20th Century Counselors

Counselors and the process of counseling an individual is merely the process of talking to insure that a person is doing well or taking the appropriate level of action due to a specific circumstance. The counselor has been around for thousands of years, from parents, teachers, clergy, Roman cousuls, and now to the modern day counselor. Counselors throughout the ages found that their roles changes due to the modernization of society, economic fluctuations, population increase, and education, with main goal of induvial wellness remaining in the forefront. In America during the 20th century these roles started to shift at the end of the civil war but took at drastic change during the end of WWI when America went into a depression. Psychology

E.G. Williamson who used the work of his predecessor Frank Parsons (who dealt with growth and prevention, directive based counseling, and theorized that matching the knowledge of one’s self along with the work need would present a successful worker), (page9) to match individual traits with jobs as a result a host of organizations appeared implementing there work. Counseling was also apparent during and after WWII when counselors were used by the Army to conduct aptitude testing for jobs and rank status, and then again when Soldiers were discharged by the Army to help with job placement, the Veterans Administration (VA) also established counseling centers within their hospitals (Shertzer & Stone, 1986). At the time of the mental health movement Carl R. Rodger took a unique approach to counseling based off of Abraham Maslow’s theories of hierarchy. Rodger’s took a non-directive approach to counseling by separating himself from directing the client and letting the client figure out the solution to their problems, this was in direct contrast to what E.G. Williamson

These individuals were sought out due to their work with couples on a daily basis. Most of the counseling was based on seeking advice on marital matters more than fixing marriage or family problems (Barker, Kessler, & Lehn, 1984). As marriage counseling became more popular in the 1930s the American Institute of Family Relations, the Marriage Counsel of Philadelphia, the Groves Counsel of Marriage and Family, and the National Council on Family Relations was formed. In 1942 leaders from the National Council on Family Relations and the Groves Counsel formed the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy in 1942. During the 1950’s general systems theory, cybernetics, communications theory, and ecological theory came into existence, along with the collaboration of theories. During the 1960’s clinical practices became standard place with regards to counseling. Moving forward counselors now have to give more consideration to recognition of gender, race, and culture in their theories or intervention strategies with a diverse