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Guilherme Mazui

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What is the Difference Between Counseling and Guidance?

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The main difference between counseling and guidance lies in their focus and the professionals who provide them. Here are the key differences:

  • Focus: Guidance primarily addresses educational and career-related needs, while counseling focuses on emotional and psychological concerns.
  • Professionals: Guidance can be provided by non-specialists or experts in a particular field, whereas counseling is typically delivered by trained professionals who have undergone professional training.
  • Approach: Guidance assists individuals in recognizing their strengths and provides information, whereas counseling concentrates on helping individuals overcome specific challenges.
  • Formality: Guidance tends to be less formal and structured, while counseling adheres to a more formal and structured approach.
  • Confidentiality: In guidance, confidentiality is not guaranteed, and it can be conducted for an individual or a group. In counseling, confidentiality is maintained, and sessions are always one-on-one.

In summary, guidance is more focused on providing advice and solutions for educational and career-related issues, while counseling deals with emotional and psychological concerns through a more formal and confidential process.

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  • What is the Difference Between Counseling and Guidance?
  • Comparative Table: Counseling vs Guidance

    • Comparative Table: Counseling vs Guidance

    Here is a table highlighting the differences between counseling and guidance:

    Aspect Guidance Counseling
    Meaning Guidance refers to advice or relevant information provided by a superior or an expert in a particular field to resolve a problem or overcome difficulty. Counseling refers to professional advice given by a trained counselor to an individual to help them overcome psychological issues or problems.
    Nature Preventive. Remedial and Curative.
    Approach Provides ready answers and decisions for clients. Empowers individuals to come up with their well-informed solutions.
    Focus Informative, Educative, Orientational, Developmental. Gaining self-understanding and self-direction.
    Goal Setting Assists in setting goals between the client and the guide to deal with conflicts and problems of life. Involves setting goals with the client to address conflicts and problems of life.
    Confidentiality No guarantee of confidentiality. Confidentiality maintained.
    Setting Can be given to an individual or a group. Always one-to-one.
    Qualification Provider Provided by any person superior or an expert in a particular field. Provided by trained professionals who have undergone professional training.
    Counseling generally focuses on addressing psychological problems and empowering individuals to find their own solutions, while guidance deals with educational and career decisions and provides ready-made answers.
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    Guilherme Mazui

    Guilherme Mazui is graduated in journalism from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and a master's degree in Communication from the University of São Paulo (USP). In addition, he has experience in advertising writing and has worked as a content editor in several companies.