Perspectives
7.13 Future of Counselling as a Profession
When the participants were asked about the future of the counselling profession, all the respondents said that in the present situation, there was a tremendous need for trained counsellors. The unfortunate part of it was that there were not enough institutions to provide training. As one of the trainers who ran a short-term pro- gramme said,
There should be more available counsellors who will listen to people and counsel people.
Thus, there should be more training programmes where more training will be provided;
we are unable to meet the demands of the society. The amount of pain that exists in fam- ilies, couples … the number of counsellors actually available is disproportionately low.
People are suffering, so there is definitely an increasing need of more people to be coun- sellors or [those who] can function as counsellors.
They mentioned that apart from training more counsellors, it is also important to recognize that the training should be practical and relevant, with an emphasis on skills, so that they can deal with the problems that they confront. The chal- lenge was to be able to function according to ethical and moral principles when confronted with difficulties in the field. This challenge could only be met through adequate training.
One of the factors stressed by a trainer was related to more people willing to come for counselling. This was considered as one of the significant changes over time, with people willing to spend money to see a professional counsellor.
However, many clients wanted quick solutions, and were resistant to come for a number of sessions, even if necessary. This was accompanied by an increase in awareness about the need for counselling in schools, hospitals, and other private institutions, which were employing counsellors, and were referring patients and clients for counselling if needed. It sometimes became the responsibility of the trainers and the training institutes to inform about the job opportunities and put people in touch, especially if the contacts had not been built.
While the profession was growing, it was beset by the problem of low salary.
The poor income that came in the beginning was one of the factors that made fresh trainees reluctant to enter the field. The low salary may be responsible for coun- sellors losing heart and eventually leaving the field. The training did not help the counsellor reconcile with such issues; this was expressed by a number of trainers.
A lecturer from one of the 2-year degree programmes brought up the issue of specialized degree courses in counselling, with graduates with Counselling Psychology having skills above and beyond those available for social workers and diploma holders. She lamented, ‘Today anyone comes in with a diploma or certificate course and declares oneself as a counsellor. This should not happen.
Counselling psychologists and counsellors are different. Students with only a diploma are allowed to practice’.
In her opinion, this should not be so, and there should be notice and recognition given to students who have studied for 2 years, learned theories and therapies and done fieldwork in supervised settings. This view was echoed by others teaching in degree programmes. Participants felt that large gaps existed between the available training and the demands of counselling field. These gaps were primarily because of the nature of the training which was not practice based. One of the trainers in a diploma programme felt that the need for the short-term courses came up because many of the existing courses were not practical in orientation. In the words of a trainer from a short-term programme,
At present whatever training programmes are available, most of them are theory based and I am very unhappy with that because students who have done these programmes have come here, and they don’t know the practicality. We wonder … so and so has done such and such programme at such place … we wonder how can one still be raw, why haven’t they learnt earlier?
The gap between theory and practice was reiterated by more than one trainer.
There was often a lack of confidence in trainers to demonstrate actual proce- dures, which would be of great help in practical learning. In such situations, the
availability of practitioners for teaching was clearly advantageous; practitioners brought their case experiences and knowledge into the classroom, using the case material to substantiate the theory components.
Many trainers were of the opinion that the duration of most training pro- grammes was insufficient, irrespective of the length. In a diploma programme, one academic year was felt to be insufficient to provide the kind of supervised learn- ing that was essential for the development of the field. It would also be beneficial to the students if exposure in more than one field setting could be provided. An increase in the time in the field would be of great use for the potential counsellor.
One of the faculty teaching in a 2-year degree course said that she noticed the gaps in training once she entered the field. She felt that she had not had sufficient expo- sure as practicum. She said, ‘When I graduated I realized there are gaps in training provided to us. We didn’t have such proper practicum, etc. So I tried to fill the gap by providing appropriate things for my students, which I didn’t receive’.
An issue raised by one of the participants related to the fact that specialized set- tings often required specialized techniques and methods. It may not be possible to provide all such inputs in a training programme. In such cases, it may be necessary for additional training to acquire competencies once the basic training was over.
Retraining and updating of skills was felt to be essential, given that new methods of counselling were always being developed.
Another gap that was expressed was related to the inadequate research being done in the field of counselling. One of the diploma programme participants expressed that there was need for research to fill gaps in knowledge about what the demands were from the field, and how to meet those demands. Such research was not being emphasized on. It is pertinent to note here that only one of the 2-year degree programmes and one diploma programme had research as an essential component of the programme. In case of the other colleges offering degree pro- grammes, research was optional, and not many students did the research project, instead preferring to do additional practicum hours.
All participants expressed the opinion that licensing was needed in the field of counselling. A commonly expressed view was that the absence of a licensing body resulted in untrained people entering the field, claiming to be counsellors. As one of the trainers who taught in a 2-year degree course said,
There are pseudo-counsellors as there is no licensing body in India. They are not trained counsellors. They can’t help resolve the problems of people. They don’t counsel but just give advice to their clients. The problem remains as it is. As a result of this people think that counsellors are unable to help them.
