1

PROPOSAL ON COUNSELLING AND THE IMPORTANCE OF

ABSTRACT

Guidance and counselling services were first introduced in Malaysian schools in the early

1960s. The initiative began with career and guidance services gradually expanded in scope in

line with the needs and problems which arising from the development and changes within the

fields of economy, science, and technology.

The guidance and counselling services in Malaysian schools have made specific

modifications based on the guidance and counselling model practiced in schools in the United

States of America. These changes are considered appropriate in order to meet the cultural

characteristics of the local community.

Discipline problems, mental health issues and psychological problems are the arising issues in

this new age. The parents must understand that guidance and counselling by school counsellors

towards helping and assisting troubled students are vital to students development and for their

future careers.
 INTRODUCTION

The practice of giving and receiving assistance, advice and guidance is a familiar

tradition within the Malaysian society. As stated by (Amla Salleh, 2009), advisory and social

support among members of the Malay community has existed long before colonial

administration. The compassion, warmth and friendliness, along with the roles and

responsibilities of village heads, head of mosques or respected elders played major roles in

ameliorating social misunderstandings and problems arising from various walks of the

community.

Guidance and counselling can be used and applied in schools. It is because students

nowadays have issues in school and it is school counselors job to help them in dire need of

assistance. Bully, smoking and drug misuse in schools and harassments are the issues faced

by students which lead them to having mental health issues such as depression and even

suicidal thoughts.

Mental health is the condition that influences our mind in our daily activities. It

determines how we handle stress, how we relate to others and how do we make our choices

(mentalhealth.gov,2017). Therefore, if the wellness of the mental is maintained, theoretically

one should be living a stress free life. Mental condition transcends throughout one’s lifespan

as the brain which is the control centre for all the activities dictates how one acts and reacts to

specific situation and condition.

Mental health is influenced by factors such as biological (genes and brain chemistry), life

experiences and family history. Going through life experiences, one will definitely be

exposed to situations and conditions that force the mind to respond appropriately to the ideal

outcome required. If the mental state is not in a healthy condition, this may lead to an
unfavorable outcome as the production of the thinking process. Such situation will lead to

unruly behaviors, miscalculation of steps to be taken or a mismatch between the action and

reaction. This often results to dire consequences of one’s life, the society or the nation

eventually.

As the future torch bearers, teenagers need to make the correct and sound decision. This

places the importance of checking their mental health even more crucial.

Today’s daily crisis and pressures within the community require a more systematic and

sophisticated form of support system. As a result, guidance and counselling services were

then introduced in schools to assist students especially in the form of career guidance and to

overcome social problems arising from the rapid economic changes within the country such

as their discipline problems, mental health issues and psychological issues.

From time to time, the services rendered by undergoing guidance and counselling in

order to accommodate for not only the academic or career development of students, but more

importantly to ensure psychosocial and mental well-being of future students.

American Counseling Association (ACA, 1997) defined counselling as the

application of mental health, psychological or human development principles, through

cognitive, affective, behavioral or systematic interventions, strategies that address wellness,

personal growth, or career development, as well as pathology. In other words, counseling is

the means by which one person helps another through purposeful conversation and it is a

process in which two people meet to explore personal problems and to identify solutions. So,

counseling generally work towards helping individuals live a more satisfying and productive

life which that is the counseling main goal.

According to Persatuan Kaunseling Malaysia (PERKAMA) which based on

Counselor Act 1998, counselling defined as a relational process that assists the systematic

foundation of psychological counseling conducted by professional counselors for

transforming positive, holistic and personal customer service changes and voluntarily

lifelong commitment based on ethical counseling. Based on Counselor Act 1998 from

Malaysia Board of Counselors, counseling is a systematic process for facilitating

relationships based on the principles of psychology practiced by a registered counselor (with

the Malaysian Board of Counselors) in accordance with the code of ethics of counseling in

order to achieve change, progress and adaptation fully, voluntarily and voluntarily to clients

for change, progress and adjustment it continues throughout the life of the client. In addition,

Brammer (1993) stated that counseling is a process in which clients learn how to make

decisions and formulate new ways of behaving, feeling, and thinking in which counselors

focus on the goals their clients wish to achieve. Clients explore their present levels of
functioning and the changes that must be made to achieve personal objectives. Thus,

counseling involves both choice and change, evolving through distinct stages such as

exploration, goal setting, and action.

