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Theory
and Practice of Counseling -
PSY632
VU
Lesson
42
CAREER
COUNSELING
Career
Counseling Theory
·
A
theory of career development can be
defined as a conceptual system
that identifies, describes,
and
interrelates important factors affecting
lifelong human involvement
with work
·
Five
major types (Herr & Cramer,
1984)
o
The
trait-factor approach
o
Psychological-personality
based approach
o
Situational
approaches
o
Decision
theory
o
Developmental
approach
The
Trait-Factor Approach
(Williamson)
·
It is the
theory of individual differences
which focuses on matching of
personal characteristics
with
the
job requirements. Accordingly, it
refers to a highly cognitive
process.
·
The
origin of trait-factor approach
can be traced back to Frank
Parsons. It stresses matching
an
individual
with a job that fits
that person's talents.
Hence, it works according to Parsonian
equation
given
below:
o
Knowledge
of self + Knowledge of work +
counseling = ability to
choose
Psychological-personality
based approach
·
It is
based on Holland's theory
that personality is the major factor
influencing career choices.
This
theory
indicates that adopting a particular
kind of work is not simply a
matter of choice but is
the
result
of complex environmental and personal
factors. Four factors are
important in these
connections:
o
Major
assumptions of his theory
are that there are
basically six personality types:
Realistic,
investigative,
artistic, social, conventional,
enterprising
o
There
are also six environmental
categories: Realistic, investigative,
artistic, social,
conventional,
enterprising
o
People
search for suitable
environment
o
Interaction
between the person and
environment
·
Client's
response may be assessed on
instruments, like on Strong-Campbell
Interest Inventory. A
person
gets a three-letter code which
describes the kind of work hat
person is suitable for.
For
example,
if a person gets a code of
"RIA", it will indicate that the
person is Realistic,
investigative,
and
artistic. The next task
will be to determine the kind of
jobs that are congruent with
that RIA
profile,
for example, architectural
draftsman, and dental technician.
The counselor then looks
for
the
congruence between personality and
job requirement. He may look
for the details of
different
suitable
jobs for that person.
For that person, different
books can also be consulted,
like,
"Occupational
Outlook Handbook" published by the US
Dept. of Labour.
Situational
Approaches
Emphasis
is on situational factors such as
location in space and time;
political and social
factors; ethnic,
religious,
and family beliefs, and
value systems. Although
personal and job related
problems are very
important,
it is often difficult to disregard the
situational factors.
Decision
Theory
o
The
career selection is not simply a
good fit between the person
and the requirements of a given
job,
but
it actually depends on learning
experiences as well as different
other factors.
o
It is a
social learning approach developed by
Krumboltz (1976)
o
Factors
influencing career
decisions:
o
Genetic
endowment & special abilities
o
Environmental
conditions & events
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Theory
and Practice of Counseling -
PSY632
VU
Learning
experiences
o
Task
approach skills
o
Developmental
Approach
·
Career
decision is a lifelong process
with counseling interventions depending
on the person's life
stage
·
Levinson's
midlife transition (1977)
theory indicates that people in
their middle age often
face many
problems
regarding career
counseling.
·
This
approach includes much of the previously
mentioned approaches.
·
Most
influential developmental approach is
that of Donald Super
(1957).
·
It
focuses on the influence of self-concept on
occupational choices. Although
self-concept is
fairly
stable after late adolescence,
any change with time and
experience make choices
a
continuous
process
·
Built
on the ideas of many developmental
theorists, such as Havighurst
(1953)
o
Growth
(0-14): self concept
develops through identification
toward others; needs
and
fantasy
are dominant early in this
stage. Different behaviors,
like industriousness,
social
interaction,
goal setting, and self
direction are
learned.
o
Exploration
(14-24): time for self examination,
try-outs and occupational
explorations;
o
Establishment
(24-44): having found an appropriate
field; having made a place in the
world
of
work, the concern is how to
hold on it.
o
Maintenance
(44-64): how to hold on the
world of work, competition
with young workers,
try
to maintain status
o
Decline
(64 yearsdeath) selective
participation, new roles and
adjustments
Comprehensive
Career Counseling (Crites,
1981)
·
In
contrast to these five
theories, Crites (1981) developed
his own model. It is based on the
five
major
approaches just discussed, the
more general systems of
counseling and psychotherapy,
and
his
own wide experience as a career
counselor. He advocates that
counselors make three
diagnosis
of
a client's career
problems:
o
differential
(what the problems are)
o
dynamic
(why problems have
occurred)
o
decisional
(how the problems are being
dealt with)
o
Crites
employs eclectic methods in
his career counseling. He
uses client-centered
and
developmental
counseling at the beginning to identify
problems. The middle stage
of his process is
dominated
by psychodynamic techniques, such as
interpretation, to clarify how
problems have
occurred.
The final stage of the
process uses trait-and-factor
and behavioral approaches to help
the
client
resolve problems
areas.
·
Comprehensive
career counseling also
advocates the use of tests in
working with clients.
Career
Counseling Strategies
·
Assessment
o
Use
of inventories, tests, rating scales,
etc.
o
Specialized
training many be required for
psychological testing
o
Use
of computers and computerized
testing
·
Guidance
o
Information
attainment and sharing
o
Use
of different resource books and
manuals like "Directory of Occupational
Titles"
(DOT)
o
Published
information about these jobs
are available in diverse
sources, like CDs,
videos,
audios,
books, etc.