This opinion was variously expressed by all the participants. It was felt that some forms of counselling, such as career counselling was seen as being very lucrative. This meant that it could be seen as a means to make money, without providing the essentials of counselling. The view that the term ‘counsellor’ was loosely and inappropriately used was expressed by one of the participants. It was felt that licensing would result in some restrictions about what counsel- ling was, and what counsellors did. Licensing would be a means of ensuring the
job description of counsellors. As a trainer from a short-term programme said,
‘Seriousness and standardization are the main requirement of growth which is missing in the field today’ Hence licensing was a means of ensuring quality of ser- vices being provided. Licensing would also ensure that unethical practices in the field would not be allowed.
Yet another trainer who ran a short-term course expressed the opinion that the Government, whose duty and role it was to ensure standards, was doing very little to ensure that some standards were being maintained. He was of the opinion that introducing licensing would only result in corruption. In his words,
Now, of course, the government does things in a shoddy manner; it will recruit a group of people who are themselves corrupt. They will take money and will give a licence wrongly.
That’s why sometimes I feel, let things be as they are.
At the same time, he also felt that licensing should be introduced, and the licensing body should have the right to examine candidates, issue licences to suc- cessful candidates for fixed periods. After the lapse of that period, the licence would have to be renewed.
One participant felt that licensing could be detrimental for growth in the field.
This participant said that licensing had a pro and a con. In terms of the negative aspects of licensing, this participant felt that it would limit the number of people entering the field. At present, in the absence of a licensing body, there is growth in the number of counsellors. Additionally, given that the field was still growing in India, she opined that licensing be introduced only after a certain level of profes- sionalism was reached. In her words,
There is freedom now that people with counselling skills in spite of not having a licensing body are getting into it. People are already getting trained; see, if there were a licensing body they would not be practising. So the field is already growing, but once the field has grown, what we need to do is now make it more refined.
When asked about who should do the licensing, the commonly held view was that it should be a body made up of counsellors in the field, trained psychologists and psychiatrists. As one of the participants from a short-term programme said, ‘A uniform group headed by prominent psychiatrists and psychologists who would screen every professional, visit the place of work, regularly conduct workshops and conduct upgrading programmes’. It was felt that this body could have elected representatives who could function under government control. It was shared that it may be necessary to set up such up bodies at both the State and the Central level.
The need for a government initiative was clearly articulated, which helped bring together the voices of the various psychology associations that are presently func- tioning in the country.
One trainer who taught in a diploma course was more cynical about the process and the outcome of licensing, while holding on to the belief that licensing was the right thing for the growth of the profession in the country. He said, ‘All the licens- ing bodies in India are more like a ‘damage control mechanism’ to protect misuse of services’. He gave the example of the Medical Council of India which had been under controversy. He went on to say, ‘However, for me it must be a proactive measure to provide more quality service to those who are in need’.
With reference to the counselling profession’s prospect for growth in Mumbai and in India, participants responded that there was extremely bright scope for the profession of counselling in the light of rising necessity of it in the increasingly competitive twenty-first century. The need for counselling was felt in a variety of settings and not just limited to ‘conventional form of counselling’. As one of the participants from the 2-year degree programme said,
The 20th century was the era of anxiety but 21st century is full of stress. Right from the school age we face different problems. Lots of adjustment problems in individual and social life are being faced by the people. They need trained experts to help them resolve their problems. Counsellors are required in schools, colleges, in social settings, in indus- tries and other organizations.
The need for counselling was reiterated by the other participants as well. It was necessary to try to create awareness in people. Even professionals such as doctors were not aware of the benefits of counselling. A participant said, ‘Growth is slow but it is happening for sure. People did not have any idea, as in, there are doctors who did not know what and how counselling is actually. I have to give lectures to them on what is counselling’.
Participants shared that there was still lack of clarity between counselling and advice—counselling has often been considered as a kind of advice giving.
It was necessary to write more about counselling to prepare publicity materials that could be distributed to the public. Writing about counselling in newspapers helped in spreading awareness about the nature and scope of the field. It was felt that there was awareness about the field of counselling in metropolitan cities such as Mumbai. However, in smaller places, the appreciation was low, and the spread of the profession was slow. This did not mean that there was no need for counsel- ling in smaller towns; it was just that the penetration was poor. The fact was that the number of counsellors in the field was much lower than the required numbers.
This disparity between supply and demand was also responsible for inadequately and poorly trained people entering the field. There needed to be more colleges that offered quality training in the country. In the words of a trainer from one of the 2-year degree programmes,
Preparing as many as possible good psychologists with proper knowledge is essential for people to solve their problems. Colleges offering PG programmes are also very few; so, there is a lot of scope and demand for the counselling profession; it is the need of the hour.