducing himself. He then request each group member to

introduce themselves. Then the discussion starts. When there is free flow of communication, the

self-disclosures comes from the group members,. In the group counseling process one takes a

risk to get benefit from others. If the group members shows warm acceptance, the individuals

feel encouraged and the chain of process goes on.

In group counseling process, ressitance may be shown by some group members. This may in the

form of negative attitude or avoidance of closeness to other group members. When the group

members get support and acceptance, they may withdraw their defences. In this way a safer

atmosphere eradicates resistance.

The ultimate phase of group counseling process is decision making. The group takes such a

decision which is acceptable to all. The decision is generally accepted by others. When the

decision making is over the group decides when to terminate the session. The counselor comes

forward and concludes the session when all the group members get satisfied. Follow up is also

needed for group counseling.

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DIAGNOSTIC AND REMEDIAL COORDINATION

However diagnosis in counseling differs from the process in medicine in several ways. In

medical diagnosis, there is usually a physically identifiable cause to the disease such as the

presence of cancerous cells, the fracture of a bone etc. in counseling the assessment is a joint

enterprise in which a partnership develops. The clients input about the nature of the problem are

actively sought by the counselor, and the diagnosis is usually a mutual decision. In other words

diagnosis in counseling is not a conclusion the counselor comes to independently. Rather.

Effective assessment requires mutual involvement in information gathering and hypothesis

testing to arrive at a shared understanding of the problem – the diagnosis

At times the counselor may become aware of the plausible diagnosis of the problem before the

client recognizes it. In this situation it is the counselor’s role to help the client feel safe enough to

explore the difficulty further so that the defenses can be lowered and the full dimensions of the

problem discussed. The counselor ought not to announce the his or her diagnosis to the client as

soon as the plausible one becomes apparent, nor should the counselor begin interventions until

the clients defenses are lowered. There are several reasons for this prohibition. First the

counselor would be in error and then pursue an inappropriate intervention. It is important to

remember that the client’s have the fullest knowledge of their own experience and that the

process of exploring all components of assessment takes time and trust. Even if the counselor

diagnosis is accurate, when the client’s defenses are not lowered, that definition may be rejected,

the intervention may be resisted, or the client may even terminate counseling. In this situation the

mistiming of the counselor’s discussion of the diagnosis can be as great an error as the faulty

diagnosis. The presentation of the diagnosis by the counselor to the client implies that solving the

problem is the counselor’s rather than the clients responsibility.

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There are five components for the information gathering and hypothesis testing process of

assessment. Taken together these components flesh out the problems and give the counselor and

the client the fullest insight into the circumstances that provoked the client to seek help.

The first component is the understanding the boundaries of the problem- that is the scope and the

limits of the difficulty client is experiencing. Attaining clarity about the scope of the problem

involves understanding its boundaries in current functioning as well as its history and duration.

For example if te client enters counseling because of feelings of loneliness and social isolation,

identifying the boundaries of the problem means the exploration of exactly how socially isolated

the person is and how limited his or her close connection with others are.

The second component of assessment is the mutual understanding the pattern and the intensity

of the problem . it is unusual for a difficulty to be experienced at uniform level at all times. The

discomfort is worse at some times, better at other times, and does not disappear at all still at other

times. The aim of assessment is to understand whether there is a pattern to such variations and to

identify the factors associated with them.

The next component of assessment is under standing the degree to which the presenting problem

influences functioning in other parts of the client’s life. The aim here is to ascertain how

circumscribed or diffuse the difficulty is and to clarify the degree to which it is corresponding

other unrelated part’s of the client’s experience.

The fourth component of assessment is the exploration of the ways of solving the problem the

client has already tried before entering the counseling. In American culture, counseling is often a

last resort for people who have tried all other alternatives they could identify.

The last component of assessment is an understanding of the strengths and coping skills of the
client
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Remedial Counseling

The remedial role entails working with individuals or groups, to assist them in remedying

problems of one kind or other. In remedial work, we take the view that something is awry,

something needs to be “fixed”, or some problem needs to be solved in the individual, couple or

group. Remedial interventions may include personal- social Counseling at individual, couples or

group level. Crisis intervention & various Counseling services for students requiring assistance

with unresolved life events are additional examples of remedial Counseling

ORGANIZATION OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING SERVICES

guidance and counseling has to be made an integral part of higher education to make it

meaningful and purposeful for the students. School level size of the school, student needs,

community interests, faculty attitudes and budgetary provisions are some of the factors that

determines the nature of guidance AND counseling service in any institution

FORMS OF ORGANIZATION

centralized services

in a centralized guidance AND counseling service, entire responsibility of the guidance service is

vested upon a group of trained personnel or department of guidance and counseling service.

