Introduction 1

INTRODUCTION

Introduction
Guidance and counseling is an important element in the field of education. Simply put, guidance
means giving direction or providing assistance to a person who needs help. Counseling on the
other hand refers to a professional service provided to an individual who is facing a problem and
needs help to overcome the problem. Guidance and counseling go hand in hand as we will learn
in this unit.

The overall aim of guidance and counseling is to help students gain better self-
understanding, make healthy choices when presented with alternatives and thrive in all aspects of
their lives. Guidance prepares students for adult life and inculcates in them values that make
them productive members of their society. Students are helped to develop a positive self-image
and a sense of identity, create a set of beliefs and a value system that will guide their behavior
and actions.

In this topic, we will introduce the concepts of guidance and counseling. We will define
guidance and counseling and examine what each of them entails. We will look at the principles
on which guidance and counseling and built and the differences between the two activities. We
will also look at setting in which guidance and counseling is provided.

The Concept of Guidance

Guidance is a one way exchange where one person is a guide and the other person receives the
guidance. The guide is showing the way, educating, instructing or influencing the person
receiving the guidance. The guide tries to encourage the person receiving the guidance to make
the right choices. We assume that the guide is more knowledgeable in the matters in which he or
she is offering guidance

Guidance is provided in diverse settings aside from the school setting. For example, the
head of a family can guide family members to act in a certain manner. After receiving guidance,
individuals can solve personal, vocational, educational or any other problems for which they
were unable find solutions on their own.

We can think of guidance as a process and also as a concept. As a concept, guidance is an

undertaking concerned with the optimal development of an individual to ensure that the
individual can make his own decisions.

As a process, guidance is an activity that helps the individual to achieve self-

understanding i.e., understanding one‘s strengths, limitations, capabilities, skills and other
resources and helps them develop self-direction i.e. the ability to solve problems, make choices
and decisions in various aspects of life on their own so that at the end of the day, a balanced

Dr. Odera (2024)

 Introduction 2

development of the individual can be facilitated. One goal of education is enabling individuals
develop and realize their inner potential. Guidance helps to achieve this goal. We can say that all
guidance is education but some aspects of education are not guidance. Education and guidance
both aim at developing the individual.

While focusing on the school, Dunsmoor and Miller define guidance as a means of
helping individuals to understand and put to good use the educational, vocational and personal
opportunities they have or can develop and as a form of systematic assistance whereby students
are aided in achieving satisfactory adjustment to school and in life. We can think of guidance as
a helping service. It aims at problem solving as well as helping individuals understand their
abilities and environments so that they can develop within that environment. Guidance involves
activities that ensure that this developmental goal is achieved.

Principles of Guidance
Guidance is guided by the principles listed below:
1. Principle of all-round development: guidance must take into consideration the overall
development of an individual. Guidance must be provided in a way that ensures the proper
adjustment of the whole person not just one aspect of the person.
2. Principle of human uniqueness: Individuals are different and they differ in mental, social,
physical, and emotional development. Guidance must recognize these important differences
and guide individuals according to their specific needs. Every individual must be given
respect and dignity regardless of factors like age, gender and appearance.
3. Guidance aims at the holistic development of an individual: Guidance aims at the
development of a person as a whole. The aim of guidance is not limited to academic
excellence. It also focuses on the physical and social aspects of individuals’ development.
4. Principle of cooperation: individuals should not be compelled regarding guidance. The
cooperation and consent of the individual is required before providing guidance to them. The
person seeking help must be ready to cooperate with the one providing help for the best
results. Guidance cannot be forced upon an individual. If guidance is forced upon someone,
the person may not cooperate and may even become stubborn.
5. Principle of continuity: guidance s h o u l d b e a continuous process and should be provided
at different stages of the individual’s life. It is a lifelong and continuous process. Guidance
begins at home and then continues at school and should also be available when a person is out
of school. This means that guidance is provided by different people at home, school and in the
community.
6. Principle of extension: In this principle, guidance is not limited to schools. It should be
provided to people of all ages when they need it. Guidance must be provided to all people
who can benefit from it directly or indirectly.
7. Principle of adjustment: This principle states that guidance must aim at helping an
individual adjust to his physical, mental and social needs and also his environment. The
person should be able to adjust at school, home, society, and in their vocation

Dr. Odera (2024)

 Introduction 3

8. Principle of individual needs: According to this principle, individuals have unique needs
therefore guidance must be provided in accordance with these needs. Guidance must enable
an individual make the right decisions that will enable him meet his needs.
9. Principle of expert opinion: According to this principle, experts should be consulted to
provide help when individuals have serious problems for which they need guidance.
10. Principle of evaluation: This principle states that the effectiveness of guidance programs
must be evaluated and if a program is not effective, it should be improved to make it more
effective.

