The Ghana National Association of Certificated Counsellors (GNACC) in collaboration with TUCEE Institute of Counselling and Technology has organised a cyber-counseling training workshop for its members.

The workshop, which was on the theme “Cyber counselling: The innovative and ubiquitous tool for satisfying clients’ needs” formed part of preparations for the International Conference for Counsellors and Associates (ICCA) scheduled to take place later this year.

It sought to build the capacity of counsellors and their profession to be able to use basic Information Communication (ICT) tools to reach their clients.

It was also to expose them to the ethics and legalities involved in using such ICT tools as well as the theories backing the use of ICT tools in counselling.

Participants were taken through the concepts of cyber counselling, ethics and legalities of cyber counselling, basic strategies for implementing tele-counselling, theories and approaches in cyber counselling and basic requirements for practicing cyber counselling.

Addressing the participants, Mrs Cecilia Tutu-Danquah, the Interim National President of GNACC said cyber counselling remained the surest way to reach a large client and encouraged members to take full advantage of it.

She mentioned that acceptance of counselling in Ghana was faced with many challenges due to the unprofessional ways of presenting the idea by some groups of people who paraded as counsellors.

This, she said had negatively affected the professionalism of counselling in the country with lots of apathy by a section of the public towards seeking counselling services.

Mrs Tutu-Danquah stressed that it was unacceptable for teachers and pastors to parade themselves as counsellors adding that, they were all trained for specific roles in the society.

She said counsellors were agents for the promotion of mental health and the right units for the settlement of conflicts and as such should be the first point of correction for all emotional and psychological issues and not the teacher or the pastor.

“People even think it’s only when you have a problem that you need to see a counsellor, which is not true. You do not need to wait until you are sick before you see a counsellor. For all emotional issues, the counsellor is the first point of correction” she said.

Mrs Tutu-Danquah underscored the importance of counselling and called on corporate institutions and companies to employ counselling psychologists and establish counselling units to address the psychological and emotional needs of their workers.

This, she said would promote a sense of organisational community and spirit of productivity and ensure that expected organisational goals were achieved.

According to her, corporate counselling leads to a happier, more positive and increased productivity and secured employees as well as employers.