The practice of Counselling is a social movement which has developed in momentum and strength in the 1970s. Like other movements, it is observed by many and understood by few. It is acclaimed by those who see in it the possibility of at least alleviating human problems, at best as an aid to enable individuals to make the most of their potential in a highly complex world which at one and the same time is full of choice and opportunity and of confusion, frustration and insecurity.

‘Between 1846 and 1879 the produce of a penny income tax has risen from £750,000 to £1,750,000, notwithstanding a much greater exemption; and the inhabited house duty has advanced in about a similar ratio; leaving little doubt that a considerable increase in the paying capabilities of the middle classes has been diffused throughout the country.