GOALS OF COUNSELLING

The goals of counseling are to help individuals overcome their immediate problems and also equip them to meet future problems. Counselling is to be meaningful, has to be specific for each client, since it involves her/his unique problems and expectations. The goal of counseling may be described as immediate, long range and process goals. The immediate goal is however, to obtain relief for the client and the long range goal is to enhance the adaptability of the client.
Counseling goals may be classified in terms of counselor goals and client goals of therapy. These may be further classified as follows.
Developmental goals: are those where in the client is associated in meeting or advancing her or his anticipated human growth and development.
Preventive goals: are those in which the counselor helps the client avoid some undesired outcome.
Enhancement goals: If the client possesses special skills and abilities, enhancement means, they can be identified and/or further developed through the assistance of a counselor.
Remedial goals: involves assisting a client to overcome and/or treat an undesirable development.
Exploratory goals: represents goals appropriate to the examining of options, testing of skills, and trying new and different activities, environments, relationships and so on.
Reinforcement goals: are those used in the instances where clients need help in recognizing that what they are doing, thinking and feeling is okay.
Cognitive goals: are those which involve the acquisition of the basic foundations of learning and cognitive skills.
Physiological goals: are those which include acquiring the basic understanding and habits for good health.
Psychological goals: aids in developing good social interaction skills, learning emotional control, developing a positive self concept and so on.
All these goals will lead to the ultimate goals, which are discussed following.
1. Achievement of positive mental health: The individual will learn to adjust and respond more positively to people and situations, to prevent the emotional tension, anxieties, indecision etc. and thereby to lead to positive feelings and warmth.
2. Resolution of the problems: The individual will learn to alter maladaptive behaviour, to make good decisions and to prevent problems.
3. Improving personal effectiveness: The individual will be able to commit himself to projects, investigating time and energy and to take appropriate economic, psychological and physical risk.
4. Change: The individual will understand the mechanism of change, and be able to freely choose and act within the conditions impressed by the environment. The effectiveness of the individual responses evolved by the environment shall be enhanced.
5. Decision making: The individual will be able to make clear cut decisions that foster personal growth. 6. Modification of behaviour: The client will be able to remove undesirable behaviour or action, or to reduce an irritating function that hinders personal growth.