Counseling activities are done by the selected members of the teaching staff under the direction

and supervision of the guidance staff

decentralized services in decentralized services the responsibility of rendering guidance service

is vested upon the teachers. Guidance minded teachers may give excellent and timely assistance

to their students. Absence of specially trained person to give professional assistance to students is

the drawback of this type of service.

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Combination of centralized and decentralized services.

Adopting the midway between centralization and decentralization is the best way to organize an

effective guidance and counseling service. The counseling department headed by the counselor

and the faculty will co-operate with each other for the welfare of the students. Counselor

provides the specialized service in a professional manner with the help of faculty members and

faculty members provide non specialized services and refer students who need special service to

the counselor.

BASIC CONCEPTS RELATED TO GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING SERVICES

the purposes to be achieved. The purpose of guidance AND counselling service should be

formulated on the basis of needs and should be communicated to all who are concerned

the functions to be served after realising the purposes or objectives the next step is to determine

the specific functions to be performed in order to achieve the guidance goals

allocation of responsibility and authority.

The guidance abilities and interest of the individual members of the staff has to be assessed so

that specific functions cn be assigned according to personal capacity. Establishing clearcut line of

authority will help everyone to distinguish his duties from those of others. This will prevent any

occurrence of misguidance at the cost of students.

Appraisal of the programme

Appraisal of the guidance programme is essential to maintain its relevance. The efficiency of the

programme should be tested against the changing needs of the students and the society.

Appropriate measures should be taken to rectify any noted defects in order to keep the

programme more student friendly.

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PURPSOSE OF ORGANIZING COUNSELLING SERVICES

I. To help adolescent with the normal development problems

II. To help individuals through temporary crises

III. To identify signs of disturbed/problem behavior at the earliest

IV. To facilitate communication within and between the nursing schools/colleges, home, the

communities and resources.

V. To refer cases needing special treatment.

VI. To support tutors who are helping individuals but who themselves want guidance and

reassurance.

OBJECTIVES

I. Making help and assistance available to the adolescents regarding their development

problems

II. Making help available to pupils/individuals for coping with temporary crisis.

III. Prompt and early detection of deviant behavior in adolescents.

IV. Establishment of referral services for specialized treatment for those who need it.

V. Development of effective communication system within the school between different

nursing schools, hospitals, homes and communities.

VI. Effective and appropriate services to counselors when they require guidance.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ORGANISING GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING SERVICES.

Requirements for organizing guidance AND counseling SERVICES are:

A). Trained counselor and guidance workers

b). Planned programs to meet objectives

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C). Consultation services.

D). evaluation instruments like psychological tests, inventories, etc.

E). Student data bank

F). Educational and vocational information service

g). Programs for cooperation between home and school.

h). Programs for integrating community services with guidance services.

i). In service educational programmes for teachers, counselors and other personnel to provide

knowledge regarding the current trends in guidance

j). Physical facilities

k). Budgetary provisions.

Physical facility include rooms, furniture and other equipment needed for guidance AND

COUNSELLING department. In order to have privacy for personal advises , the space can be

divided in such a way there will be several private offices as well as general offices

ESSENTIAL ACTIVITIES

guidance and counseling committee

a guidance and counseling should be formed to serve in an advisory capacity or a policy making

body for the programme. The committee can thrash out problems requiring group solution. It

should plan monthly, quarterly and yearly programme, co-ordinate guidance activities and assess

the work done. The committee should consist of the dean/principal, counseling officer, teachers

representing different points of view, academic discipline, interests and basic philosophies,

student representatives, parents, vocational guidance officer and so on. It is essential to

determine the limits of responsibility of the guidance committee and identify the specific role to

be assumed by each faculty and staff member.

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Clerical assistance needs to be provided to the counselling/liason officer as a methodically

organized guidance programme would require maintenance of a lot of record/ information. The

guidance committee serves the following additional purposes (a) it establishes and maintains

policy (b) it articulates the programme between the school and the community. (c). it acts in a

planning capacity to ensure that the various functions of guidance are properly coordinated (d)

ity helps to clarify particular roles, offer support when these roles are challenged (e). it prepares

the way for guidance personnel to function in cooperation with community agencies such as

business organization, employer groups, voluntary agencies etc (f) it serves as a source of ideas

and recommendations to be submitted to appropriate bodies such as curriculum committees,

professional association of teachers and department if education.