Other than that, Rogers (1961) stated that counseling is a series of direct contacts

with the individual which aims to offer him assistance in changing his attitudes and behavior.

So, the school counselors’ duty to help and assist students in changing his attitudes and

behavior to be better students with good behavior. Furthermore, Krumboltz (1965)

mentioned that counseling is performed by a counsellor to help or assist a client to

demonstrate a behavior that motivates towards problem solving. Bor et al (2002) defines

counselling as an interaction in a therapeutic setting. Furthermore, it is described as a

conversation about relationships’ in which clients can be helped to feel understood and better

about themselves and their problem. In addition, it is not about finding solutions to the

client’s problems but rather new solutions are generated. Lastly, the relationship between the

counsellor and the client is a collaborative one rather than that of a superior and subordinate.

In overall, counselling is a process between a client and a counselor through discussion and

solve the client’s problem.

GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING GOALS

According to Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad (2011), There are five counselling goals:-

a) Make behaviour change easier;

b) Increase clients ability to start and continue relationships;

c) Help clients effectiveness in coping with problems and issues;

e) Help client’s development and potential achievement.

THE IMPORTANCE OF COUNSELLING

Salim (1996) stated that the purpose of having guidance and counselling services in

schools is to help students understand themselves and the world around them and it is the

process of helping students to exploit their abilities and talents. This is based on the premise

that the responsibility of identify their potential lies within the individual themselves are

unlikely due to individuals in our schools who are unable to recognize their potentials. So,

the guidance and counselling services aim to help and not to direct the individuals or make

decisions for them which it is their main goal towards students.

Every day, most students make decisions that affect themselves and others in society.

Students who fail to make the right decisions and are unable to adapt accordingly are more

likely to face problems. For instance, a student who chooses to spend his time playing video

games rather than practise solving assigned mathematics problems is more likely to find it

difficult to cope with the subject. School counselling services in primary, secondary and

tertiary level institutions aim to help individuals make choices and adapt to the environment.

The following are the reasons for having a comprehensive counselling programme in

schools.
 (a) Holistic Development of Students

Most education systems pursue to develop students universally. The Malaysian

education philosophy attempts to build a well-balanced individual with their intellectually,

physically, emotional and spiritually. However, in reality excellence in academic

performance is given top priority. Overemphasis on examinations has led to the neglect of

other areas of the student’s performance such as sports, leadership, social skills, music,

creative writing, and performing arts. These areas, if properly developed, will lead to the

development of a well-balanced individual.

(b) Making Decisions

Many aspects of a student’s life in school have been predetermined and presented in a

moralistic manner. There is little that is left requiring students to make decisions on their

own. So, their decision-making skills are seldom developed and when faced with issues

relating to behaviour, emotions and thoughts, students are ill-equipped to make the right

decision. For example, some students would rather spend their time at the shopping mall

during school hours than to be in school. Thus, counselling programmes in schools can play

an important role in helping students make good decisions.

(c) Motivating Students

Motivating students to learn and take an interest in school activities is a difficult task.

Not all students are motivated to learn or are interested in school activities. The problem of

motivating students becomes even more critical when dealing with academically weak

students. Low academic performance leads to low motivation and low motivation leads to
low academic performance. So, task to enhancing student motivation may perhaps prevent

other types of inappropriate behaviours by the school counsellors.

(d) Career Choice

The original aim of most counselling programmes in schools was to help students with their

career choice. Kinds of jobs and careers have become more diverse due to the difficulties at

the workplace. Many jobs which are available today did not exist a decade ago. Similarly,

students today have to be prepared for jobs that have not been created. Counsellors have to

be well-informed as to what is currently available and what will be available in the next

decade and to match job types with talents and abilities of students. More difficult career

guidance methods have to be developed to provide information that is useful in helping

students make their career choices. Students have to be oriented towards believing that there

are other equally exciting jobs other than being a doctor, lawyer, engineer or accountant.
 APPROACHES IN SCHOOL COUNSELLING

Counsellors are also needed in schools. The tasks of school counsellors are they need
to deal with complex problems or situations that may involve mental disorder. School
counsellors are needed for the following approaches. They are academic counselling, career
counselling and personal counselling.

