Guidance and Counselling
What this domain tests
The distinction between guidance and counselling, the services a school provides, core counselling skills, and the ethical limits - especially confidentiality - that candidates most often misstate.
Guidance versus counselling
Guidance is broad, preventive and available to all learners: orientation, information, appraisal, educational and career placement, follow-up and referral. Counselling is a confidential, relationship-based professional conversation with an individual or small group, used for developmental and remedial concerns.
School guidance services
Orientation for new students; individual inventory and appraisal; information on careers, study skills and health; counselling; placement; follow-up; referral; and evaluation of the programme.
Core conditions and skills
Rogers' core conditions are empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence (genuineness). Skills include active listening, paraphrasing, reflecting feeling, open questions, summarising and tolerating silence. Behavioural approaches use reinforcement and shaping; cognitive approaches include CBT and Ellis's ABCDE model for irrational beliefs.
Ethics
Confidentiality with limits: risk of harm to self or others, abuse or neglect of a minor, a court order, and clinical supervision. Also informed consent, autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, competence, referral, avoidance of dual relationships and secure record-keeping. In Ghana, referrals go to the school head and GES guidance and counselling coordinators, the Department of Social Welfare, the Ghana Health Service and DOVVSU of the Ghana Police Service.
Worked example
A student tells the counsellor she is being beaten at home and asks her not to tell anyone.
Reasoning: confidentiality is limited by the duty to protect. The counsellor does not promise secrecy, explains the limit, focuses first on immediate safety, records the disclosure factually, and refers to the head and Social Welfare or DOVVSU with the minimum necessary information. Telling the whole staff would breach confidentiality unnecessarily; doing nothing would breach the duty of care.
Traps that cost marks
- Promising absolute confidentiality.
- Confusing the counsellor's role with discipline - counselling is never a sanction.
- Jumping to advice before exploring the concern.
- Diagnosing a mental disorder, which is outside the school counsellor's competence.
- Ignoring cultural context, family involvement or the need to refer.