counseling

American  

[koun-suh-ling] / ˈkaʊn sə lɪŋ /

Or counselling

noun

Psychology.

1. professional guidance in resolving personal conflicts and emotional problems.

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Etymology

Origin of counseling

counsel + -ing ¹

Explanation

When you go for counseling, you're getting advice to help you make a decision or figure out what to do. Before getting married, you and your intended may see your minister for counseling about how to have a happy marriage. Usually counseling takes the form of talking with someone who has experience or training in specific areas where you need help. For example, if you need financial counseling, you'll find an expert in managing money. People who go to therapy with a psychologist or psychiatrist, to get help with whatever is bothering them, may also refer to that therapy as counseling. Counseling comes from the Latin root consilium, meaning "advice."

Example Sentences

This approach combines counseling and sound therapy to help people reduce the impact of the condition.

From Science Daily • Jun. 10, 2026

When Hostin enthused that she has “a PhD in ChatGPT” and regularly uses the LLM for personal and marital counseling, Swisher held up a warning finger: “Please don’t do that.”

From Salon • Jun. 10, 2026

You could hire a financial adviser to give all of you a seminar about managing money, or you could pay for counseling for your brother and nephew.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 3, 2026

Aides ultimately decided the texts were a private matter that was being handled by the couple in marriage counseling, a campaign official said.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026

The few people I knew who’d tried couples counseling and were open enough to talk about it said that it had done them some good.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama