Counselling
Counselling is an interactive process between a Counsellor, who is knowledgeable and skillful person, creates learning environment, and a Counselee, who is a normal sort of individual and has some difficulties in life. With the intelligent and wise guidance of the Counsellor, both the Counsellor and the Counselee with mutual cooperation and communication resolve the difficulties of Counselee in counselling process.
Counselling is a specialized field of psychology that encompasses all areas of life of an individual or group. Counselling psychologist approach to look at client is ‘whole-person’ or ‘holistic’. The Counselling psychologist should be knowledgeable and skillful in human psychodynamics, formal and informal psychometrics, counselling and/or psychotherapeutic techniques, professional ethics, and social and cultural perspectives of individual and society with wisdom and maturity.
The Counselling helps individuals in all developmental phases of life including early childhood, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and later adulthood. Counselling psychologists help individuals in all areas of life according to their areas of speciality, e.g., healthy socialization of children and adolescents, school/university learning and performance, achievement and creativity, employee and employer relations in work organizations, marriage and family relations, intergenerational relationship, intra-and-interpersonal relationships including social emotional adjustment etc. to cope with all kinds of problems and difficulties.
The counselling may be
- Educative and Preventive (care) in nature so that the problems and difficulties do not arise for normal sort of individuals by developing awareness, realistic perceptions and decision making
- Promote and Develop (grow) the inherent and acquired talents, abilities and aptitudes for normal sort of individuals towards better mental and physical health with better understanding, maturity, wisdom and self-actualization
- Provide Interventions (cure) to help resolve the various difficulties and problems of individuals to bring them back to normal phase of personal and social life, to alleviate their sufferings and further, help them grow into productive, healthy and happy individuals of family and society.
Who needs counselling?
It is commonly said that every individual is abnormal to some extent so, every individual needs counselling. Even the people who claim themselves as normal, may benefit a lot from counselling. We should recognize that to come across stresses, problems and difficulties in life is quite normal. But, if the stresses, problems and difficulties are frequent and intensive, and not being resolved, people should seek professional counselling. Many international researches have indicated that 14% to 23% individuals suffer serious difficulties at different developmental phases of life, and require professional counselling. It is estimated that in the prevailing turbulent environment in Pakistan, about 40% men, women and children suffer from mild to severe problems and difficulties at some stages of life, and require professional counselling services. In the wider perspectives of counselling as education and prevention, promotion and development, and interventions, about 90% to 95% people may benefit from counselling.