The Rise Of Counseling And Individualization Of Chinese Society

Since1980s, social structure and cognition in China have changed violently with the implementation of market-oriented reform. Affecting by irresistible power of reform and opening policy and the process of modernization, western values, institutions, and technologies have been widely accepted in China. Modern counseling industry is gradually on the rise, and becomes a social fact. The existing studies about counseling mainly focus on either input-output analysis or the localization problems of counseling. My research aims to take the rise of counseling as a social fact, initiate it into the framework of individualization theory, and discuss the relationship between the rise of counseling and social transformation.The main research method in this study is field survey, including participant observation, and text analysis, with the data collected in the counseling institutions in Shanghai. This dissertation tries to answer the following few questions:Why does counseling as a theory and practice which reflects western values like freedom and individuality rise in Chinese society labeled by collectivism? What social change does it reflect? How does counseling help the client to rebuild a new self to catch up with the changing social reality? What role does the government play in the rise of counseling?Based on the field work, the author finds that individualization of Chinese society catalyzes the rise of counseling in China. On one hand, people turn to counseling, instead of ideological and political education, to express their psychological problems, and seek help. In this means, counseling has assumed the responsibility of the government in some ways. On the other hand, counseling aims to rebuild the clients into individuals with the identity of freedom, independence and responsibility. This target is consistent with the government’s requirement to remove the burden of welfare system and encourage the individuals to be independent in economical aspect so as to keep a high economic growth rate. In addition, the Chinese government plays a very important role in promoting the development of counseling under the pressure of WHO and its own interest. It comes to a conclusion that the rise of counseling is the result of individualization of Chinese society, and a conspiracy of market and government.