COUNSELLING IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT

COUNSELLING IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT. Enoch Johnston Raj.

Evolution of Counselling in India. Vedas and Upanishads are the first major wor ks p ertaining to counselling phenomena in India. Vedic hymns have many original ideas and concepts useful for psychology in a seed form because they are primarily p oetic and symbolic in nature, they are not easily accessible for researchers and scholars and hence their significance was not obvious unless one delve deep into the sym b olism as many scholars have done. The Indian adage, “Mata, Pita, Guru, Deivam ” remind the youngsters not only of the agents of counselling but also of the priority as to who should impart counselling at various stages of life. Vedas, Yoga Sutras, B hagavad Gita and other treatises are the Indian sources for analyzing various aspects of man’s behavior and theorizing about the human nature..

Cont …. After India became an independent democracy in 1947, premier mental health institutions were set up for providing preventive, curative and rehabilitative health care. National Institute for Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bangalore and Central Institute of Psychiatry in Ranchi were the earliest centers offering higher education in psychiatry, psychiatric social work and clinical psychology. Fifty years down the line, the earlier trend of medicalized treatment has given way to counseling services (George & Thomas, 2013). There is greater mobility of Indians within the country and abroad, and people in larger cities and towns are asking for therapeutic counseling, to deal with emotional issues. Modernization and changing lifestyles seem to increase the need for therapy and also make it an acceptable form of help..

Modern Counselling in India. Professional counseling has just begun in India. The awakening and significance of this new profession is getting wide publicity in the Indian media. In a recently published article, Chopra (2011) described counselors in India as confidants, advisors, and teachers who help people with family, mental health, drug and alcohol addiction and career decisions in different settings including, schools, clinics, NGOs, and AID counseling centers. In the m odern day, living with increasing pressures is driving people in India to seek more professional help for their vocational, social, and emotional problems. According to Chopra (2011) a well trained professional counselor will be never a without a job in India. However, there is also a dire need for counselor educators who can provide adequate training..

Cont …. Increasingly, personal and mental health counseling, academic and career counseling are gaining in acceptance and popularity in India. India provides a rich and fertile ground for the growth of professional counseling. The cultural milieu and the zeitgeist of this rapidly developing country is such that counseling is desperately needed to address the personal and social problems of more than one billion people. It is believed that the next 20-25 years will be the renaissance period of counseling in India. There will be a plethora of opportunities to develop because of the large population and because of social, economic, scientific and technical advances. However, it must be noted that professional counseling will only supplement but not supplant the traditional healing methods because of their strong and deeply rooted historical heritage in India..

Counselling in Bangalore. Training of counselors has received more attention only in the last two decades although there were many established departments of academic psychology in the city. The need for counseling and guidance for a growing population in schools and colleges has led to starting a number of postgraduate courses in counseling psychology in Bangalore. The city has practitioners oriented towards Transactional Analysis and maintain allegiance to the international TA association. A committed group of professionals has meticulously introduced EMDR training to psychologists, counselors and social workers. There is renewed interest in psychoanalysis in various metropolitan locations such as Bangalore, Delhi and Ahmedabad. The premier National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in located in Bengaluru, but it is overburdened with people heading here from all the districts..

Conclusion. A number of challenges face the provision of counselling and mental health services in India: Raising awareness levels in the general public about mental health issues and services to be considered based on educational, religious, and socioeconomic backgrounds of such a diverse population Reducing the brain drain and attracting the Indian diaspora to help increase the number of professionals. Evaluating and expanding the professional and educational training needs to continue to meet the needs of the professional requirement in the country. And, services must be provided at a more affordable and accessible manner ..

Reference. https://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/23934/1/Unit-4.pdf https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305406585_Counseling_in_India https://parivarthan.org/encountering-culture-psychotherapy-and-counseling-practice-in-india/.