Principles and Techniques in Counseling
WHAT IS COUNSELING?
• a RELATIONSHIP between a counselee and a
counselor.
• Private and Confidential
• Usually face to face, but virtual counseling is also
practiced
• a HELPING RELATIONSHIP which is characterized by
warmth, trust, understanding, and acceptance.
• a GROWTH EXPERIENCE
• a PROCESS
Definition of COUNSELING
 Counseling is a mutual learning process
involving two individuals in an educational
environment. One seek help from a
professionally trained person, and the other, by
reason of his breath of training and
background, utilizes many adjustment
techniques and methods in assisting the
individual to orient and direct himself toward a
goal leading to maximum growth and
development in a social and democratic
society.
PURPOSE OF COUNSELING
 During counseling, the individual is aided in
making choices that would lead to selfdirection
and enhance his total growth and
development. And so, the primary function of
counseling is to assist the individual in
selfrealization. This involves…
Helping him/ her;
 Understand what he can do and what he should
do,  Strengthen his best qualities,
 Handle his difficulties rationally rather than be
driven by unconscious forces,
 Find suitable channels for his emotions, and
 Move toward his more acceptable self/ towards
self-acceptance.
ESSENTIALS OF COUNSELING PROCESS
Ruth Strang enumerates five essentials of the
counseling process namely:
1. The RELATIONSHIP
 In the counseling process, its heart lies in the
relationship between counselor and counselee.
It is a kind of relationship in which the
counselor displays warmth, responsiveness, and
acceptance of the person as s/he is and as s/he
can become. On the counselee part he/she has
a deep sense of responsibility for taking the
initiative and using the available resources
within himself to help himself.
The ATMOSPHERE
 The counselor establishes rapport, creates an
atmosphere of acceptance and freedom and
assists with a show of deep understanding.
 The counselor creates the “psychological
atmosphere of acceptance and freedom in
which the counselee can explore and express hs
feeling and gain a ne perception of the
situation.
FACILTATION OF COUNSELEE’S EFFORT
 The counselor must not only create an
atmosphere of freedom and acceptance but
also be intensively active in trying to
understand the student and reflect his more
positive and significant feelings. He can
manifest understanding to the counselee by his
facial expression and bodily position.
 With the proper atmosphere, the counselee will
feel free to talk, to confide, to tell all without
fear, or without a feeling of wanting to hide
part of the problem he is facing.
ATTENTION TO THE ADJUSTMENT IN LIFE
SITUATIONS
 The counselor provides assistance to the
counselee by helping him/her gradually
finds himself able to adjust to life.
 Helping the student through carrying out a
desirable program of action that may help
the student achieve his plans/ goals
FOLLOW- UP
 Problems can recur, and new problems are apt
to appear. In that case, follow up should be in
place.
 This may mean helping the student with new
problems or with recurrences of the original
problem, and determining the effectiveness of
counseling provided to him.
Goals and Purposes of Counseling
1. Achievement of positive mental health
2. Problem resolution
3. Decision making
4. Improving personal effectiveness
5. Making Changes in attitudes and perceptions
6. Behavior modification
Counseling is not:
1. just information giving;
2. dispensing advice;
3. influencing attitudes, beliefs and behavior by
persuading, compelling or threatening;
4. selection of assignment of person for jobs or
activities;
5. interviewing alone. (Patterson, 1976)
Classifications of Counseling
DIRECTIVE COUNSELING:
 It is also known as prescriptive or counselor-
centered counselling. It is called problem –
centered. It is counselor who prepared entire
plans and sees through the process.
Assumptions:
1. All of our efforts should be focused on the problem of
the counselee.
2. Counselor is more competent than the counselee and
hence he plays a more active role than the client. He is
said to be the pivot, the center or leader of the
situation.
Non Directive Counseling
 In this type of counseling the counselee or
client or student, not the counsellor is the
center of the counselling process. The individual
plays an active role in the counseling process.
 The emphasis is always on the individual, not
the problem, and the client carries the
responsibility for the solution of the problem.
The client does his own thinking and own
choosing.
 This methods puts the responsibility on the
counselee for exploring his problems, his
potential and his alternatives.
 Limitations of non directive counseling.
 Not for children
Group Guidance
 It is also organized to prevent the development
of problems.
 The content include educational, vocational,
personal, or social information
 With the goal of providing students with
accurate information that will help them make
appropriate plans and life decisions
Group Counseling
 Is the routine adjustment or developmental
experiences provided in a group setting.
 Group counseling focuses on assisting
counselees to cope with their day-to-day
adjustment and development concerns.
Examples:
Behavior modification, developing personal relationship
skills, concerns of human sexuality, values or attitudes,
or career decision making.
Guidance Program
Lesson Plans
program (noun) a plan of activities to be done or things
to be achieved: - Cambridge Dictionary

Guidance Program
system of services designed to improve the adjustment
of each and every person for whom it was organized
(Hatch and Costar (1961).