Chapter 1: Historical Influences on the Practice of Career Counseling

Summary

In this chapter, we present the historical influences on the current practice of career counseling. Career counseling encompasses all aspects of the clients served by mental health and career counselors, regardless of the clients’ presenting issue.

Chapter 2: Trait and Factor, Developmental, Learning, and Cognitive Theories

Summary

The types of theories discussed in this chapter provide different categories of maps: trait and factor, developmental, learning and cognitive, embedded careers, and psychodynamic. Within each of these types, each theory or approach provides the career theorist, researcher, or practitioner with a guide to specific aspects of the career development process. Not all theories will be equally applicable across the needs and stages of various career clients; not all will be equally applicable to all populations. This situation is no different from counseling in general. Each counseling intervention should be geared to what will best optimize the client’s career and work growth.

Chapter 3: Toward a Holistic View: Decision-Making, Postmodern, and Emerging Theories

Summary

In the foregoing, I have discussed the centrality of individuals’ careers to their lives. I have talked about how counselors can help their clients find personal meaning in work and have identified a number of strategies to assist in that process. Barriers and pathways to succeeding in this quest were described, as were methods of integrating the ideas behind self-efficacy and learned optimism theories into the career counseling process.

I also presented the concepts of spirituality, hope, and optimism and a variety of decision-making processes: planned happenstance, positive uncertainty, and the postmodern approaches of narrative, integrative life planning, and constructivism. I also briefly described school-based career counseling and adult transitions. By following four cases, I have demonstrated the application of several of these concepts and theories. The websites listed in the next section provide additional information relating to the chapter topics.

Chapter 4: career counseling without borders: Moving beyond traditional career practices of helping

Summary

The advent of the multicultural and social justice counseling movements has led to increased attention to the effectiveness of career counseling with diverse populations and the influence of sociopolitical forces on career development. This concern has led to the need for multiculturally and advocacy-competent career interventions. In this chapter, we (a) provided an introduction to multicultural and social justice counseling concepts, (b) provided a framework for infusing multiculturalism and social justice in career counseling, and (c) explored the implications of multiculturalism and social justice in career counseling.

Chapter 5: Ethical and Legal Issues in Career Counseling

Summary

Until career counselors can find means to the admittedly difficult learning tasks of acquiring fuller insight and empowerment in these and other moral bases for ethical motivation and practice, all counselors might benefit from close attention to the models of those who delve more deeply into those philosophical bases and those offering sound approaches to ethical practice (Neukrug, Lovell, & Parker, 1996; Savickas, 1995). Welfel (2002), for example, afforded counselors an insightful and comprehensive model for and 10-step approach to ethical decision making, moving from ethical dedication and appreciation for underlying moral bases for counseling and ethical behavior to good scrutiny of current standards, pertinent laws, professional research, and advice to consciously deliberate and make a decision, followed by substantial processing regarding the specific focus of this decision, as well as implications for the future. Some more fundamental guidance also comes from standards and these models. Emanating from the NCDA and ACA ethical standards is a clear message that career counselors should network. Having a trusted local colleague or two for confidential consultation on vital ethical issues is fundamental. Through participation in local chapters of state counseling organizations, new career counselors can seek mentors and veteran career counselors can mentor and also establish peer networks. ACA’s website ethics committee and professional staff services also include resources for members seeking ethical advice. NCDA’s 2004 introduction of a national mentoring model, including participation of past presidents, eminent career award winners, NCDA fellows, and other career professionals, holds great promise as another excellent networking resource. Attention to models, resources, and approaches such as these might go far in helping career counselors promote client worth, dignity, uniqueness, and potential.

Chapter 6: Individual and Group Assessment and Appraisal

Summary

From standardized to qualitative, computer assisted to pen and paper, career assessment instruments are available in a variety of forms to meet the unique needs of career counselors and their clients. Although no one type of assessment is superior, each has its own advantages and limitations. Counselors must be well-informed consumers of career assessment products to make appropriate decisions regarding their applicability to the unique needs of their clients. The websites listed in the next section provide additional information relating to the chapter topics.

