PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING AND GUIDANCE NEEDS OF MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

The aim of this study is to investigate the psychological counseling and guidance needs of middle and high school students and to find out whether these needs differ in terms of variables such as gender, school level, grade level, grade point average, educational level of students’ mothers and fathers, and monthly average income of the families. The research is a descriptive study conducted on the survey model. The participants of the research consist of 1858 students (955 females and 903 males) studying at the public schools (1237 at middle schools and 621 at high schools) in a Central Anatolian province during spring semester of 2016. When data set was examined in terms of gender, it was found out that female students' educational guidance needs were significantly higher than male students and there was no significant difference in their vocational and personal guidance needs. In terms of school level, it was found out that the educational and vocational guidance needs of the high school students were significantly higher than those of the middle school students, but the personal guidance needs did not show any significant difference in terms of school level. The findings were discussed under the light of the related literature considering the other variables and suggestions for school psychological counselors were given