What is Guidance and Counselling? Importance of Guidance and Counselling

The term “Guidance and counselling” have emerged as an essential element of our personal, social, academic and professional life. Various organisations now provide guidance and counselling as a part of their mission to help in individuals’ broader development beyond their personal interests. Thus guidance and counselling have become an important resource in educational institutions, nursing, life coaching and many other fields for developing life and career directions. Find out more about the importance of guidance and counselling, how does it work and the role of guidance and counselling in various aspects of life.

What is Guidance & Counselling?

As per Britannica, “Guidance and Counselling is the process of helping individuals discover and develop their educational, vocational, and psychological potentialities and thereby to achieve an optimal level of personal happiness and social usefulness.”

You should keep in mind that guidance and counselling are not synonymous; counselling is a part of guidance.

The aim of guidance and counselling is to enhance coping skills, promote decision making, assist behaviour change and improve interpersonal relationships.

How do Guidance and Counselling Work?

Guidance and counselling determine the interest, intelligence, attitude, personality and abilities of a person. Counsellors work with individuals to make desirable adjustments in any particular area of experience.

Guidance providers stay updated and possess knowledge of employment, internship, future study possibilities and other relevant factors. Thus they support people in exploring their own options.

Guidance and counselling can be utilised at every phase of life. It can be a continuous process starting from childhood and continuing through adolescence to older age. Good guidance and counselling services aid in your process of development instead of pushing you in a direction of development.

When should you approach for Guidance and Counselling?

You might wonder why you would need Guidance and Counselling in the first place. Here is why you can approach for guidance and counselling-

• You are in a dilemma regarding education or training options
• You are not sure about what kind of career would match your interests
• You are afraid that you will not succeed in your chosen career
• You are in a period of turmoil and confusion that is affecting your study or work
• You are having difficulty with time management
• You feel you lack self-discipline
• You would like to be self-employed
• Your lifestyle has become a threat to your ambitions

Check out what individual counselling is and its advantages and disadvantages in this blog.

What is the Importance of Guidance and Counselling?

The plethora of problems in modern lives have given rise to the necessity of guidance and counselling. The general importance of guidance and counselling is that they provide services that promote personal, social, educational, and career development.

Guidance and counselling help to remove undesirable traits by recognising one’s talents and abilities and also help develop an optimistic outlook. They also aid in developing resourcefulness and self-direction in adapting to the changes in society.

Find out in details about the importance of guidance and counselling in various aspects of life as described below-

Education:

Guidance and counselling has gained a major focus in the academic field in recent years. Guidance and counselling in education aim to make progress in academic achievement, increase acquisitions, apply conflict resolution, and reduce dropouts of the students.

The importance of guidance and counselling in schools cannot be overlooked as they contribute in shaping the personality of children. Students get comprehensive advice on careers, course selection and future prospects that enable them to make a proper choice regarding their education and career.

Adolescence is considered as the transition period of life. During this period, various cognitive, emotional and physiological changes occur. Often, due to lack of guidance, teens get addicted to drugs, engage in various crimes, becomes a school dropout and attempt suicide due to depression.

Many of these problems require guidance and counselling along with remedial treatment. Despite the rise in literacy rates, the tendency of opting the wrong decision is continuously increasing in adolescents. Thus, to survive this period and get the right advice for directing life in the right path, adolescents should seek guidance and counselling help.

Life Coaching:

Life coaches help their clients to maximise their personal and professional potential by utilising guidance and counselling.

When people are surrounded with stress, feel stuck due to certain issues of life or cannot figure out how to handle it, they approach life coaches. Life coaches thus assist them to handle and successfully adapt to any situation and stress the client is facing. It is guidance and counselling through which life coaches elicit solutions and strategies from the client.

With the assistance of guidance and counselling, the coaches also provide support to enhance the skills, resources and creativity that the clients already possess. They direct you in creating a new path to achieve your goals.

Career:

Career guidance and counselling acquaint individuals with their occupational choices. They analyse your interest and personality and then guide you to the best possible career options that are suitable for you.

When you approach a career counsellor, they help you identify your skills and abilities. Through guidance and counselling, career counsellors then give you a comprehensive and advanced solution to your career related problems.

A career counsellor would introduce you to a range of tips; whether it is about how to excel in an interview or how to handle corporate pressure. The counsellors, through guidance and counselling, help you to climb the ladder and bring in the desired results in your career.

Nursing:

Guidance and counselling can be found in the health sector as well. The nurses can play an effective role in this case. They can monitor medication and the application of psychosocial skills. They can address the stigma associated with having a mental illness and guide the patient on coping with it.

You can work towards living more satisfactorily and resourcefully through guidance and counselling. Along with this, you can also gain insight and bring about changes in thoughts, feelings and behaviour.

In addition, we apply guidance and counselling in nursing education as well. Both the terms can provide services to help the trainee students develop qualities to be a successful nurse, adjust with the clinical environment, carry out responsibilities as a member of the health care team and so on.

To gain an extensive understanding of pre-marriage counselling, click here

Conclusion:

This blog made all the attempts to acquaint you with guidance and counselling, the services they provide and how you can be benefited. If you are at a point in your life where you are puzzled, misled and looking for directions from the right authority, you can go for guidance and counselling. You would surely overcome your struggles.

If you are a counsellor who wants to assist your client through guidance and counselling, gather some skills and knowledge from the courses like Diploma in Counselling Psychotherapy Course Online at QLS Level 3, and Child Behaviour and Development Course Online Level 3 to ace in this field.

What to Read Next:

• What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Individual Counselling?
• How to Become a Therapist Without a Degree
• What is the Difference Between Coaching and Counselling? Know the Truth
• What are the difference between directive, non directive and eclectic counselling
• How Long Does It Take to Become a Counsellor
• How to Become a Psychology Teacher?
• What is Pre-Marriage Counselling