Naropa advises counselling overhaul

Dual role of teacher-counsellor has to be done away with13 August, 2009 There is a vast unmet need for counselling in Bhutan, which far exceeds current capacity, says a report compiled by Naropa university in the USA. The study was conducted earlier this year by a psychologist from the American “Buddhist inspired” university. The report states that the current teacher-counsellor model prevalent in Bhutanese schools is not adequate, especially in providing personal counselling services, which address, for instance, emotional issues.The report also points out that an increasing number of school dropouts are facing emotional and behavioural issues that teacher-counsellors will not be able to reach. It also says, with Bhutan’s “rapid social changes”, more “suffering” will result, and that counselling must not be expanded only in schools but the entire society. The only area the current system adequately addresses is career counselling, it says. The report identifies several current obstacles counselling in Bhutan faces. The dual role of the teacher-counsellor, as both teachers of academic subjects and counsellors, it says, is specifically prohibited by most professional counselling codes of ethic. In Bhutan, teachers-counsellors face role confusion between their academic and counselling responsibilities. While students are reluctant to consult teacher-counsellors because of their inability to distinguish between the teacher and the counsellor. Students in Bhutan view their teachers with deference and distance, the report says. An immediate possible solution is for teacher-counsellors to only counsel at schools they do not teach at, it says. Another obstacle, the report points out, is that teacher-counsellors lack experience. The two-week counselling course offered at the royal university of Bhutan (RUB), or even a six-month diploma course in India, is not enough, the report states. Counsellors in Bhutan, who have received a master’s degree, are also faced with a lack of practical experience, due to a lack of practice opportunities. The report says, “It is unfair to the teacher, student, and community to expect that this person is a counsellor.” Inadequately trained counsellors may harm the development of public trust in counselling, the report warns. With no professional association or ethical code, and licensing board, counsellors in Bhutan faced a lack of clarity on their professional ethics, and were vulnerable to legal action by disgruntled parents or police for following what may be ethical practices, like maintaining confidentiality with clients, the report points out. The idea of confidentiality was also not clear for both students and teacher-counsellors at present. Not knowing what kind of information can be revealed to parents, school authorities, or the police, hampered trust between counsellors and their clients. Privacy was also not adequately addressed, with many schools not having dedicated rooms for counselling. A lack of understanding of the role of a counsellor by the local community is a major hurdle. The report says, counsellors are expected, as a result of past or existing “outdated corporal punishment values”, to produce compliance in students for disciplinary situations. To address these obstacles, the report recommends, offering a post-graduate diploma in school guidance and counselling at RUB to provide strong preparation for school counsellors. These basic counsellors should not have dual roles, and schools should move towards having full time “basic counsellors”, the report says. The introduction of a master’s program with multiple tracks for school, health, and general counselling at RUB, would provide the capacity for adequate mental health services in not just schools but the entire country. To adapt counselling to Bhutan, the report suggests, integrating Buddhist psychology teachings and other “mindfulness” activities, like meditation, into counselling programs. But the report cautions that such an inclusion will have to be “non-sectarian,” especially because of the “existing heterogeneity of religious affiliation in the people of Bhutan (however small).” It says, “The goal is mind training and understanding our nature through direct experience, not devotion to religion.” Local counsellors like Sonam Jamtsho at the department for youth and sports expressed enthusiasm for the idea. “You can’t have counsellors smoking, drinking or abusing drugs and then advising youth against substance abuse,” he said. Tshering Dolkar, a RENEW counsellor, said, it was a good concept. “Counselling is very specific to cultures, it has to be according to mentality of the people, and the way they live,” she said. With Naropa’s experience with the use of Buddhist philosophy being integrated into its courses, the report recommends RUB and Naropa collaborate to develop Bhutan’s counselling program. RUB vice chancellor, Dasho Pema Thinley, said that RUB would begin sending lecturers to Naropa beginning this winter. The vice chancellor said, to start with, fully qualified and full-time counsellors needed to be present in at least the “bigger schools”.