Characteristics of Guidance
1. Guidance promotes growth of the individual
2. Guidance is a process that never ceases because people will need guidance in different aspects
of life aside from the school setting
3. Guidance is provided as individualized help to assist the individual. Guidance can be provided
to people in a group but each person in the group has to apply the guidance to their own life
4. Guidance helps the person in his adjustment in different situations
5. The process of guidance is helpful in preparing a person for his future
6. The person doing the guidance does not impose his view on the person receiving guidance.
The recipient of guidance has to decide whether to follow the guidance given to him or her

The Need and Importance of Guidance

Why and when do people need guidance? Guidance is beneficial to people when they have
problems that need solving, when they have important decisions to make and also to help them
maximize their potential and available opportunities. In summary, we can say that guidance is
useful for:
 Helping a person understand one‘s strength, limitations and otherresources
 Helping an individual to develop ability to solve problems and takedecisions.
 Optimum development of individual
 Solving different problem the individual might have
 Academic growth and development
 Vocational choices and vocational adjustments
 Social and personal adjustment
 Better family life
 Good citizenship
 For conservation and proper utilization of human resources
 For national development

Guidance is helpful not only for student and teacher in an educational institution but also
to the parents, administrators, planners and members of the community.

Dr. Odera (2024)

 Introduction 4

The Concept of Counseling

Counseling is a process aimed at providing clients (recipient of counseling/counselee) with the
time and space to explore their problems, understand their problems, and resolve their problem,
or come to terms with their problems, in a confidential setting. Counseling is a process involving
two people: the person seeking help (client) and the counselor who is the professional providing
counseling. The counselor is professionally trained to help people solve problems and orient and
direct them towards their goals.

Counseling entails a collaborative and supportive two-way relationship between the client
and the counselor. The client is assisted to explore, understand and solve or come to terms with
his problems inside the counseling relationship. Counseling is a relationship of trust. There is
confidentiality in the counseling relationship. Counseling enables an individual to gain self-
understanding and develop self-acceptance. In this sense, the aim of counseling is same as
guidance in that counseling also helps an individual adjust to his environment and conditions and
lead a happier life.

Counselors should help clients explore possible solutions but not tell them what they
should do. If the counselor tells clients what to do, the counselor is taking control away from the
client. In counseling, we want clients taking control of their lives. We however acknowledge that
counselors will give advice from time to time e.g. when there is an urgent crisis and the client
must make some quick decisions. Counselors should always be cautious with advice they give.
From time to time, counselors give clients information they may need to make important
decisions.

Counseling is not about persuading the client or bringing the client to her senses. In
counseling, we want the client to self-direct i.e. choose the most appropriate course of action to
take. Counselors should not put pressure on clients to take any given path because this takes the
power away from the client. Counselors should also avoid manipulating clients to make choices
they think are good for the client. We want to help clients make choices without undue pressure.

In counseling, a person who is facing a problem and needs help to overcome the problem
seeks assistance from a professional. The counselor, who is the professional, helps the person
find a solution and also helps the person achieve personal development and become a better
person. Counseling is a process in which clients learn how to make decisions and formulate new
ways of behaving, feeling, and thinking. Counselors focus on the goals their clients wish to
achieve. Clients explore their present levels of functioning and the changes that must be made to
achieve personal objectives. Thus, counseling involves both choice and change, evolving through
distinct stages such as exploration, goal setting, and action.

Dr. Odera (2024)

 Introduction 5

We can summarize the characteristics of counseling as:

1. Counseling is a mutual relationship between two people (counselor and client/counselee)
working together collaboratively
2. It involves intense conversation between the two persons – counselor and counselee
3. Counseling involves emotions hence it is not a purely intellectual undertaking
4. Counseling is a face-to-face relationship between the counselor and client
5. Counseling entails more than giving clients advice
6. Counseling deals with the problems of abnormal behavior and emotional problems
7. The client will experience change in his behavior and emotions as a result of counseling
8. It has a professional aspect to it i.e. the counselor is trained in the skills of counseling and has
knowledge of human behavior and how humans can change their behavior
9. Individuals are able to function better and become better adjusted as a result of counseling

Principles of Counseling
The following are the basic principles of counseling
1. Principle of acceptance: This principle says that everyone seeking counseling should be
accepted and treated as an individual with unique needs. Individuals seek counseling for
different reasons and counselors should accept each of them with their unique needs.
2. Principle of respect: This principle requires that in counseling, the feelings of the person
seeking counseling should be respected. The counselor should not invalidate the feelings of a
client.
3. Principle of thinking with the individual: according to this principle, counselors should
empathize with their clients and see the clients’ situations from the clients’ point of view. the
ability to view situations the way clients view them makes it easy to work together to find
solutions
4. Principle of learning: According to this principle, counseling as a process entails learning.
The counselee emerges from counseling having learnt some important things such as how to
live more effective lives and cope with challenges in life.
5. Principle of autonomy: this principle requires that individuals are free to seek counseling and
participate in the counseling process without being coerced. They should be allowed to explore
and arrive at solutions without the counselor imposing any solutions on them.

Difference between Guidance and Counseling

Despite the fact that guidance and counseling are both aimed at helping individuals develop
themselves and find solutions to problems, there are some differences between the two,
especially in terms of how the processes are carried out and implemented.

