The World Counseling System (WCS), otherwise called the Religious Counseling Standard, is a classification model developed for use mostly in religious counseling. It is a model commonly used for counseling in Africa, Asia and South America and it works on three assumptions:
- That someone is concerned or confused about someone or there is an issue that needs to be resolved, usually urgently.
- That the issue involved is such that it cannot be resolved through the person's own efforts.
- That the inability to resolve the issue without outside assistance necessitates a recourse to a "higher being" who possesses superior wisdom. This higher being is expected to function through earthly agents.
This process involves the engagement of people with supernatural gifts such as prophets (in whatever religion) and faith-based counselors to help resolve the problem. The core of the model is that the person with the problem commits his or her case into the hands of the agent of a supernatural being who is expected to proffer solutions to the problem.
Owing to the involvement of some supernatural being, the issues that can be resolved are unlimited, which makes categorization difficult. Categorization is based, therefore, on the personalities involved in the resolution process, rather than on the problems that need to be solved.
Classifications
Under the WCS system, counseling is carried out in three categories:
If someone needs counseling in the area of personal relationship, he or she could seek help from the agents regarding a spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend or fiancée. He or she could ask such questions as "Is my husband faithful?" "Is this person the right person for me to marry?" and "If I marry this person, will the marriage last?" The online edition requires that you fill out a form. Information you need to supply includes your first name, the full name of the person you need information about, his or her mother's name and your question. When you send in your request, it is sent to at least two counselors. The agency using the WCS service will quickly prepare a composite report (from the two responses) which is sent back to you. The service comes at a fee since the WCS model has a copyright tied to it. An average response, which is usually more comprehensive than a typical on-line request, can take up to three hours before the reply is available. The response in a typical WCS service may have between 75 and 93 per cent accuracy in its predictions regarding the issue to be resolved.
Similar processes apply to the "business" and "other" categories. For business classification, the question might be something like "I want to embark on this type of business. Will I succeed?" "Somebody wants to be my partner. Can this person be trusted?" "I want to obtain a loan from the bank. Will the loan bring profits?" "Will repayment of the loan be difficult?" The "other relationships" category takes care of areas not covered by personal and business relationships.