Counseling centre

every university should have a counseling centre headed by a trained professional counseling

officer who should be a phD or possess master's degree in psychology and counseling, with

considerable counseling experience

the centre should discharge the following functions:

1. Give assistance to the university and constituent colleges in developing, advising and

counseling programmes and consultation on special psychological problems;

2. Provide psychological testing facilities for the university both for individuals and groups;

3. Carry on research on the development of testing procedures and experimental programmes in

counseling

4. Help in training of post-graduate students in counseling and testing. It would be ideal if the

counseling centre includes special clinics and laboratories for speech and hearing problems,
34

study skills and reading improvement. The centre should be situated at a convenient place so as

to facilitate the provisions of counseling services for the whole university community, or at least

the colleges in the immediate vicinity.

If the counselor creates a reputation for integrity and confidentiality, it will become an active

centre

counseling officer

counseling officer/liaison officer should be given a separate room which should afford him

sufficient privacy. His office should be adequately furnished. It should have a small desk or table

with a chair for the counseling liaison officer and one or two extra chairs for the visitors. A few

other small items of furnishing such as a small book-shelf, a filing cabinet, an almirah, curtain

for the windows and doors, a flower vase or table lamp or even an attractive paper weight might

improve the appearance of an otherwise unattractive room. The counseling/liaison officer should

make the room as cheerful and pleasant, inviting, warm and attractive as possible so that the

students like to visit it and feel welcome and at home.

Any successful counseling programme cannot just depend upon a counselor alone but has to

involve other members of the school like librarian, medical personnel wards etc. principal/tutor

in charge /tutor/medical superintendent- for counseling program to succeed these persons are

very essential. These persons should recognize the need of the program, provide facilities

finance, give it its rightful place in the school timetable, coordinate with other members of the

staff, give publicity to the program, and evaluate the counseling program.

Specifically the counselors functions are

 Pupil appraisal- using appropriate tests and non-testing devices

 Pupil orientation-involving tutors, wardens, librarians, doctors and other resources

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 Helping emotionally disturbed pupil-using counseling technique

 Help pupil overcome academic and social deficiencies

 Gaining cooperation from other tutors and helping them in gaining understanding of the

pupils

 Gaining cooperation from other personnel and parents for the counseling process

 Maintaining up-to-date records of people concerning counseling

 Arranging for referral service for those who need them

 Evaluating and doing the follow-up work

 Giving career talks to potential entrants to the nursing profession

 Disseminating information relating to employment

Teachers and parents are to be the part of guidance programme

RESOURCES FOR COUNSELLILNG

Counseling is an integral part of education which takes place in a social matter. Hence

counseling should take place with greater utilization of community resources. Many counseling

services are found outside the school in medical mental health, social welfare and legal services

employment exchanges and so on. These energy resources can help students and their parents to

seek help on special problems. These services are:

 Medical services- a counselor can refer pupils to special examination or treatment to such

an agency or special clinics

 Mental health services- a pupil who need such help should be referred to psychiatric

hospital

 Social welfare agency- include YWCA, Nehru Yuvak Kendra, rotary club etc
36

 Legal law enforcement agencies-sometimes the problem faced by the students such that it

requires taking help from legal or law enforcement agencies

 Employment exchanges-not only provide employment information but also provide

speakers for orientation, in-service education etc.

 Parents –either individually or in the form of groups. they can render help in the form of

arranging trips etc

TOOLS FOR COLLECTING INFORMATION

Tools are means to achieve our goals and not an end in themselves. The information collected

through the use of tools should be cumulative in nature. These tools may be considered in

following headings

 No-testing tools( tools other than psychological tests tools)

 Psychological tools

Non-testing tools

They provide a set of tools for individual assessment without the use of psychological tests

They include

 Interview

 Observation

 Anecdotal records

 Cumulative record card

 Problem/interest checklist

 Rating scales

 Sociometry
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Psychological testing

Psychological tests provides information about an individuals psychological characteristics such

as intelligence, aptitude, interest, abilities and personality.

Occupational information room

it needs to be set up in every college and university. It should have adequate arrangements for the

seating of the students who may visit it for consulting the occupational information material. it

should have sufficient space for conducting group discussion and other guidance activities. There

should also be some provision for individual guidance. Occupational information room should be

distinct and prominently noticeable. However, if a separate room cannot be spared, a portion of a

room or a veranda may be utilized for the purposes. display of occupational information in an

attractive manner is very important.

1. Presentation of the information should be attractive and motivating.

2. Charts, posters and other visual aids should be at the eye level of the students.

3. Detailed information, if placed for reading, should passively arranged bearing close

relationship with the materials displayed on the walls.