(a) Counselling for Academic Success

One of the major roles of school counsellors is to help students achieve academic
success. There are two major interventions that school counsellors can use to help students
succeed academically. Firstly, school counsellors can intervene to help students create a
school climate which promotes academic success such as conducting award programmes and
recognizing student’s achievements. This is a popular practice in many Malaysian school.
So, by develop the climate by school counsellors such as conducting award programmes and
achievements by students will lead them to be motivated to succeed. Next, direct counselling
interventions can be used with individual students or groups of students whose academic
success remains a challenge which school counsellor’s initial intervention should be to
determine the sources of the academic problems, helping students to establish their goals and
selecting appropriate intervention strategies.

(b) Counselling for Career Development

The school counsellor’s role in the student’s career development is one of the
foundations of the school counsellor’s job. In the past, counselling for career development
focused solely on helping students discover what suitable jobs or careers that they wished to
pursue and helping them decide which paths they may take to achieve their goals.

Students explore for themselves as to how their interests relate to different jobs or
careers. It is also important for students to be aware of what is available in the job market.
This can be done through career talks by professionals from various occupations or taking
field trips to a variety of workplaces.
 To help students prepare for their careers, counsellors could maintain portfolios at the
beginning of early secondary school. A portfolio is a collection of activities which students
have completed during their time in secondary school such as grades and test scores, courses
attended, hobbies, future plans and others.

(c) Counselling for Personal and Social Development

In an ideal world, we would be able to protect children from life events that cause
them stress and pain. The reality is that students’ lives are affected by significant events that
are usually expected. School counsellors may identify extreme changes in student behaviours
or attitudes as a result of significant events or changes in their lives. Students frequently seek
out school counsellors because of upsetting or stressful life events. School counsellors must
help students address the thoughts, feelings and behaviours that result from the stressful
events in their lives.

With the increasing number of divorces, many students are experiencing changes in
family situations. School counsellors may need to provide services for students who are
facing the issue of a parent moving out, going to court, living in two places, parents
remarrying or having step-parents or step-siblings. Most children hope that their parents will
get back together. Emotions range from depression to anger to confusion because of the
divorce. Sometimes, children feel responsible and express their emotions through destructive
behaviours such as violence or fighting. Students sometimes believe that if their behaviours
are extreme enough, their parents will focus on them rather than the divorce.

Other significant experiences of griefs or loss that children and adolescents may
encounter such as the death of a relative or a friend, moving to a new school, friends moving
away or parental change as a result of job loss. Most students will experience some form of
loss events and school counsellors should be prepared to help them work through the related
issues. Other personal and social issues which the school counsellor may have to deal with
are anger, jealousy, lack of motivation, friendship issues, gang involvement, relationship
issues, self-concept, drug use and abuse and peer pressure, to name a few.
 ISSUES FACED BY SCHOOL CHILDREN

As society becomes more complicated, the same goes for schools have which have

become more complex with large student numbers. Student populations in many secondary

schools range between 1,500 and 2,000 students. Imagine the different personalities and socio-

emotional backgrounds of students who are attending school each day. With the large student

numbers, it is unlikely that the individual needs of each and every student are being attended to.

The likelihood of students being alienated and ignored is very high. Other than that, the cases and

issues that involve among students causing a worrisome among parents and teachers as well as

school counsellors in Malaysia. The issues that are facing by school children are: -

(a) Smoking and Drug Abuse Issues

These include problems and concerns relating to personality, physical and emotional

development, interpersonal relationships and other related issues. This issue must be solved by not

just the school counsellor, but also teachers and parents. Most students have this issue that related

to their personal life. Smoking become a common in school cases. They do it due to peer

pressure, eager to try and sometimes follow their parents’ attitude on smoking (Pek Lian, 2005).

Continuous smoking can lead students to try something new, which it is drugs. The basic reason

of the drug abuse that we have interpreted from the above survey is the easy access and

availability of drug among the community. Lack of information about the drugs and over use of

drug is a common factor to abuse drug among student. Gelder (2001) stated that peer pressure is

the prime factor among the student as compares to non-student that increases the abuse of drug.

Academic stress was identified as a very important factor in drug misuse which burnouts and

struggle or stress to do homework is the turning point of them turning to chemical abuser. For

instance, most urban schools in Malaysia especially Selangor and Kuala Lumpur have drugs cases
in schools stated by Ministry of Education (NST, 2017). Thus, the misuse of drugs among

students can lead them to having mental illness such as depression.

