A Journey Through Time: The Evolution of Counselling Psychology
To understand the history of counselling, we begin with the realisation that the majority of human beings find a good deal of comfort in sharing their problems. Carl Jung, the father of analytical psychology, put it another way, “We are all in some way or other kept asunder by our secrets”[1], meaning that by keeping secrets, especially painful ones, we separate ourselves from others and create problems for ourselves.
There is an old saying that exists in many languages, ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’. It demonstrates a truth that we all fundamentally understand; that we are social creatures and when we are suffering we will naturally seek out someone who can hear our story. There was a Roman philosopher, Seneca, who lived around the time of Jesus Christ who stated, “One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.”[2] We may not all have perfect friendships, but we all need to have our problems heard and for them to be understood.
Although counselling as a profession is a product of the 19th and 20th centuries, the underlying principles of counselling are as old as human problems. Tribal communities would gather together and talk, tell stories and share dreams. As our society has become more complex, roles have become more formalised, and as Jung observed…
