Counselling in China: Past, present and future

This article reviews the development of psychological counselling in China. It consists of three parts: counselling in ancient China, counselling in China today, and counselling in the future. Counselling ideas can be traced back to ancient China, 2,500 years ago, but Western counselling theories have only recently been introduced into China. Counselling has become more and more popular in China, developing rapidly from schools to hospitals, communities, armies and companies. Although Western approaches are popular, some Chinese psychologists are developing indigenous counselling approaches. Government support for the control of professional counselling training programmes is needed. Despite counselling in China lagging behind the West at present, it is likely that in the future it will help people cope with the stresses and strains of living in such a rapidly modernising and changing society.