Introduction of the Taiwan Guidance and Counseling Association

Taiwan Guidance and Counseling Association is first proposed by Dr. Jiang Jian Bai, and it was established in December of 1958, with a history of more than forty years. As what the association chairperson Zong Liang Dong of the 5th council says, “Then counseling is our religion, and we have to gather together for meeting and have Sunday service.” Seniors working in counseling have been actively guiding the development of guidance work, for instances the innovation of overseas Taiwan counseling, the arrangement and compiling of curriculum standard for the guided activity (it is renamed as “counseling activity section”), establishment of counseling work system in each level of schools, the establishment of Teacher Chang at Youth Corps, and the facilitation of citizen counseling work in social and political departments. Bits by bits of passions, tears, and blood are indelible devotion for the establishment and promotion of counseling work in our country.

Presently, there are about 200 group membership and 800 individual memberships, and many of them are well-noted scholars and practitioners in counseling and psychology in Taiwan. When the association first established, it is aimed to place focus on cultivating research theory and methodology as well as counseling talent, planning school counseling system, and facilitating juvenile counseling work. Later on, with changing developments of Taiwan society the scope of service of the association has crossed the boundary of schools, and stepped into every walk of life.

Take the “psychologist law” passed in 2001 for instance, the facilitation of for the passage of enactment by the Taiwan Guidance and Counseling Association has been ceaseless by integration experts, scholars, and practitioners in the field of counseling psychology before such professional of comprehensive counseling psychology can be enacted with legal provision. Years after the passage of the law, counseling psychology section was established so as to continuously push for continuous education of counseling psychologist. In the future, the association will remain in concern and push for professionalized educational institute training counseling psychologist and the supervision of license system so as to render our counseling professional within the country complete. Aside counseling psychology, Taiwan Guidance and Counseling Association will also focus on the specialization of rendering school counseling in the country. Presently, Taiwan owns such school counseling system that prides the world, backed up by the environment of strong counseling training and cultivation, and we are proud to have a lot of high-quality and professional school counseling personnel. The focus of future assignments for Taiwan Guidance and Counseling Association will be to push for legal enactment of student counseling law so as to elevate and recognize the professional status of school counseling personnel as well as secure the right students to be serviced by professional counselor.

“Specialization” and “internationalization” have always been the targets of the Taiwan Guidance and Counseling Association, and as one of the most active counseling and counseling psychology groups the association has been working on pushing for counseling work in levels of school, and encouraging personnel and groups credited with counseling, it has also been facilitating items of topic research on counseling practice, sponsoring research and training activities on various topics of counseling, and work and formulate the pushing and realization for the system of awarding professional license to counseling work. At the time being, the association has invited world-renowned counseling psychologist to Taiwan to sponsor various kinds of professional workshops, and planned for sponsoring international counseling meeting. Presently, the focus of assignment for Taiwan Guidance and Counseling Association would be to confront the diversified society with diversified perspective, and move on toward 21st century with such attitude and act as “embracing the locality to see the world” and “enhancing specialization and resources integration.”