·
Work
adjustment
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Theory
and Practice of Counseling -
PSY632
VU
·
Work
adjustment:
o
Work
adjustment is more than career
choice; everyone who is unhappy
with the job need
not
definitely change the job.
May be the person has to
improve interpersonal skills,
behave
differently, and change
perceptions
Issues
& Trends
·
Educational
& Economic consideration
o
Low
income people have fewer
resources to be educated, to move to another
geographical
area,
etc.
·
National
Career & Development Association
Survey conducted
in USA indicated the
following:
o
44% of
adults felt that schools do
not devote enough attention
o
53%
felt that more attention is
required for people who are
not college bound
o
Two
thirds stated that they
would seek more information
if they were to start
over
·
Racism,
prejudice, and
discrimination
·
Occupational
titles are culture, gender and
class bound. Strengths and
abilities of
disadvantaged
people are often overlooked.
Since 1970, there has
been a dramatic rise
in
research
on and interest in the career development
of women. The trend
parallels the
increase
in women's participation in the work
force. Many people often assume
that as a
group
females prefer social, artistic
and conventional occupations
(as opposed to
realistic,
investigative,
and enterprising occupations for
men). Only a relatively small
portion of
women
are pioneers who become
highly committed to working in
nontraditional
occupations.
Counselors must be sensitive to
such issues and at the same
time help
individuals
overcomes artificial and
real barriers that prohibit
them from maximizing their
potential.
School
Counseling
Career
counseling and education are
conducted with a wide variety of
individuals in diverse settings.
Brown
(1985)
observes that career
counseling typically is offered in
college counseling centers,
rehabilitation
facilities,
employment offices, and public
schools. He thinks it could be applied
with great advantage
in
many
other places as well, including
mental health centers and
private-practice offices. Because the
concept
of
careers encompasses the entire life
span, counselors who
specialized in this area find
themselves working
with
a full age range of clients,
from young children to
octogenarians.
Herr
and Cramer (1992) cite
numerous studies to show
that during the first six
years of school, many
children
develop a relatively stable self-perception and
make a tentative commitment to a
vocation. Jesser
(1983)
indicates that this awareness
can be raised through activities
such as field trips to local
industries,
bakeries
manufacturing plants, or banks.
Cole
(1982) stresses that in the
middle and junior high
school, career guidance activities should
include the
exploration
of work opportunities and
students' evaluation of their own
strengths and weaknesses in
regard
to
possible future careers.
Several techniques have
proven quite effective in helping
adolescents crystallize
ideas
about careers. Some involve the
use of fantasies, such as imagining a
typical day in the future, an
awards
ceremony, a mid-career change, or
retirement. More concrete exercises
might include completing an
occupational
family tree to find out
how present interests
compare with the careers of
family members.
American
Counseling Association (ACA), call
for a 48 hour Master's program
that includes
extensive
practice
and internships, along with the major content
areas like professional
orientation, helping
relationships,
counseling theories, human development
theory, social and cultural
foundations, group
counseling,
career and lifestyle counseling,
appraisal, research and evaluation,
school counseling,
and
consultation
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Theory
and Practice of Counseling -
PSY632
VU
Types
of Program Interventions
·
Direct
Services
The
basic purposes of counseling
interventions in the school are
to:
o
Promote
students' personal and
social growth
o
To
enhance their educational
and career development.
Issues
appropriate for school counseling include
attitudes and behaviors, peer
relationships, study
skills,
career planning, college
selection, sexuality concerns,
substance abuse, and family
issues such
as
abuse, divorce, death of family
member, and blended families.
Counseling related to
educational
and
career planning may often
involve the administration of assessment
instruments and
subsequent
test interpretation.
·
Indirect
Services
Indirect
services refer to consultation and
coordination.
o
Consultation
interventions include working with
consultees (teachers, staff, and
parents) to
help
the consultees improve their interactions
with children. Counselors in the
consultant
role
may use individual
conferences, seminars, or training
workshops to teach specific
skills
or
to focus on strategies for
dealing with a specific
problem.
o
Coordination
refers to the process in which the
counselor helps organize and
manage the
comprehensive
counseling program and related
services.
University
Counseling
·
Herr
and Cramer (1992) list a
number of services that a comprehensive
career guidance and
counseling
program in an institution of higher education
attempts to provide. Among them
the
important
ones are:
1.
Help with the selection of a major
field of study
2.
Offer self-assessment and
self-analysis through psychological
testing
3.
Help students understand the
world of work
4.
Teaching decision making skills
5.
Facilitate access to employment opportunities
through career fairs
6.
Meet the needs of special
populations.
·
In the
past, campus counseling may
have tended to be a rather narrow
specialty, with
counselors
working
primarily with 18- to
22-year-olds who often had
similar religious and ethnic
backgrounds.
More
recently, however, there has been
increased diversity on most college
campuses, especially in
multicultural
societies. There is increased age, ethnic
and racial diversity and
greater numbers of
students
with disabilities. Campus
counseling centers in higher education,
particularly in areas with
large
ethnic mix, are expected to
offer the full range of
services.
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