In counseling, the counselor and client discuss the problem over many sessions and
explore possible solutions to the problem. The client develops understanding of the problem and
is able to make better decisions to solve the problem. The client is empowered not only to solve
the current problem but also future problems and the counselor’s main role is providing

Dr. Odera (2024)

 Introduction 6

assistance. In guidance, the person providing the guidance (who is an expert or better versed with
the issue) suggests readymade solutions to the problem an individual might have. After receiving
the guidance, the person chooses to adopt the solutions provided or not.

In practice, guidance and counseling often go hand-in-hand. The following are the differences
between guidance and counseling:
1. Counseling is generally provided for personal and social issues (e.g. stress, depression,
problems with one’s parents) whereas guidance is usually provided for educational and career
related problems (e.g. choosing the right career)
2. While guidance is preventive in nature, counseling tends to be healing, curative or remedial.
3. While guidance assists the person in choosing the best alternative among options provided,
counseling tends to provide a person with insight into a problem and change the person’s
perspective after which the person can choose the best path forward.
4. While guidance is provided by a guide who can be any person superior or an expert in a
particular field, counseling is provided by counselors who are trained and skilled in counseling
5. In guidance, the person providing guidance in a sense makes the decision for the client and
offers suggestions that the client can take but in counseling, the counselor’s main aim is to
empower the client to make decisions on his own after gaining insight into his problem and
considering different possible solutions.
6. Guidance is a more practical solution driven approach. On the other hand, counseling focuses
on in depth analysis of a problem geared towards greater self-understanding that leads to
solving the problem
7. Counseling focuses on making the individual understand the problem and, therefore, brings
about behavioral changes in the individual so that he can adjust to the problem. On the other
hand, guidance focuses on finding a solution to the problem whereby the solution may bring
about a change in the attitude of the individual.
8. While counseling involves both learning as well as feelings, guidance gives no place to
feelings and is more of an intellectual process.
9. Counseling leads to what may be termed as self-discovery of the individual whereas guidance
does not lead to self-discovery of an individual.

Areas of Counseling
The following are the areas where most people need counseling;
Education: Students face several problems related to education, learning and school life in
general. Such problems are addressed in educational counseling by counselors who are trained in
providing counseling over educational issues.

Marriage: Marital counseling is beneficial to people who have problems in their married life.
Counselors who provide marital counseling are specialists in marital counseling and help clients
cope with challenges in marriage.

Dr. Odera (2024)

 Introduction 7

Personal: people often face problems in their lives which hinder them from leading a normal
life. Personal counseling looks into the personal problems of an individual and enables an
individual to overcome these problems.

Social: Social problems make people unable to maintain social relationships and fail to adjust to
the society and its ways and norms. Counseling in this respect helps people develop social skills
that enable them to fit into society and function effectively as member of society.

Rehabilitation: Sometimes, the life of an individual is disrupted because of unfortunate events

such as accidents, serious illness or natural disasters among others. Such people often develop
depression, low self-esteem and in most cases are unable to get over the disruption of life.
Rehabilitation counseling is provided to such people so that they can develop life skills that can
enable them to lead a normal life.

Vocational: many people struggle when it comes to deciding the right career option or struggle
to adjust to their workplace. Such people are not able to work productively.
Vocational counseling helps people make the right career choices and are able to adjust to their
work environment so that they are able to work productively.

Common work settings for counselors include:

Schools: School counselors serve different roles in schools such as helping students choose
career paths, helping students with special needs and helping students with their personal, social
and family life. School counselors are often responsible for implementing school counseling
programs.

Hospitals: A counselor in a hospital is likely to work with inpatient clients. The job functions
could vary greatly from working with mental illness to helping someone through their grief to
rehabilitation counseling.

Church/ pastoral: Counselors employed by churches are often considered pastoral counselors.
These types of counselors may counsel on many different issues, but they will likely revolve around
spiritual concerns such as the afterlife, forgiveness, and morality

Mental health/rehabilitation clinics: Counselors in mental health clinics may work with
inpatient or outpatient clients. They work with clients with mental illnesses and addictions.

Career /vocational center: Career counselors administer personality, aptitude, and interest
assessments to help clients determine their ideal career. They also counsel people who are in a

Dr. Odera (2024)

 Introduction 8

career transition such as recently being laid off from a long-term position. In addition, they may
help clients develop a good resume and prepare for interviews.

Role of Educational Guidance Counselor:

 Motivates students to actualize their dreams through vocational and career- oriented guidance.
 Helps students deal with individual problems both academic and personal.
 Helps students with personal development.
 Offers information about jobs, interviews, career scopes, advantages of selecting a specific
field, the process of achieving it.
 Advises on study techniques.
 Makes the child mentally prepared for future outcomes.
 Leads the child to a pathway by motivating on the strong points.
 Works on polishing the skills to reach a determined goal.
 Introduces to external agencies.

&&&

Dr. Odera (2024)