(b) Bullying Issues

Bullying is a common issue in school and difficult to be eliminated it. Bullying can be

described as a way of treating people roughly with the intent of showing one’s strength.

Indirectly, it makes the victim feel weak and respect the bullies. In other words, bullying is

aggressive behavior, which can be either physical or psychological, performed repeatedly with

a victim and aims to make them feel uncomfortable, insecure, and isolated from those around

them. Overall, Khalim and Norshidah (2007), stated that bullying makes other people into

victims and may cause illness and discomfort to others. Khalim (2014), categorized bullying

into two types; direct and indirect. Direct bullying involves physical contact such as hitting,

punching, kicking, threatening, slapping, pulling, pushing, or pinching to cause injuries to the

victim. This is also known as physical bullying. The most violent forms of this bullying may

cause death. For instance, a form two student suffered a brain haemorrhage after he was

assaulted by three senior students at Sungai Petani, Kedah (Astro Awani, 2016). Meanwhile,

indirect bullying with insults and teasing effects the victim in psychological and emotional

ways. It is also known as a mental bully. For example, if the student’s name or the name of their

father is quite unusual, then other students might tease them for it. While this type of bullying

receives less attention from mass media, it is quite serious when fat shaming bully is become an

attention in social media especially cyberbullying. Both categories of bullying are very

dangerous because they can affect the emotional and social development of a student. The

reasons that the bully done that kind of act because they too have personal problems such as

being abused by his or her parents, parents’ quarreling, and getting beaten by them which in

return they did this kind of act towards physically weaker students.
 (c) Sexual crime Issues

Sexual crime among students are one of the most serious issues in Malaysia among

students. This crime happened due to the eagerness to try doing sexual intercourse among their

peers as well as being influenced after watching pornography. In addition, Baumgartner (2009)

stated that lack of parental control as well as alcohol used can be considered as reason of

students did this act. Other than that, some students have been sexually abuse by peers or

parents which lead them to deep depression. For instance, there was a case at Kuala Lumpur

where a discipline teacher discovered a condom on a girl student’s bag at school in Taman

Melawati. The worst of all, she was 13 years old at that time (Pek Lian, 2018).

Overall, these issues lead to student who become victim or perpetrator become mentally-ill

person and has psychological problems in their life. Mental health issues and psychological

problems among students nowadays has become a norm and common cases in Malaysian schools.
 TYPES OF COUNSELLING

PERSON – CENTRED COUNSELLING

The Person-Centred Approach developed from the work of the psychologist Dr. Carl Rogers

(1902 – 1987). He advanced an approach to psychotherapy and counselling that, at the time

(1940s – 1960s), was considered extremely radical if not revolutionary. (Dr Zainal Abidin

Ahmad., 2011)

Originally described as non-directive, this therapy moved away from the idea that the

therapist was the expert and towards a theory that trusted the innate tendency (known as the

actualising tendency) of human beings to find fulfilment of their personal potentials. An

important part of this theory is that in a particular psychological environment, the fulfilment

of personal potentials includes sociability, the need to be with other human beings and a

desire to know and be known by other people.

Although initially developed as an approach to psychotherapy (eventually becoming known

as client/person-centred therapy/counselling), Rogers and his colleagues came to believe that

their ideas could be transferred to other areas where people were in relationships. For

example, teaching, management, childcare, patient care, conflict resolution.

Today there are many people who, although not working as psychotherapists and counsellors,

use the work of Rogers as guiding principles in their day-to-day work and relationships. At

one level, Rogers' theory and work is very simple to describe. As many people would attest,
both those using the approach and those working as person-therapists/counsellors, it can be

very difficult to put into practice because the approach does not use techniques but relies on

the personal qualities of the therapist/person to build a non-judgemental and empathic

relationship.
MAIN CONCEPT

There are several main concepts proposed by Rogers

a) Phenomenology

According to Rogers, “An individual perceives this world according to his unique

view and these perceptions become his/her background of the phenomenology. An

individual reacts to the environment as how he or she sees it, and this environment

might not be similar with the definition of environment as used by other researchers.”

b) Concept of Knowing

There are three ways of knowing:

 Subjective;

 Objective; and

 Interpersonal.

c) Structure of Personality

There are two main important construct that we must know in order to comprehend

the Rogers personality theory. They are: Organism and Self.

d) Process of Personality Growth

Rogers focuses on the view towards personality which emphasises from perfection to

changes. Human is forward moving, thus he or she has the perfection pattern. Unlike

Freud, who assumes that the personality is constant, the energy can be channelled.

