With the duties and responsibilities of the counsellor in mind and the pressures upon him or her, this article begins by considering the fine line between active tolerance, based on firm personal values, and passive tolerance, viewed by the author as more a form of valueless moral neutrality. Not only must the counsellors of today face clients with diverse cultural backgrounds as well as situations which challenge their own standards, they must also deal with the widely held belief that problems which appear not to be suitable for legal intervention should be solved by counselling. Understanding that the western notion of tolerance first developed in regard to ideas rather than actions, it becomes possible for counsellors to be compassionate while adhering to a conviction that some ideas are better than others and that certain actions must be avoided altogether. Generally speaking, there are two approaches to counselling: therapeutic or psychological, on one hand, and philosophical, on the other. The latter is best directed at the problems of ordinary people who need help with a problem such as personal loss, an overwhelming feeling of guilt because of an action one regrets, the fact that one will soon die - as in the case of persons diagnosed for AIDS. Finally, the tolerant counsellor living in a diverse society can become a vehicle for imparting tolerance and understanding to others.
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