Counselling is an interactive process conjoining the counselee who needs assistance and the

counsellor who is trained and educated to give this assistance. The goal of counselling is to help
individuals overcome many of their future problem. Counselling is a one-to-one relationship in
which the counsellor provides a friendly and warm environment for the counsel lee to verbalize
his problems and consider the appropriate solution.

According to Gibson (2005), counselling categories deals with assumptions and hypotheses
about the process of human development. The problems and difficulties which arise at various
stages throughout our life span as a result of environmental or other influences are considered
under counselling theory. The ways in which different forms of therapy and counselling
approach these problems, and their individual methods of helping clients have evolved theories
about human development and the acquisition of helpful and unhelpful behaviors.

According to Mitchell (2005), Psychoanalytic categoery is based on an individual’s unconscious

thoughts and perceptions that have developed throughout their childhood, and how these affect
their current behavior and thoughts. Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic are examples of this
approach. Due to the complexity of counselling, there are many different approaches to
supporting a client through the counselling process. This can depend on the style of additional
support used or the individual exercises and teachings a counsellor demonstrates during the one-
to-one counselling sessions.

In addition, a psychodynamic approach provides a broad range of therapeutic approaches.

Psychodynamic therapy helps in counselling clients understand the root cause of their problems
and issues. It also helps equip them with knowledge and suggestions to enable them to cope with
further difficulties. With a strong emphasis on the trust between a client and counsellor or
psychotherapist, psychodynamic therapy provides the tools required to make progress.

This form of counselling has roots in the theories of Sigmund Freud, and was initially developed
in the 1940s. His studies focused on the belief that our emotions, thoughts and behavior stem
from the unacceptable thoughts from one’s childhood that are allowed to influence the current
thinking. These repressed thoughts and feelings eventually manifest as depression, fears and
conflicts. The therapy is relationship centered and is powered by one’s interactions with close
friends and family. Psychodynamic therapy helps by understanding and acknowledging that most
emotional problems originate in a client’s childhood, and that all experiences will have some

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kind of subsequent subconscious effect on the individual. Identification of subconscious thoughts
and understanding how these thoughts affect behavior are accomplished by reflecting and
looking inward at the feelings, thoughts and reactions a client expresses. Problems like
depression etc. can be successfully treated and improved using some form of psychodynamic
approach. This form of counseling relies on the interpersonal exchange between a counselor and
client in order to establish and develop positive strategies that a client can use to create changes.
Counsellors use non directive counseling in which they encourage the client to express feelings
and emotions while they listen and watch out for clues to the root cause of a problem or issue.

According to nelson (2009), humanistic category focuses on self-development, growth and

responsibilities. They seek to help individuals recognize their strengths, creativity and choice in
the ‘here and now’. Person-centered, Gestalt and existential therapies come under this category.
Forever fifty years a humanistic approach has been used in the field of therapeutic counselling.
Although behavioral and psychoanalytic forms of counselling are also available, the humanistic
approach is an extremely successful option. Counselling clients with a humanistic approach
provides them with an opportunity to explore creativity, personal growth and self-development,
as well as acknowledging a variety of choices.

The foundations of the humanistic approach provide the client with a deeper understanding of
who they are, what they feel and the opportunity to explore the possibility of creating personal
choices. It encourages self-awareness and self-realization. A humanistic approach provides a
distinct method of counselling and focuses predominately on an individual’s unique, personal
potential to explore creativity, growth, love and psychological understanding. Counsellor’s
specializing in providing clients with humanistic counselling are skilled in offering a non-
judgmental, supportive and understanding service, in a safe and confidential environment.

According to roger (1957), Most humanistic learning theorists base their view of the educator–
learner relationship, three therapist-provided conditions for personality change: congruence,
empathic understanding, and unconditional positive regard. In an educational setting, empathic
understanding, which Rogers (1951) considered a sensitive understanding of a person’s internal
frame of reference, involves focusing on the person rather than only on course content. For
example, the educator also would value and empathize with learners’ reactions to course content
as well as other circumstances in learners’ lives that might impact their experience in the class.

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In general, humanistic learning theorists define learning as the holistic growth of the person,
including cognitive, emotional, and interpersonal domains. They tend to focus less on
accumulation of knowledge and more on how the learner’s way of being in the world impacts the
integration of skills and knowledge. This view of knowing requires a paradigm shift for the
person who tends to describe learning as the acquisition and application of knowledge. In
particular, learners who have learned to approach assignments or classes with a grade-based
mentality (e.g., “What do I need to do to get an ‘A’? May have difficulty changing, or even
understanding the rationale for changing, their focus to a learning-based mentality (e.g., “What
do I need to learn to positively impact my personal and professional development?”).

