Counseling has been slowly developing in the Arab countries. In 1984, Kuwait University organized a Conference on Psychological and Educational Counseling. Twenty-four professionals presented papers at this conference. A questionnaire which dealt with the status, rationale and development of counseling in the Arab countries was administered to these professionals. All the participants completed and returned the questionnaire. The majority of the participants reported that counseling services are offered in their institution and countries. They also reported that counselor education programs do not exist in their countries. They perceived that development (economic, social, and personal) is the number onerationale for counseling in the Arab countries. The implications of these views for the development of counseling in the Arab countries were discussed.
In recent years there has been an emphasis on economic, social, and personal development in the Arab countries (Soliman, 1986). There is an awareness that efforts should be increased to develop the potentialities of individuals and facilitate the effectiveness of groups. Counseling is perceived as one of the means to achieve these objectives. International counselor educators believe that counseling can play an important role in facilitating development in the Arab countries (Day, 1984; Moracco, 1979).
After the end of the second world war, the Egyptian government began to send graduate students to study counseling and guidance in Western countries (A.M. Hana, personal communication, December 10, 1985). Nevertheless, the development of counseling in the Arab countries has been slow (Soliman, 1981b). In the 198Os, only three of the 22 Arab countries; i.e., Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudia Arabia, had instituted counseling services in their schools and universities. In other Arab countries, counseling may be subsumed under other job titles such as social work. In 1984, Kuwait University organized a conference on Psychological and Educational Counseling.
Twenty-five professionals authored or co-authored papers which were read and discussed at that conference. These participants belong to different psychological and educational specialities. That these professionals wrote papers on counseling indicates their interest in the field. The purpose of this paper was to study the views of these researchers on the status, rationale and development of counseling services in the Arab countries.