Roles, Functions, and Competencies of Counselors

Counselor uses the insights and principles of the different psychological theories in the
understanding of mental processes and human behaviors to provide appropriate guidance and
interventions to the counselee.
Counseling may be generally the work of counselors. It’s a broad task. The roles and
functions of a counselor may differ to another counselor depending on the nature of organizations
he or she work for. Generally there are basic competencies that a counselor should possess for his
or her role and to perform his or her functions.
The role of the counselor may include being a confidant, mediator, facilitator, moderator,
tests administer, human resource program developer, human resource manager, research director
and many more. A counselor may have one or combinations of these roles. It may be summarized
to being an assistant of a person or of a company in achieving the desired personal, professional or
organizational goals.
According to Republic Act 9258 or the Guidance and Counseling Act of 2004 in the
Philippines, functions of a guidance counselor the includes counseling, psychological testing, (as
to personality, career, interest, study orientation, mental ability and aptitude), research, placement,
group process, teaching and practicing of guidance and counseling subjects, particularly subjects
given in the licensure examinations, and other human development services.
Having multifaceted roles, counselors need to possess competencies to perform the
functions of their roles. These competencies are sets of skills and knowledge in guidance and
counseling which includes professional listening and writing skills, critical thinking,
communication skills, test development and administering skills, research skills, interpersonal
skills, leadership and managerial skills.
As stated earlier, the roles and functions of a counselor or guidance counselor vary
depending in the work area. A counselor may specialize in marriage, couple and family
counseling, career and professional counseling, substance abuse and rehabilitation counseling,
mental health, psychological and emotional health, conflict management, education and many
more
These are just starting points of giving you the ideas about the roles, functions and
competencies required for a guidance counselor and their work area specializations.
You may want to research more about them by reading books and online resources and
ask some persons for help. Activate you interest and explore further.
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