Counseling Roles in the Public Employment System

One answer to the question of what should be the role of the counselor is to be found in an interpretation of the kinds of roles counselors have developed out of their experience in making adjustments and adaptations to the realities of their work and to the problems that they have encountered. There are five interconnected functions in counseling roles which provide one with a useful framework for thinking about counseling. These functions are: (1) teaching, (2) behavior change, (3) socio-emotional support, (4) decision-making, problem solving, planning, and (5) advocacy. Each of these functions is discussed in relation to public employment counseling, particularly experimental and demonstration experiences or projects dealing with the disadvantaged. The analysis of the above functions has described three functions (behavior change, decision-making, and advocacy) which fall within the purview of the professional counselor, one (teaching) within the purview of the non-professional, and one (social-emotional support) within the role of the indigenous worker. Further conclusions are drawn for each of the five functions. (KJ)