NCERT Book Class 12 Home Science Chapter 8 Guidance and Counselling

GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After completing this section the learner will be able to:

•  understand the significance and scope of guidance and counselling
•  explain the basic concepts in guidance and counselling
•  have basic understanding and knowledge required for guidance and  counselling.

SIGNIFICANCE

Every human being comes across challenges and stress that must be  faced. Sometimes, we feel the need for assistance and support to manage the problems and find solutions. Traditionally, in India, such support was readily and easily available through the family, particularly the joint or extended family, and the strong social network. Besides these, moral and emotional support was also available from teachers, friends and spiritual/religious mentors. In the present, particularly urban, context there is an increasing speed in the pace of life, fragmentation of family and socio -religious support systems, and competitiveness. All such factors have led to a greater need for assistance to help individuals cope with their problems. Consequently, the field of guidance and counselling has evolved into a professional area.

You may reflect that when you last experienced a problem, if you were able to speak about it with someone whom you trusted, you felt better. The person whom you confided in may have suggested certain steps to handle the problem, which you may not have thought of. Sometimes the listener is able to guide you to look inwards and find solutions. In this manner, sharing one’s troubles with a trusted person can help the individual feel more capable of facing a situation. This is because seeking guidance from others enables a person to examine the situation from various perspectives and find appropriate solutions. 

You may have seen or heard of people facing different types of challenging situations. A friend may be upset with her poor grades in examinations, a youth may be disturbed because his parents often quarrel with each other, another person may be having difficulty with friends, some one else may have financial problems. Many students on the threshold of college may be confused about choices to be made for further studies and such other issues. They are perhaps in situations which they are unable to deal with by themselves. Here they would benefit from professional guidance and counselling. These are processes that help people when they feel that they are in a challenging situation and cannot find a way to cope with it. 

Sandeep has appeared for the medical entrance examinations for the last two years. He feels that if he doesn’t become a doctor, life isn’t worth living. He has an artistic bent of mind, can paint very well and is very creative. He could do well in a field which involves creative and artistic/aesthetic activity. But in the medical exams he faces repeated failure, experiences lack of confidence and a feeling of inferiority. 

Radha is a resident of a village. Despite the larger family’s disapproval, her father sent her for senior secondary schooling to an adjacent village. The young man to whom she is engaged has a shop in the village. He often comes to visit her. Of late he has been insisting that she goes out with him to a park. Radha is in two minds. She likes the young man but is afraid of what people would say. Her mind is in turmoil and there is no one to whom she can turn for advice.

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