Social Commitment and Individualism in Counseling

Counselors highly value social commitment as complementary to their primary emphasis on the welfare of the individual client. This article discusses how the primary emphasis on the individual raises for counselors the possibility of a kind of therapeutic individualism inimical to social commitment and the common good. The importance placed on social commitment in counseling and the influence of therapeutic individualism are examined. It is proposed that the already significant role of social commitment in counseling can be enhanced by clarifying the balance between the individual and social perspectives.