International developments of counselling

International developments counselling
Doctoral-level training programs in counselling exist only in the United States. Training programs for counsellors have been established in a number of countries including (at the postgraduate ievel) Canada, the United Kingdom, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Ireland and New Zealand and (at the undergraduate level) Brazil, Israel and Colombia. In many other countries, there is little or no commitment to initiate format training of counsellors by universities. Outside the United States, counselling is school counselling and remains very much tied to education-indeed, appendaged to teaching. The primary concern is with educational, vocational and career decisions. Despite progress in some countries with the establishment of university training programs for school counsellors, the responsibility for counselling remains lodged with teacher-counsellors or with the teachers. The establishment of full-time school counsellor positions is not yet extensive.

There is apparently no information available regarding the existence of specialized guidance curricula in teacher training programs in the United States. Elsewhere specialized training in counselling for teachers and career advisers is available, for example in the Federal Republic of Germany, Sweden, japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and Nigeria.

The responsibility for vocational counselling in a society is not always lodged with the schools, nor the preparation of counsellors with universities. There are no universal pattern. Rather each society according to its needs, goals, traditions and history gives definition and structure to the counselling function. In France, the training is done in centres outside the university. The personnel work from regional offices in close collaboration with the schools and with families. In the Federal Republic of Germany, there are federal employment institutes in the community; in the Netherlands, labour ministry bureaus; and in Sweden, a Labour Market Board which shares responsibility with the National Board of Education. In these contexts, occupational psychology principles, economic aspects of labour markets, occupational regulations and trends and labour legislation become the primary substance of training and practice.