In Italy counselling has difficulty in acquiring a well - defined image between the helping professions. The history of care professions shows firstly the rise and then the crisis of a "clinical" care model based on the causes research (diagnosis) followed by a therapeutic healing intervention. This model neglects the pedagogical pattern based on the subject ability to provide for his own welfare. Counseling place is this activation space of individual resources in the face of difficulties arising from the increasing complexity of the life; such difficulties do not require a therapy but a support to explore, redesign, activate resources.
Keywords: Counseling, relationship, resources, complexity, pedagogy, empowerment