There is no drive in human but it is more to the tendency towards the self-perfection.
e) Subception Process

An individual could experience a stimulus by not bringing it to the awareness. For

example, a person could recognise certain experiences as threatening, conflicting with

the self-concept, and does not imagine the experience so that it will be aware.

f) Personality Growth

Rogers did not study the individual growth from infant to adult _ specifically. He

believes in the general personality development for all individuals. Children‟s growth

depends on the support from the parents and environment.

g) Psychological Disorder

A healthy person is able to accept a variety of experiences which forms an entire

(gestalt). There will be congruence here between the experience and self, where the

individual will be open to experiences and will not be defensive.

WHAT IS GROUP COUNSELLING?

A groups is defined as two or more people interacting together to achieve a goal for their

mutual or common benefit. Everyone typically spends some time in group activities each day.

For example, students interact with each other in the classroom and outside the classroom;

teachers interact with other teachers in the staff room. Given this situation, it is only natural

for counsellors to make use of group counselling. Groups are an economical and effective

means of helping individuals who share similar problems and concerns. Counsellors, who

limit their counselling activities to individual counselling, limit their options for helping

people. (Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad., 2011)

Groups come in many forms. There seems to be a group for anyone who seeks counselling,

personal growth and support. There are many ways of categorising the many different groups.

The Association of Specialist Group Work (1992) developed the following classification (see

Figure 2).

Guidance/Psychoeducational Groups

Self- Help or Support Gorups Interpersonal Problem - Solving Groups

TYPES OF GROUP

Persobality Reconstruction Groups

Task/Work Groups

Figure 2
STAGES IN GROUP COUNSELLING

There is debate as to how many stages there are in group counselling. Tuckman

(1965) was one of the first theorists to design a stage process for group counselling. He

suggested that there are four stages of group development which he termed as: forming,

storming, norming and performing. Later additions to the process by Waldo (1985) and

modifications by Gladdings (2000) proposed the following four stages of the group

counselling process: forming, norming, performing and termination. (Dr Zainal Abidin

Ahmad., 2011)

FORMING NORMING PERFORMING TERMINATION

Figure 3
 THE ROLE OF SCHOOL COUNSELLORS

School counsellors’ main role is to make a fulfilling career from easing students with

through the often rowdy school years and by the help of the school counsellors, the students can

pass through their problems with ease and confidence. Academic, personal, parental and social

pressures are the problems that the students have to deal with it and they need guidance and

support.

According to Kabir (2017), he stated the counsellors act as advocates for students’ well-

being, and as valuable resources for their educational advancement. As a school counselor,

you’ll first and foremost listen to students’ concerns. Because everyone’s home and social life

is different, you could be the only person who fulfills that need for them at a given time.

They may help students with issues such as bullying, disabilities, low self-esteem, poor

academic performance and relationship troubles. Students can refer them to a psychologist or

mental health counselor for further treatment if necessary. In addition, Gladding (2004) stated

that counsellors also will evaluate students’ abilities, interests and personalities to help them

develop realistic academic and career goals.

According to Mc-Leod (2013), school counselors’ roles are :-

 Listen to students’ concerns about academic, emotional or social problems

 Help students process their problems and plan goals and action

 Mediate conflict between students and teachers

 Improve parent/teacher relationships

 Assist with college applications, jobs and scholarships

 Organize peer counseling programs

 Refer students to psychologists and other mental health resources

 Work on academic boards to improve learning conditions

In Malaysia, guidance and counselling services are recognized as an integral part of the total

educational program and as effective way to maximize student success and student behaviour.

The continuous improvement and revision of school guidance and counselling services are

needed to ensure the quality professional services are maintained. School counselling services

in Malaysian schools have gone through many stages and milestones, but there are still many

challenges to be faced. School counsellors must be accepted as essential partners in the

challenge to improve educational opportunities of students in their future careers. Continued

support and collaboration from all parties particularly by the Malaysian government is crucial

to improve the status and implementation of guidance and counselling services in school

across Malaysia.
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