Issues and approaches in computer-assisted counseling are presented in this thesis. Reasons are considered for the ineffectiveness of school guidance counselors in helping students make college selections, and a reconceptualization of counseling as a technology of helping is suggested. The uses of computers in counseling are examined along with resulting improvements and effects on guidance programs. Reasons for schools' reluctance to use computer-assisted guidance information systems are considered, including counselor familiarity and orientation, threat to counselor job security and control over work, computer accuracy and impersonality, threat to privacy, and cost. A history of computer-assisted guidance information systems is presented, with descriptions and analyses of current and future systems. CHOOSE, a new computer-assisted guidance information system for college selection is described. The future of school guidance is considered and resulting implications for counselor education and research are noted. A bibliography is followed by an appendix of CHOOSE user manuals and source code listings. (Author)