First, psychological counseling and ideological and political education have different connotations.
At present, there are many different definitions of psychological counseling in academic circles, and the extension and connotation of each definition are often different because of different theoretical schools and professional orientation. According to the definition of "National Vocational Qualification Training Course", psychological consultation is "the process of helping people to solve their psychological problems" (see [4] p. 397). In this process, psychological counselors use relevant psychological theories and methods to analyze, study and discuss with visitors with mild mental disorders, find out the crux of behavioral problems, explore possible conditions and ways to solve problems, and jointly negotiate countermeasures to get rid of difficulties. Finally, tourists will have a correct understanding of themselves and the environment, adapt well to social life and enhance their self-confidence. Psychological counseling mainly includes barrier psychological counseling and developmental psychological counseling.
Ideological and political education refers to social or social groups (usually political groups such as classes or political parties) exerting purposeful, planned and organized influence on their members with certain ideological concepts, political views and moral norms to form social practice activities that meet the ideological and moral requirements of educators. Ideological and political education faces the society and serves a certain class, which has a strong political color. Ideological and political education is an integral part of education, and it is a process in which educators transmit social behavior norms to the educated, promote the transformation of social objective requirements into the inner needs of the educated, promote the internalization of social values into the subject meaning of the educated, and form the social subject virtue. Ideological and political education focuses on the improvement and sublimation of people's ideological level and pursues a social significance. Ideological and political education mainly includes ideological education, political education and moral education.
Second, both psychological counseling and ideological and political education are people-oriented, but there are many differences between them.
1. Psychological counseling and ideological and political education have different theoretical systems. Counseling psychology is a branch of psychology and an important application field. Psychological counseling is mainly based on psychology and medical theory. The theoretical system includes general psychology, developmental psychology, social psychology, abnormal and health psychology, measurement and diagnosis psychology, etc. Psychological counseling also involves theories in sociology, behavioral science, pedagogy and other related fields.
Ideological and political education is guided by Marxism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and Theory of Three Represents, and its theoretical system includes Marxist philosophy, political economy, sociology and pedagogy. Specifically, it includes the dynamic role of consciousness, the dialectical relationship between social consciousness and social existence, human nature is the sum of social relations, human's all-round development and "indoctrination" and other theories. It can be seen that although both psychological counseling and ideological and political education adhere to the guidance of Marxist theory and the viewpoint of materialist dialectics, and both absorb the theories of pedagogy, sociology and other disciplines, their basic theoretical systems are completely different.
2. The goals and tasks of psychological counseling and ideological and political education are different. The basic purpose of psychological counseling is to help visitors get rid of negative emotions, overcome psychological and personality barriers, and establish a harmonious life mode between society and individuals. Its main task is to help visitors understand their own internal and external world, correct unreasonable desires and misconceptions, learn to face and cope with reality, learn to understand others, and enhance self-awareness.
Ideological and political education is to educate and inspire the educated with the most advanced and scientific world outlook and methodology in human history, to improve their ideological and political quality and professional ethics, to help them establish a correct world outlook, outlook on life, political outlook, moral outlook, aesthetic outlook, legal outlook and creative outlook, to master scientific thinking methods and working methods, and to correctly handle the relationship between the state, the collective and the individual. At present, ideological and political education should make the educated internalize the ideals and beliefs of the party and the country, the line, principles and policies into their own value demands and behavioral goals. Help the educated to establish the political direction of building Socialism with Chinese characteristics and be the builders and successors of socialist modernization. It can be seen that the goal of ideological and political education is more political, directional, holistic and practical than the goal of ideological and political education.
3. Psychological counseling and ideological and political education work in different ways. Psychological counseling mainly includes individual psychological counseling and group psychological counseling. In the former, psychological counselors generally wait for counselors to come to consult at a fixed place. To a large extent, counseling is based on voluntary counseling of help seekers, and listening and discussion are the main forms. The specific methods of individual counseling mainly include systematic desensitization, shock therapy, aversion therapy, imitation, biofeedback, cognitive behavioral therapy and helper-centered therapy. The latter is "a form of psychological counseling and therapy that provides psychological help and guidance in group situations" (see [5] p. 122). Group counseling is generally presided over by 1 or 2 leaders. According to the similarity of group members' problems, task groups are formed to solve common development problems or similar psychological obstacles through joint discussion, training and guidance.
Ideological and political education is generally initiated by ideological and political educators according to policies and practical problems, and it is a process of "external guidance or indoctrination". Although it also emphasizes the subject position of the educated, it is often the educator who actively educates and the educated passively accepts. The basic methods of ideological and political education include theoretical education (or theoretical indoctrination and theoretical study), practical education, criticism and self-criticism. , mostly in the form of political study, discussion, praise and criticism, typical demonstration, speech report, visit, inspection and evaluation. Ideological and political education emphasizes the role of "teaching by example".
4. Psychological counseling and ideological and political education have different requirements for employees. Although both psychological counseling and ideological and political education are "the work of being a man", and both require employees to have the qualities of enthusiasm, patience and responsibility, there are still great differences in their requirements for employees. Psychological counseling is a highly professional job, requiring practitioners to participate in specialized vocational training, with a solid theoretical foundation, rich knowledge of psychology, medicine and other related disciplines, and skilled clinical operation techniques of psychological counseling. Especially in August, 20001year, China started the professionalization process of psychological counselors, and promulgated the National Professional Standards for Psychological Counselors, which put forward higher and more specific requirements for psychological counseling practitioners. Engaged in psychological counseling, should have a psychological counselor and above professional qualifications. Ideological and political educators emphasize a profound understanding of the party's theory, line, principles and policies, and have keen political insight and firm political positions and principles. At the same time, ideological and political educators have higher requirements in moral cultivation and need a kind of "personality charm". Another difference is that psychological counseling, as a social service, emphasizes "helping others to help themselves", but psychological counselors can charge a certain fee according to relevant standards, while ideological and political educators can't. Psychological counseling also requires high confidentiality.
With the development of society, the importance of psychological counseling and ideological and political education has been paid more and more attention and recognized by people. The two tasks are increasingly infiltrated and crossed, and the related theoretical research has also made great progress. The difference between them provides the possibility for them to learn from each other and learn from each other's strengths, thus providing a foundation for promoting the development of China's psychological counseling industry and promoting the reform and innovation of ideological and political education under the new situation.