Chapter 7: Using Information and Technology

Summary

This chapter has explored the types of, purpose for, and means by which technology may enhance a career counseling practice. Readers were encouraged to consider how their clients interact with technology, how this informs choices about using technology in practice, and ethical means of doing so. Throughout the chapter the emphasis has been on two aspects of the world in which we live—both exemplified by complexity theory. The first aspect is interconnectedness. The second aspect is change. Just as the lives of clients and counselors are affected by many circumstances and technological advances, so are the systems. Even as the chapter is being written, more is being added to the systems described, other systems are beginning to decline, while still others are at the beginning of their design cycle. So, the final work for this chapter is to stay abreast. Use the websites of the identified professional organizations NCDA, Asia Pacific Career Development Association, and Society of Vocational Psychology to watch for changes in the field, for conferences about career information, and for new statements of standards. Use search engines such as Google and Dogpile to identify new sources of information. Use ERIC to find research as it continues to be reported.

Chapter 8: Designing Career Development Plans with Clients

Summary

Fraught with a history of testing and telling clients what to do and fitting round pegs into square holes, career planning has evolved into a holistic approach through which clients design their careers to fit work into their lives, rather than fit themselves to jobs. With intent to give and enhance both corporate and individual purpose and meaning, career planning has moved from something done at key decision points with youth in search of a destination, to a lifelong process using techniques from numerous disciplines. It has become a sociopolitical instrument, infusing economic vitality into communities, etching humanistic values into turbulent workplaces, and enhancing personal engagement and organizational alignment. Consequently, the work of designing career development plans is more complex, exciting, and important than ever before.

Chapter 9: Establishing and Sustaining a Thriving Career Development Program

Summary

The process of planning, supported by strong management behaviors in a healthy, inclusive, and engaging environment, can build effective and successful organizations that are aligned around mission, core values, and shared vision. Katz and Miller (2013) summarize the key activities of a strong organizational culture:

“The organization actively seeks out and utilizes the full range of perspectives, opinions and skills offered by different individuals, identity groups and functional specialties. It is committed to and geared for change, continuous improvement, and a constant search for 360-degree vision. It constantly widens its bandwidth of human resources and human potential, eager to gain from the synergy that can be tapped when those differences are brought together. The people of the organization see the ability to form effective partnerships, teams and strategic alliances as [a] mission critical for the individual and the organizational success and they feel a sense of ownership for the effort” (p. 269).

The combination and alignment of the individual and organizational needs create an organizational structure that can address any challenge and reach their goals.

Successful career development programs are based on many factors. This chapter demonstrates the importance of strategic planning and continuous improvement in all aspects of program planning. The skills of managing culture, processes, resources, and relationships are applicable to many settings; the ability of career development program managers to customize these concepts to the context in which they work and transfer this knowledge to program staff is essential.

Chapter 10: Supervision, Coaching, and Consultation

Summary

Career counseling can be defined as an activity that helps individuals achieve greater flexibility, renew their self-definition, and live in a transformational relationship with themselves and the environment (Hilton, Brant, & Logan, 2016). Career counselors encourage people to transform limiting, dysfunctional conceptions of themselves into possibilities that reflect greater opportunities for self-expression, expand restricted roles, and become more responsive to fundamental needs and talents. Through a variety of roles, career counselors assist individuals in accumulating new information about themselves and their environment and help them to identify unarticulated fundamental values and needs, explore the competing beliefs that leave those values unexpressed, and translate the implications of this exploration into viable actions that are authentic responses.

Throughout this chapter, we provided conceptual awareness of and clarity on the diverse roles career counselors may need to engage in to operate as professionals. An integrated perspective of counseling, consultation, coaching, and supervision within counselor functioning is necessary to enhance professionalism and increase the overall effectiveness of career counselors. The average person spends 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime (Shontell, 2011). With such an astounding amount of time spent on one activity, planning carefully to make the most of a career is imperative. Counselors who understand the relationship of their own helping functions are in a better position to select helping strategies for the various situations that they encounter.

Chapter 11: Counseling for Children’s Career Development

Summary

Today’s children and tomorrow’s workers are better able to make decisions about their futures as they become aware and explore emerging interests and career choices that are part of formal education. Social skills, academic skills, and career awareness are introduced through a variety of experiences starting in the home and continuing through the elementary school years. Children’s interest in academic subject matter and career development is stimulated through their awareness of personal development, life roles, and career options. When educators work with community partners to take children into the community and bring community resources into the school, students make the connections between learning and work.

