Introduction to Guidance and Counselling
Senior 6 · Psychology (Languages)
Introduction to Guidance and Counselling
Lesson 1 of 4
20 min
In 1953 Chad Varah, a vicar in London, was troubled by stories of people who had ended their lives alone, with no one to talk to. In November that year he advertised a telephone number that anyone thinking of suicide could call. So many people rang that he could not answer them all, and he noticed something important: many callers did not need advice or a sermon; they needed someone who would listen without judging. He trained volunteers to do just that, and the organisation became the Samaritans, whose volunteers still answer calls today.
Varah’s discovery is at the heart of this unit. Helping someone through a difficult time does not always mean telling them what to do. Sometimes it means giving information so they can choose well; sometimes it means a confidential relationship in which they can think and feel aloud. The first is closer to guidance, the second to counselling.
Definition
Guidance: the process of helping people understand themselves and their options so that they can make informed choices about education, careers and life. It often gives information and is frequently offered to groups.
Counselling: a confidential, purposeful relationship in which a trained helper supports a person (the client) to explore thoughts, feelings and behaviour, and to find their own ways of coping or solving problems.
Advice: telling someone what you think they should do. Counselling usually avoids giving advice, because the decision belongs to the client.
Psychotherapy: longer-term, more intensive treatment of psychological difficulties by specially trained clinicians, such as clinical psychologists.
Figure 1. Guidance and counselling overlap but are not the same.
| Type | Focus | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Educational (academic) | Choosing subjects, study skills, exam preparation | An S3 student choosing an A-level combination |
| Career (vocational) | Interests, abilities, the job market, training routes | An S6 student comparing university, TVET and work |
| Personal–social | Self-esteem, relationships, peer pressure, adjustment | A boarding student who feels lonely and homesick |
| Health | Testing, treatment, healthy behaviour | Counselling before and after an HIV test |
| Family and relationship | Conflict, communication, separation | A family struggling after a parent loses a job |
| Crisis and trauma | Sudden or overwhelming events | Support after an accident, violence or disaster |
| Bereavement | Grief after a death | A student whose grandmother has died |
| Rehabilitation | Recovery from substance use or injury | A young person reducing alcohol use |
In Rwanda, guidance and counselling is offered in schools by teachers responsible for guidance and by school counsellors, at health centres and district hospitals, and by community health workers and organisations, including those supporting survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and of gender-based violence. Anyone who is struggling can talk to a trusted adult such as a parent, teacher or religious leader, visit the nearest health centre, or call the Rwanda Biomedical Centre’s free line, 114.
Samaritans: “What happens when you call Samaritans?”. Listen for what volunteers do and do not do on a call, and compare it with the definition of counselling above.
Important
Evaluate the evidence. The Friendship Bench trial was large, randomised and published in a leading medical journal (JAMA), which strengthens confidence that trained lay counsellors can help. Helplines are harder to study because callers are anonymous; evaluations of crisis lines in the United States (Gould and colleagues, 2007) found that callers’ distress and hopelessness fell during calls, but without a comparison group. Results from one city or one service do not automatically transfer elsewhere, and lay helpers need training, supervision and a route to refer people with severe problems to health professionals. Counselling helps many people, but it does not replace medical care when that is needed.
Warning
Common mistake: defining counselling as “giving advice”. A counsellor helps the client explore and decide; giving ready-made solutions takes the decision away from the person who must live with it.
Tip
Memory hook: guidance guides choices (often with information, often in groups); counselling explores concerns (in a confidential relationship, usually one-to-one).
Practice
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: the text, the table, Figure 1 and the exercises. The photo is used unchanged. This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