4. Materials should not be crowded in particular place; it should be evenly distributed over places

where students normally gather for receiving various services and need to stay for reasonable

time.

5.materials displayed should be reviewed frequently with a view to updating the contents as also

highlighting specific aspects of the information.

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Continuous evaluation

Evaluation of the programme will ensure its usefulness and make it respond to the needs of the

student population.

Adequate student record system

an effective guidance and counseling programme presupposes information about the individual

which is reliable valid and comprehensive. This is possible when the work of collecting

information is does on a systematic basis. Maintenance of cumulative record card is one of the

most important activities of a good guidance programme. This record should contain

A). Students identification, family history, personal history , health condition, so on.

B).Test results

C). Problems inside and outside the college/university, emotional and social problems.

D). Specific assets and limitations

E).unusual talents

F).academic and co-curricular progress

g).placement

h).Follow-up.

Counseling officer with the cooperation of other members of the faculty should maintain this

record. If the records are to be of maximum value, they must be maintained regularly and kept

up-to-date. Since some of the information are confidential in nature, the records/should be made

available to only those persons who are likely to use the information for assisting the student in

making adjustment and educational and vocational plans.

Assessment and diagnosis in counseling

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assessment is the process of gathering information to identify and specify the problem the

client brings to counseling and then deciding whether counseling is an appropriate intervention

for resolving it. It involves a joint process of organizing information gathered and testing

hypothesis about the nature of problems the client is experiencing. Assessment continues until a

tentative conclusion about the nature of the problem is agreed to by both the counselor and the

client. The tentative conclusion is called the diagnosis, the mutually agreed on name for the

problem that are bothering the client. This is a critical step in the counseling process because

decisions about action plans and intervention strategies are built on assessment and diagnosis. If

the assessment process is flawed, an accurate diagnosis cannot be determined, and interventions

to solve the problem have little chance of success. Critics have contended that diagnosis can be

used as a way of labeling the client as sick, losing sight of his or her individuality, or reinforcing

gender or racial bias. For this reason some counselors avoid the term diagnosis altogether.

Advisable to obtain the views of both parents and students as well.

ORGANISATION OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING SERVICES IN NURSING

INSTITUTIONS

Since many nursing institutions are conducting a bunch of programmes like diploma nursing,

Bsc nursing, post certificate nursing and Msc nursing, the number of nursing students per

institute has increased considerably. This ever increasing number of nursing students, with other

factors such as social changes, changing role of nurses, more demanding patients, changes in the

health care system, complexity of modern life and global demand for qualified nurses resulted in

the formation of the guidance and counseling services in many nursing institutes

Regarding the organization, a midway between centralization and decentralization is preferred.

Department of guidance and counseling is headed by a qualified counselor and she is assisted by
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one of the clerical staff. With the help of the counselor the faculty members are trained to

provide non specialist guidance and counseling to the students. Any student who is in need of

specialized service is referred to the counselor and she provides counseling with the help of the

faculty members.

As a part of the guidance programme many nursing institutions have successfully implemented

the teacher guardian programme .in teacher guardian programme each faculty is given the full

responsibility of a group of ten students. The class coordinator also looks after the entire students

in the class. Thus the student is looked after by the teacher guardian and the class coordinator at

the next level. The teacher guardian has to conduct periodic meeting with her assigned group of

students . and assess their performance in the class as well as in the clinical area. she gas to fill a

Performa during her meeting with the student and send the filled performa with the counseling

department for further verification and filing through the principal. During the meeting she gas to

fix the date for the next follow-up also. The students can approach the teacher guardian as

needed to seek help in the academic and personal matters.

When the teacher guardian feels that the student under her supervision needs more specialized

help she reports the details of the student simultaneously to the student’s class coordinator,

counselor and the principal. The counselor then takes over the student and renders help as needed

with the help of the faculty members and other concerned personnel like the parents and the

peers. A considerable amount of student problem are solved at the teacher level. In this way the

counselor is not overloaded and concentrate on other areas also. The performas send to the

counseling department by the principal is verified by the counselor before filing. A monthly

meeting under the chairmanship of the principal. Is held to review the functioning of the
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guidance and counseling services. In this meeting teacher guardians, class coordinator and the

counselor presents a brief report.

CONCLUSION

Nowadays guidance and counseling acquired considerable importance and received much

attention in the field of education. This may be due to the prevailing domestic scene

characterized one end by increasing number of aspirants, mounting number of unemployed

graduates etc.