A more comprehensive approach to instruction is required to help students see the relevance of what they are learning in school to their futures. Integrating and using knowledge that engages learners is a key to mastering critical skills that include creativity, problem solving, communication and collaboration, and the ability to adapt to new methods. Thinking differently about instruction focuses on skills. The ability and capacity to build skills is gaining acceptance as markers of educational and career planning success.

Career education and development for all children is the responsibility of all families, educators, counselors, and community and business partners. Effective career education and career development implementation is dependent upon focused comprehensive and coordinated educational programs, services, and activities that are designed and delivered at all education levels. The combined involvement and commitment of key team members is critical, from system design, to evaluation, and continuous improvement. The desired results are skills, knowledge, attitudes, and competencies that help students make informed decisions about their life goals and how to reach them.

Chapter 12: Career Development for Youth and Emerging Adults with Diverse Paths

Summary

This chapter provided an overview of career theory and practice for working with youth who choose an alternative postsecondary plan in lieu of pursuing a four-year college degree. Utilizing Young’s ecosystems theory, in conjunction with brief solution-focused techniques, school counselors and career advisors can successfully guide students toward success after high school. The authors explored options that may appeal to Gen Z students through paths to education, job training, and careers in the emerging fields of eSports and iGaming.

Chapter 13: The Convergence of Career and Mental Health Approaches to Counseling

Summary

Decisions about work affect the totality of one’s life. The need to assist individuals trying to effectively manage the influence of work in their lives is great (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2016). Career counseling interventions with mental health clients include activities such as clarifying values, determining interests, imparting world-of-work information and resources, and setting career goals and providing coaching about how to achieve them. Counselors who offer these services do so in concert with the mental health services they provide and when career-related needs arise as a focus of treatment.

In formulating career interventions, the counselor should keep in mind that vocational development is a normal developmental process. Those with mental health issues “have had significant physical, mental, or emotional barriers to normal development . . . [and may] experience difficulty in choosing and implementing work that is satisfying and interesting to them” (Musgrove, 1992, p. 47). Therefore, counselors must strive to discover the factors that interfere with the normal process of career development. As mental health counseling progresses, clients can try new behaviors in the workplace if they are employed and risk fresh behaviors in the job search process if they are not. Both types of clients can benefit from implementation of a new self-concept, redefinition of workplace roles, and personal change management.

Mental illness and career development are not mutually exclusive and counselors in all settings must be aware that clients may need assistance in both parts of their lives, either through referral or through the interventions of the counselor trained and experienced in both domains. Professional counseling is one profession with many subspecialties. Mental health counseling and career counseling are complementary specialties that, when practiced together, offer many clients fuller opportunities for positive change and life satisfaction.

Chapter 15: Career and Lifestyle Planning in Vocational Rehabilitation Settings

Summary

This chapter has provided an overview of the structure and function of state vocational rehabilitation agencies and the various services they provide to individuals with disabilities in order to obtain work. Career development, vocational behavior, and employment of individuals with disabilities is a complex and dynamic process that is developmental in nature; it involves the person interacting with the environment and is moderated by social cognitive factors. In this chapter, we attempted to provide an overview of information that is important to understanding career and vocational behavior of people with disabilities and ultimately enhance the career and employment outcomes of individuals with disabilities. In discussing the centrality of work and how work is critical in meeting human needs, rehabilitation counselors gain an understanding that work plays an important role in the individual’s level of mental health and social integration. The Illinois Work and Well-Being Model was introduced as a mechanism that rehabilitation counselors can use in conceptualizing and strategizing the delivery of rehabilitation services. Finally, we briefly described various interventions and corresponding services that can be used by rehabilitation counselors in facilitating vocational behavior change.

Overall, much work is still needed to gain a better understanding of work and disability. There is a very significant need to conduct studies that evaluate the impact of career counseling and vocational interventions for individuals with disabilities. To date, most of the research in this area has focused on supported employment and related interventions. Although these types of interventions appear to be very robust for those with severe disabilities, little, if any, research has been done to examine the development and efficacy of interventions directed at those without severe disabilities. Expanding research beyond those with severe disabilities would seem to be a needed priority over the next 10–15 years.

