At the heart of all human learning is the person seeking to grow, develop, and realize something of value in and through another person. Learning is essentially dependent on the relationships between student and teacher, and between the students themselves. In that all knowledge is value-based and developed to achieve something of personal significance, it is bound up with personal identity. Teaching requires disclosure of personal investment in meanings and learning involves a challenge to present investments. Especially among adults, then, both teaching and learning can automatically produce anxiety and activate defense mechanisms which can hinder the process. In order for information to become a source of growth for the learner, a way must be provided for him or her to become self-invested in a holistic manner. That is why counseling is seen as an intrinsic part of the educational process. Counseling psychology can help individuals to understand the dynamics of learning and to develop the skills to work with those dynamics. The central skill of any counseling relationship is empathic understanding. Where both teachers and students are able, through empathic understanding, to create an environment of mutual trust and security, a truly growing learning experience can take place which enhances both the capacity to stand for one's personal meanings and the ability to understand and benefit from the personal meanings of others which are different. (Author/NB)