Guidance: A multi-service model of helping

Abstract

This article was stimulated by the omission of the term guidance from the new name of the professional association of American counselors. Was this merely a sign of preference in terminology or did it constitute a repudiation of the concept of guidance itself? After differentiating the descriptive term and the programmatic concept of guidance, the writer identifies American school guidance as a constellation of integrated services (counseling, appraisal, information, etc.). The fact, that guidance was primarily associated with the school system is inconsequential. As a multiple service model of helping it is equally applicable in other settings. Community mental health providers — clinicians, social workers, and community conselors — warn against one-sided approaches and advocate multiple service care delivery. The final section of the article reviews the gradual development of guidance services since World War II to their present form. There is no valid argument to support the opinion that AACD, by its name change, did repudiate the programmatic concept of guidance as a model of multi-service care delivery. No doubt, the term guidance will be retained in American schools. Counselors working in other settings may want to acquire a new term for an integrated, multi-service model of helping.

As is well known, the professional association of American counselors changed its name in 1983 from American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA) to American Association for Counseling and Development (AACD). Counselors considered the name change long overdue. They felt that ‘personnel work,’ a term used in corporate settings for employee management, did not fit their professional role. On the other hand, they strongly desired that the term ‘counseling’ become a prominent part of the new association name. The name change has satisfied this primary desire and has been well received by the rank and file. Nevertheless, the new name poses some important questions that may be of interest even to professionals outside the United States: Why was the word ‘guidance,’ a hallmark of counselors for decades, omitted in the new name of the association? Was it merely a matter of preferred terminology or did it signal a major shift in programmatic emphasis? Does it mean that even the concept of guidance is no longer considered relevant for counselors in the 1980s?