Counseling is a helping profession that provides a unique and needed service to clients. Counselors receive specialized training and licensure to help clients by establishing trust, actively listening without bias, and helping clients gain a deeper understanding of their issues. The fundamental basis of counseling is understanding client characteristics and needs as well as the societal environment that shapes them. As professionals, counselors must commit to ongoing training, research, and adhering to legal and ethical guidelines to advance the profession and best serve clients.

3. Counseling as a helping profession
 A helping profession is one in which the
members are specially trained as licensed or
certify to perform a unique and needed
service for fellow human beings.
 Helping professional serve; they are
recognized by the society as the sole
professional providers of the unique and
needed services they offer.

4.  The helping professions include medicine, law,
dentistry, education, psychology, and social
work.
 The roots of each lie in the nature of
humankind and society, past and present.

5.  In the instance of the helping profession,
including counseling, it is appropriate to
begin with the very foundation of their
existence- namely the human client.
 This client has certain distinguishing
characteristics that provide a basis for the
counseling profession and the institutions and
agencies through which this profession
contributes its special knowledge and skills.

6. These distinguish characteristics are:
 Humans are among the weakest species at birth.
 Humankind has greatest potential for growth and development of all
species.
 Human have highest level of communication skills, skills that enables us
to express our thoughts in detail to many other, to teach our language to
others(even other animal species at certain levels); and to record, send
and receive information.
 The human species exhibits wider range of differences than any other
species.
 Human beings manipulate and are manipulated by their environment.
 Humans are the only living organisms that understand past and future
time.
 Humans have the ability to reason and to gain insight.

7.  The fundamental basis for counseling program
development must be rooted in our
understanding of the characteristics and needs
of all our clients, plus an understanding of the
environment that shapes them.
 Societal needs and expectancies also play an
important role in a profession’s development
and functioning.

8. Role of a professional counselor
 Professional counsellor must become fully trained and
qualified to meet the needs of the client population they elect
or are designed to serve. Training requires an appropriate
graduate level (masters degree at least) programme that leads
to an understanding and awareness of the systematic theories
guiding professional practice.
 Professional counselors activity seek and obtain certification
or licensure appropriate to their training, background, and
practice setting.
 Professional counselors need to be professionally and
personally committed to constantly updating and upgrading
their knowledge to reflect the latest and ongoing process in
their professional field.

9.  Professional counselors are aware of and contribute the
advancement of the profession by conducting and participating in
research studies designed to increase knowledge for the
profession. In addition they ensure the disseminations of such
studies to the profession through professional writing and program
presentation at professional meetings.
 Professional counselors are active participating members of
appropriate professional organisations at all levels(national,
regional, state and local)
 Professional counselors are aware of and adhere to all legal and
ethical guidelines pertaining to the profession and the practice of
counselling. Note that in the majority of states the use of the title
counselor is protected by law.

10. ROLE OF A COUNSELOR
 establishing a relationship of trust and
respect with clients;
 agreeing a counselling contract to
determine what will be covered in sessions
(including confidentiality issues);
 encouraging clients to talk about issues
they feel they cannot normally share with
others;

11.  actively listening to client concerns and
empathising with their position;
 accepting without bias the issues raised by
clients;
 helping clients towards a deeper
understanding of their concerns;
 challenging any inconsistencies in what
clients say or do;

12.  helping clients to make decisions and
choices regarding possible ways forward;
 referring clients to other sources of help, as
appropriate;
 attending supervision and training courses;
 undertaking personal therapy (mandatory
for accreditation);

13.  liaising, as necessary, with other agencies
and individuals to help make changes
based on the issues raised by clients;
 working to agreed targets in relation to
client contact;
 undertaking group as well as individual
therapy on occasions;
 keeping records and using reporting tools.