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Social Commitment and Individualism in Counseling
Author(s) -
KELLY EUGENE W.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of counseling and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.805
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1556-6676
pISSN - 0748-9633
DOI - 10.1002/j.1556-6676.1989.tb02621.x
Subject(s) - individualism , social psychology , welfare , value (mathematics) , social welfare , psychology , sociology , public relations , political science , law , machine learning , computer science
Counselors highly value social commitment as complementary to their primary emphasis on the welfare of the individual client. This article discusses how the primary emphasis on the individual raises for counselors the possibility of a kind of therapeutic individualism inimical to social commitment and the common good. The importance placed on social commitment in counseling and the influence of therapeutic individualism are examined. It is proposed that the already significant role of social commitment in counseling can be enhanced by clarifying the balance between the individual and social perspectives.