What is Zen Counselling ?

First let us understand what is Counseling ?
Oxford and Webster's dictionaries , both equate Counseling to "Professional advice."
To counsel generally is understood to be advised. In general understanding too, people use word counseling to mean advise. Usually normal counseling makes use of various techniques (psychological, philosophical, medical, technical ..) to advise the client.

Counseling, is normally for certain problem, some dilemma or confusion that one might be facing in personal or professional life. So, if we summarize few characteristics of general counseling, they are :-
1.) Advise oriented.
2.) Use of various techniques
3.) Client is passive, Counselor is more active.

Now let us dig deeper into the question of " What is zen counselling ? "

Zen counselling is a simpler method of applying Zen concepts to help clients solve their problems.
The centre focus of Zen counselling is "To support the client in finding the solution, rather than finding a solution itself. "
Zen counselling takes a more dignified approach of believing that Client knows the solution but just needs some clarity to arrive at it. In Zen counselling, client himself/herself is more active and counsellor is less active.

Zen couselling is not concerned with finding out solutions but clarifications of problems. It is more concerned with allowing the client to look at his/her problems more clearly, more intelligently. Then solution follows.

NOTE : This blog is inspired from teachings of my Teacher - Anand Dharma (Zen counsellor).
Please visit http://kinesiology.jp/html/zencounseling_e.html for more details.