Review of the sense and contents of personal counseling

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Since the purpose of personal counseling is fostering personal development, we can consider personal counseling as a core element to attain an holistic quality education. So, personal counseling is a necessary complement to teaching. But in the literature there is a lack of a clear definition and organization of personal counseling contents, that is to say that the contents of holistic education are not well delimited. This involves two kinds of risks: the first one is the latent presence of those contents within the hidden curriculum, and the second one is that educators could feel without a minimum guide to organize their educational plans, falling in improvisation actions and making random selections of transverse contents apart from a coherent theory which to rely on. We review the concept, purpose and the main precursors of personal counseling (mental hygiene, character education, counseling, psychological education, and personalized education). Finally we contend that the contents of personal counseling are comprised within cognitive, emotional, and moral education.