According to combs (1986), humanist educators have an unwavering trust in the individual’s
growth capacity and view self-directed learning as most facilitative of growth. Additionally,
humanistic theorists hold a phenomenological view of humans in that they believe each person’s
view of the world is reality for that person and that learning is motivated by personal need based
on one’s internal frame of reference. For example, a student with low self-efficacy might not
attempt difficult projects because of a belief that “I am not capable,” whereas a student with a
high level of self-trust can go beyond the direct instructions of an assignment to tailor the
assignment to fit their learning needs. Highly self-actualized individuals view themselves as
dynamic beings who are constantly growing and changing.

According to Skovhot (2004), The term behavior modification and behavior therapy are often
used interchangeably, but they have slightly different meanings. Behavior modification is an
approach to assessment, evaluation, and behavior change that focuses on the development of
adaptive, pro-social behaviors and the decrease of maladaptive behavior in daily living. Behavior
modification is used by therapists and paraprofessional workers to help individuals improve
some aspect of daily life. Behavior therapy is a clinical approach that can be used to treat a
variety of disorders, in various types of settings, and with a wide range of special population
groups. The behavioral approach had its origin in the 1950s and early 1960s and it was a radical
departure from the dominant psychoanalytic perspective.

Behavioral therapy focuses on an individual’s learnt, or conditioned, behavior and how this can
be changed. The approach assumes that if behavior can be learnt, then it can be unlearnt (or
reconditioned). So, it is useful for dealing with issues such as phobias or addictions. Examples of

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this therapy are behavior therapy and cognitive behavior therapy. The behavioral approach to
counselling makes the basic assumption that most problems are problems in learning and as such
the behavioral counsellor tries to help the individual to learn new and more adaptable behaviors
and to unlearn the old non adaptable behaviors. The behavioral counsellor focuses attention on
the individual’s ongoing behaviors and their consequences in his own environment of school and
home. He tries to restructure the environment so that more adaptable patterns of behavior can be
learned and nonadaptable patterns of behavior can be unlearned.

According to Svinicki (2011), In the 1980s behavior therapists continued to subject their
methods to empirical scrutiny and to consider the impact of the practice of therapy on both their
clients and the larger society. Increased attention was given to the role of emotions in therapeutic
change, as well as the role of biological factors in psychological disorders.

In addition, two significant developments in the field were (1) the continued emergence of
cognitive behavior therapy as a major force (2) the application of behavioral techniques to the
prevention and treatment of medical disorders. By the late 1990s, there were at least 50 journals
devoted to behavior therapy and its many offshoots. Behavior therapy is marked by a diversity of
views.

The behavioral approach to counselling focuses on the assumption that the environment
determines an individual’s behavior. How an individual responds to a given situation is the result
of past learning, and usually behavior that has been reinforced in the past. For example, suppose
that a child picked up a spider and took it to their mother. If she was frightened of spiders, she
might scream. The child would then learn that spiders are frightening. Next time, instead of
picking up the spider, the child will probably scream and run to their mother, who may say ‘ooh,
I hate spiders, they’re so creepy’, reinforcing the child’s behavior.

In conclusion, the counselling relationship is the most important aspect of the counselling
process. However, it does not easily lend itself to a clear definition. It is a relationship of mutual
trust and confidence on the part of both the counselee and the counsellor and the concern for the
well-being of the counselee on the part of the counsellor. Thus, the counselling relationship
encompasses the whole of the counselling situation and affects its progress at every stage.

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 REFERENCE

Gibson, R. L. & Mitchell, M. H. (2005). Introduction to Counseling and Guidance. Sixth

edition. Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi.

Nelson, Jones. R. (2009). Introduction to Counselling Skills. Third edition, Sage

Publications.

Rogers, C. R. (1957). The necessary and sufficient conditions of therapeutic personality

change. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 21, 95–103. Doi:10.1037/h0045357.

Skovholt, T. M., (2004). Portrait of the master therapist: Developmental model of the highly
functioning.

Svinicki, M., & McKechnie, W. J. (2011). McKechnie’s teaching tips: Strategies, research,
and theory for college and university teachers (13th Ed). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage
Learning.

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