Consulting

The term counseling colloquially referred to a structured interview or a similar form of communication (letter, email, etc.) or even a practical guide that aims to a task or a problem to solve or to approximate the solution. Most advice within the meaning of is " someone give advice in helping intention " used.

The job title consultant is not protected and is also often used in voluntary process accompaniments.

Forms of consultation

It can be distinguished among others the following forms of advice: investment advice, labor market and vocational guidance, application service, educational counseling, coaching and systemic coaching, drug counseling, partnership and marriage counseling, marriage preparation, energy consulting, nutritional counseling, educational counseling, family counseling, feng shui consulting, -finding processes, financial advisory services, genetic counseling, consulting fee, individual Counselling, IT consulting, person-centered or client -centered counseling, complementary consulting, life coaching, mediation, MPU, consulting, organizational consulting, Philosophical Practice, policy advice, psychological counseling, legal advice, rehabilitation counseling, retirement counseling, debt counseling, school counseling and school career counseling, crisis pregnancy counseling, pastoral care, safety advice, social counseling and social work counseling, Sociological consulting, tax consulting, strategy consulting, student counseling, supervision, systemic consulting, management consulting and consumer advice, traffic Psychological counseling, financial consulting, insurance consulting, training advice, youth counseling, migrant counseling, psychosocial counseling ( NLPt ), style and color consultation.

A further distinction is also after the medium through which the consultation takes place ( about online counseling or telephone counseling ) and by the organizational or human frame, in which it takes place (about Collegial case advice or consulting).

A consultation is often held in conjunction with the preparation of a cost estimate. For Estimates A fee shall be payable in Germany only by special agreement.

Counseling from a social science perspective

The sociological term counseling is distinguished by meaning narrowing of what is known in everyday language as, advice ', as well as of closely related phenomena. Consultancy in the narrow sense is a form of interaction that serves to transfer knowledge. The consultant can offer its clients knowledge - usually in standardized ( ' best practice ' ) and partly commodified form in the organizational context - provide. However, he is fundamentally dependent on the self-organization of the knowledge of his clientele, as advice must first be accepted and put into practice in order to gain efficiency. Consultants can therefore indeed modify the conditions for a successful transfer of knowledge, but they can over a large part of the success conditions neither have nor create the necessary conditions on the other side. What dating advice, will ultimately decide the counseled. The consultation process, however, are set by the form of counseling itself already given ( sense ) limits.

Definition of counseling interaction of exchange interaction

Unlike the purchase or sale of goods, which can take place independently of individuals, sets the counseling interaction requires either the mutual knowledge of people, or a trusted title or " reputation " ( reputation) of the consultant / consulting firm. Advice does not constitute an Exchangeable product with precisely specified characteristics, as a service they changed the course of the consultation process. What is counseling and what practical value it has, only determines the specific interaction.

Definition of counseling interaction of hierarchical interaction

From a sociological perspective, advice can always suggestions only. If a piece of advice is formulated as a statement, it changes the interaction. A typical threat to the counseling interaction is to bring power into play. For form of interaction ' advice ' includes both a certain degree of voluntariness in admitting to this form of interaction as well as a certain degree of freedom in the formulation and adoption of the Council.

Definition of counseling interaction of delegate interaction

Counseling can be no delegate interaction in which the counselor implements his advice even in the same action. Otherwise, a marriage counseling would be a very controversial thing. The counseled want or need to act. That's why they need advice. The action is self-determined. That is, advice is always subsidiary, designed as an aid to self-help. There are no decisions made ​​for others. Should this be the case in the corporate advisory business, so give no advice, but delegate action takes place.

Definition of counseling interaction of therapeutic and educational interaction

Unlike education is consulting maturity, independence, or even an " expert knowledge ", but at least a ' sovereignty in their own interests ' on the side of the counseled ahead. If this condition is violated, gets advice into trouble because they then the principle of subsidiarity can not follow. This distinguishes the form of advice from that of therapy: that it can take a non- sovereignty in its own interests in buying, almost presupposes and produces in many forms.

Sociological Consulting Research

First German -language approaches a critical consulting research or " sociology of advice" that takes the consultation process on the research subject and examines consulting processes in organizations come from Susanne Mingers (1996 ) and Hermann iding ( 2000).

Examples of various types of counseling

• Property advice: Talk with the aim to fill gaps in knowledge to make critical enlightenment to choose at the end of sound between alternatives and make a decision ( and responsibility for ) can. A discussion of this form is applied to the model of the expert - lay interaction. Property advice can be offered by qualified individuals or in the context of a counseling center. Their spectrum is broad, ranging from the general consumer to legal advice at very specific questions.
• Educational counseling: Interview with the aim to support parents in difficult decision-making, crisis and conflict situations, such as development, adaptation and learning problems in children or adolescents; also the so-called separation and divorce counseling is one of them. In addition to parents include children and young people to the target group. A discussion of this specific form takes place as comparatively open communicative dialogue, can be found in, inter alia, the reasons and background of the presented problems and edit. Unlike the purely non consulting Here personal and intimate problems of the clients come to the language, which are more deprived of the general public communication. To discuss in terms of new possibilities for the future, requires a special relationship in consultancy and relationship formation.
• Debt: Interview with the goal of developing a sustainable path to debt, possibly by suitably formalized plans. This requires information on the pattern of property, advising importance. In the debt but there are various transitions for psychosocial counseling, namely, when it comes to address the psychological and psychosocial background for the incurred indebtedness.