TPC-Journal-V1-Issue1

10 The Counseling Program at the University of Zulia: An International Program George Davy Vera A personal description of the international counselor education program at the University of Zulia in Venezuela is presented including educational objectives of the counseling degree, various services counselors are trained to provide, and a sample curriculum. This description serves as an example of one international counselor education program that can be used as a model for burgeoning programs in other countries. Keywords: Venezuela, University of Zulia, international counseling, counselor education, counseling services, curriculum Venezuela’s early counseling pioneers at the University of Zulia, some of whom were trained in the United States (e.g., Dr. E. Acquaviva, Dr. C. Guanipa, A. Busot, M. Ed.; A. Quintero, M.Ed., M. Socorro, M.Ed., D. Campo, M.Ed.), were pioneers responsible for influencing and crafting the counseling and guidance culture at the University of Zulia. Accordingly, I would like to describe one of the oldest and most well known counseling training programs in Venezuela. This program is chosen because many past and present counseling leaders in Venezuela were educated at the University of Zulia. Initially in the early 1970s, this bachelor’s level counseling program was conceived as educational counseling ( asesoramiento ) and vocational guidance ( orientación vocacional ) as a specialization track within the major of Pedagogical Science. Graduates from this program received a Licentiate in Education, Major in Pedagogical Sciences in the area of counseling ( Licenciatura en Educación, Mención Ciencias Pedagógicas, Area de Orientación ). According to the University of Zulia’s official archive (1970-2010) on counseling academic and curriculum development, professional services related to individual, vocational or educational counseling and guidance were understood as orientación . Therefore, the Spanish word was implemented to better communicate the meaning of professional counseling and guidance. Historically, the academic choice of using this term at the time was congruent with the Ministry of Education’s decision in 1962, when the terms orientación and orientador were officially adopted to describe guidance professionals and counseling practitioners, respectively. The current bachelors’ degree is five years long (10 academic semesters, for details see Appendix A). According to the Academic Updated Curriculum Design (Curriculum Commission of Psychology Department, 1995), the education of professional counselors is conceived upon several key concepts: • Professional identity reflects that graduates are trained to perform counseling and guidance tasks within the educational system and other professional and organizational agencies. • Counseling professionals help people develop within the social environment, assist with the processes of psychosocial functioning, and effectively deal with developmental changes and stressful life events. • Professional counselors trained at the University of Zulia are competent in performing counseling tasks such as: • designing, implementing, and evaluating counseling services. • developing prevention or remediation programs emphasizing personal, social, academic, vocational, work, recreational, and community needs at any developmental phase using individual or group strategies. The main educational objectives of the counseling major are: 1. Diagnosing human system characteristics within the educational, organizational, assistance, judicial, and community contexts. 2. Performing counseling and consultation. 3. Designing, implementing, and evaluating services. 4. Generating research in counseling. Graduates provide counseling services in different areas of human services: A. Personal-social counselors help clients deal with issues related to social roles and gain more understanding George Davy Vera teaches in the Counselor Education Program, Universidad de Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela. Dr. Vera expresses appreciation to Dr. J. Scott Hinkle for editorial comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. Correspondence should be directed to George Davy Vera, avenida 16 (Guajira). Ciudad Universitaria, Núcleo Humanístico, Facultad de Humanidades y Educación. Edificio de Investigación y Postgrado. Maracaibo, Venezuela, gdavyvera@gmail.com . The Professional Counselor Volume 1, Issue 1 | Pages 10–12 © 2011 NBCC, Inc. and Affiliates www.nbcc.org http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org doi:10.15241/gdv.1.1.10