Abstract. This paper considers guidance and counselling needs and services in a country where dramatic changes in economic and social conditions have occurred over the past decade. The welfare state foundations of the nation are described followed by an outline of a move to a free market economy. Increased needs for guidance and counselling services and modified responses are outlined with the main features being a distinct shift from public to private sector provisions. Related domains of training and professional associations are addressed along with current issues facing the profession. The overall picture is of a more diversified climate of needs with a reduced but intensified coverage of services. The immediate future for the guidance and counselling field in New Zealand seems unpredictable. There is certainly a healthy and maturing level of professionalism evident, but also a need for greater sophistication in influencing social policy towards restoring greater social equity.

This paper is an edited version of a seminal address given to a national association of counselors in New Zealand by a senior Maori figure professionally involved in the helping field. It focuses on a particular indigenous ethnic minority in terms of appropriate counseling, but has relevance for other traditionally-based cultures. After some attention to the societal context, the address considers major directions of western thought and how these have been reflected in counseling. It then suggests that these are largely inappropriate for Maori people, elaborating contrasts, Three major dimensions of Maori culture relevant to counselling are presented and developed. Finally, attention is given to ways in which counseling in New Zealand might be better developed along bicultural lines.

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