Vocational Counseling or Vocational Guidance?

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Vocational Counseling or Vocational Guidance?
Authors: Patterson, C. H., Memphis State Univ., TN.
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 7
Publication Date: 1969
Descriptors: Career Counseling, Counseling Theories, Counselor Evaluation, Counselor Role, Counselors, Guidance Programs, School Counseling
Abstract: All professional persons engage in a number of activities, but they perform one major function, and their profession is designated by a word which indicates this major function. Counselors are usually called guidance counselors, partly because of their many other activities besides counseling, and partly because many counselors do little or no counseling, but rather direct and control. If another term is needed, perhaps psychological counselor would be more valid. In vocational counseling, the counselor does not guide students into particular occupations or fields. The focus of counseling - vocational counseling - is upon the interests and abilities of the client and their implications for vocational development and choice. The client's exploration and thinking should be free of constraints or restrictions on the opportunities and demands in society. Only in the final choice should these external "reality" factors enter in. Society and industry should not suffer from such an approach, since each individual would be enabled to do that for which he is best suited and in which he is most interested. The function of a counselor is to help the student find a vocation which utilizes his abilities and satisfies his interests and needs, not to guide him along paths determined by someone else. (KJ)
Notes: Paper presented at the Vocational Guidance Institute, Memphis State University, Memphis, Tennessee, June 17, 1969
Journal Code: RIEMAR1970
Entry Date: 1970
Accession Number: ED033390
Database: ERIC
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