Counseling is a field of the social sciences that provides guidance, help, and support to individuals who are troubled by a diverse set of problems. It is an applied field that uses principles of psychology and neuroscience to help patients understand their mental faculties and brain structures as it relates to their identity as a human. Counseling is considered a discipline of the applied social sciences because it involves the application of psychological theories and recognized set of communication skills appropriate to the client. The profession of counseling involves guiding individuals using methods in psychology, gathering data, applying techniques in one-on-one interviews, and other methods. The goals and scope of professional counseling include helping individuals to understand their emotions and reactions to a situation, and to make reassessments or decisions about themselves. The principles of counseling include developing a comprehensive definition of counseling as an applied social science, describing the context involved in counseling, identifying the principles of counseling, and clarifying how different factors contribute to successful counseling based on the concepts and principles of counseling.