What are the Different Types of Guidance?

What is guidance?

Guidance is the practice of giving people advice, suggestions and practical help so that they take the best path in life.

Guidance is not about didactically telling people what to do, but rather ensuring that they have all of the knowledge and advice that they need in order to make the best decision for themselves.

Types of guidance.

There are various different types of guidance out there in the world, and all of them are appropriate to different situations. Below, you will find a discussion of some of the main types of guidance.

Parental Guidance
Legal Guidance
Educational Guidance
Therapeutic guidance
Parental guidance.

It falls to parents to teach their children not just basic skills like combing their hair or reading a book for the first time. Parents also are responsible for guiding their children morally: teaching them how to act in a way that is morally for the best. Parents also guide their children emotionally, supporting them when they are sad and encouraging them to adopt a healthy emotional attitude to life. All this and more falls under the remit of parental guidance.

Legal guidance.

The law needs to be obeyed and legal guidance helps us to do so. Especially when something is laid down in the law, it is imperative for citizens to act accordingly. Lawyers and other professionals can provide legal guidance about what is the best way to act with our finances, jobs or purchases so that we stay in accordance with the law.

Educational guidance.

Some people may think that education is simply about teaching children what are the right and wrong answers, or filling their heads with facts that they need to memorize. However, much of education is about guiding children towards the resources that they need in order to find out facts for themselves. Another type of educational guidance involves empowering students to think independently and for themselves.

Therapeutic guidance.

In the therapeutic context, for example when someone attends a counselling session with a therapist, guidance can be provided about so many different aspects of life. A therapist can guide their patients with respect to their romantic lives, with respect to how to deal with stress, and with respect to how to manage a mental health condition. The therapist’s role is very much about listening to their patients and helping them to understand their own situation rather than prescriptively telling the patient what to do. As such, therapy can certainly be described as a form of guidance.

Conclusion.

People are available to provide us with guidance in almost all aspects of our lives – if we are ready to accept it. Are you good at listening when other people offer you their guidance? And are you good at offering guidance to others? If there is any aspect of your life that you feel that you need some guidance with, then why not seize the day right now and seek that guidance from someone that you trust? Getting the right sort of guidance could just provide the solution to a problem that has been nagging at you for a long time, and help to make your life so much better.