Chapter 15: Career Counseling with Couples and Families

Summary

The changing family dynamics and changing work environments in the United States have made it evident that counselors need to address a significant family–work relationship. There are many configurations of households in this country, each of which is defined as a family. The systems perspective of the family emphasizes circular causality—that is, individual members have an effect on the family, and as they change, the family changes. Changes from larger systems have an effect on the family and thus change individuals in that family. Work influences the different configurations of families in different ways, and counselors need to keep those influences in mind when they work on family issues. In addition, poverty, violence, and unemployment can affect any family configuration, and each of these issues cuts across all family configurations. Life planning for couples and families is a developing area for counselors, and although no comprehensive theories are available at this time, work is being done to fill the void.

Chapter 16: Gender Issues in Career Counseling

Summary

The gender role socialization of men and women profoundly affects their career decision making. The world of work is not gender equitable, despite significant gains made by women over the past 50 years. Both women and men face numerous challenges as they attempt to establish successful and fulfilling careers. Gender-aware career counselors are uniquely suited to helping them meet these challenges.

Chapter 17: Career Counseling and Lifestyle Planning for Clients with Addictive Behaviors

Summary

So what has become of the case example and the client, Sascha? The counselor has developed discrepancy between her current addictive behaviors and her lifestyle objectives. Sascha has moved from precontemplation to contemplation. She is ready to explore her ambivalence toward her use of prescription drugs and marijuana further. Because she has already noted several disparaging aspects of her current behavior, she is already beginning to tip the scale in favor of positive change. Soon she will be ready to explore options for beginning to alter her addictive behaviors and develop a plan of action, as the preparation stage necessitates.

Regarding her career concerns, Sascha seems ready to access additional planning information in an effort to develop an action plan for a career change. It may be logical for the counselor and Sascha to formulate a plan for her career development and altering her addictive behaviors concurrently because both involve a similar commitment of time and energy. Additionally, the resources obtained for one may be relevant to the other.

It is imperative that the counselor and Sascha consider all potential implications of her plan of action. It may be useful for the counselor and Sascha to generate a menu of options as to various potential plans and then evaluate each for its advantages and disadvantages and the probability of success. The counselor will continue to foster Sascha’s sense of self-efficacy by reviewing the substantial progress she continues to make in improving her lifestyle by changing her addictive behaviors and cultivating her career development.

Career development is sometimes defined as “the total constellation of psychological, sociological, educational, physical, economic, and chance factors that combine to shape the career of any given individual over the life span” (Herr & Cramer, 2004, p. 139). Career counseling and lifestyle planning, then, should take into account those salient factors that affect a client’s career development—including a client’s addictive behaviors.

Understanding the stages of change for behaviors can assist counselors in working with clients struggling with addiction. Knowledge of a client’s current stage of change can help a counselor conceptualize the tasks necessary for clients to continue on the path toward positive change. Moreover, the four guiding principles of MI—express empathy, develop discrepancy, roll with resistance, and support self-efficacy—can provide a solid foundation for career counseling clients with addictive behaviors. The specific MI counseling techniques introduced in this chapter provide counselors with a repertoire of tools to help them further positive change in clients and avoid the potential pitfalls posed by resistance.

Finally, although the case example demonstrates the stages of change and the use of specific counseling techniques, it is of course a parsimonious example. The process of change is often long and arduous and riddled with frequent setbacks. It is important that counselors not give up on the process of change just as they ask clients not to give up on themselves.

Chapter 18: Significant Career Transitions: Workforce Entry and Reentry for Veterans, Recent Immigrants, and Formerly Incarcerated Job Seekers

Summary

Workforce reentry can be a more significant transition for certain populations. Veterans and their families deal with a significant cultural shift as well as challenges faced while moving into the civilian workforce. Additionally, career counselors must deal with the unique transitions of people who were previously incarcerated by helping them reduce pathways toward reincarceration and increase opportunities in a new life. With prejudice and barriers for people who were in prison, gaining meaningful employment can be a secondarily punishing process. Another category of career seeker that must deal with significant transition consists of those that are new to the US workforce as a result of recent immigration or due to their migration as refugees. Though transitioning into the US workforce is a theme across these populations, working with these individuals provide unique challenges and rewards for the career counselor. Counselors help clients from these transitioning backgrounds to understand their own identities (both previous and current) as well as how these identities may impact their career choices.  By empowering clients who served in the military, who were formerly incarcerated, and who recently immigrated, counselors can help them successfully transition to new career paths and life journeys.