Career Counseling Strategies and

Techniques for the 21st Century

Chapter 8

Career Development
Interventions
Career development interventions provide
the historical foundation for the counseling
profession (Dorn).
The counseling field emerged from three
distinct movements (Herr & Cramer):
vocational/career guidance
psychological measurement
personality development

Career Interventions, continued

We know relatively little about the career
counseling process (Niles & Anderson).
Career counselors rarely study how career
counseling actually works.

What Do We Know?
There is a positive relationship between
counselor confidence in establishing a
therapeutic relationship and client
confidence in coping with career transitions.
Career counseling clients devote
considerable attention to noncareer
concerns in sessions.

What We Know
Career counselors tend to give information
and set limits more frequently during career
counseling than during general counseling.
Career counseling participants identify
aspects of self-exploration, support, and
educating as the most important and helpful
career counseling interventions.

What We Know
There seems to be a close relationship
between the processes of psychotherapy and
career counseling.
Developing an effective working alliance is
critical to positive outcomes in career
counseling.

Expanding the Limited View of

Career Counseling
Students often conclude that career
counseling is a sequence of interventions
that resembles the following:
Step 1: Client presents for career counseling.
Step 2: Counselor gathers client information
and administers a test battery.
Step 3: Counselor interprets tests and identifies
a few appropriate occupational options for the
client.

Characteristics of This Approach

Counselor is in charge of the process.
Counselor is directive and authoritative.
Clients are passive recipients of a
predetermined test battery.
Career counseling becomes something that
is done to clients rather than something the
counselor and client participate in
collaboratively.

Career Counseling and Mental

Health Counseling (Niles & Pate)
Given the relationship between work and
mental health, it is perplexing that there has
been an artificial distinction between career
counseling and mental health counseling.
Career counseling and personal counseling
are often referred to as if they were
completely separate entities.
In fact, there are few things more personal
than a career choice.

Career Counseling in the 21st

Century (CACREP)
Career counseling is both a counseling
specialty and
a core element of the general practice of
counseling.

Crites View
The need for career counseling is greater
than the need for psychotherapy.
Career counseling

can be therapeutic.
should follow psychotherapy.
is more effective than psychotherapy.
is more difficult than psychotherapy.

Definition of Career Counseling

(Brown and Brooks)
Career counseling is an interpersonal
process designed to assist individuals with
career development problems.

Designing Career Counseling

Strategies for the 21st Century
Career counselors must respond to

global unemployment
corporate downsizing
jobless economy
global competition of small companies via
information highway
workerless factories

Designing Career Counseling Strategies for

the 21st Century, continued
redefinition of social contract between
employers and employees
increase in the number of companies offering
daycare and parental leave
increase in the number of families with dual
incomes
increase in the number of people working from
home

Requirements of Todays
Workplace
Using computer technology
Engaging in lifelong learning
Interacting effectively with diverse coworkers
Tolerating ambiguity in job security
Being vigilant about maintaining a high
level of self and occupational awareness to
maintain marketability

Characteristics of Career Development

Interventions That Foster SelfAffirmation

Provide counseling-based career assistance

Provide support to their clients
Attend to their clients life structure issues
Empower clients to clarify their selfconcepts and construct their own lives
Exhibit understanding that every counseling
relationship is cross-cultural

Classifying Forms of Client

Resistance

Response quantity resistance

Response content resistance
Response style resistance
Logistic management resistance

Types of Support
Emotional support
Informational support
Assessment support

Skills for Working with Resistant

Clients

Using presuppositions
Using embedded questions and directives
Correcting transformational errors
Labeling and reframing
Recognizing and dealing with resistance
Identifying irrational beliefs
Identifying distorted thinking
Using reflective judgment stages
Focusing on excuses

Savickas Career Style

Assessment
Identify life themes (early experiences, role
models, books, movies, etc.).
Turn life themes into career goals.

Types of Clients Who Benefit

from Subjective Interventions
Indecisive clients
Difficult cases or clients who have
received but not profited from counseling
Mid-career changers
Culturally diverse clients

Strengths of Subjective
Assessments
Help clients understand themselves at a deep level
Help clients consider the relevance of their life
experiences to their career development
Help clients attach a sense of purpose to their
activities
Are inexpensive to use
Actively engage clients in the counseling process
Results are clearly connected to client responses

Strengths of Objective
Assessments
Allow client to make comparisons with
others
Are outcome-oriented
Do not require as much counselor time as
subjective assessments
Provide a useful starting point for
subsequent consideration of career options

A Framework for Career

Counseling
Getting started
Helping clients deal with change
Helping clients engage in self-assessment
activities
Helping clients learn more about the world
of work
Helping clients expand or narrow choices
Helping clients make plans

Phases of the Career Counseling Process

(Gysbers, Heppner, & Johnston)

Opening phase
Phase of information-gathering
Working phase
Final phase

Phases of the Career Counseling

Process (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey)
Beginning or Initial Phase
establish effective relationship
begin to gather information about the client
define preliminary goals for counseling

Middle or Working Phase

explore concerns and goals in depth
develop and implement a specific plan of action

Phases of the Career Counseling Process (Niles &

Harris-Bowlsbey), continued

Ending or Termination Phase

Connect the work done in the beginning and
middle phases by assessing clients current
status
Relate current status to clients goals for
counseling

Premature Closure in Career

Counseling (Brown & Brooks)
Clients believe they have achieved their
goal.
The career counseling experience does not
meet the clients expectations.
Clients fear what might be uncovered in
career counseling.
Clients lack commitment to counseling.

Questions to Ask About

Termination
Did I
review the content of what happened in
counseling?
review the process of what happened in
counseling?
reemphasize the clients strengths that were
evident in counseling?
evaluate what went well and what went poorly?

Questions to Ask About

Termination, continued
Did I
explore things unsaid in counseling?
discuss feelings related to the ending of the
counseling relationship?
provide clear and direct structure for the
clients next steps?

Career Counseling Groups

Group counseling offers a mode of service
delivery that can be used instead of, or in
addition to, individual counseling.
Hansen and Cramer describe group
counseling as an intervention for 5-15
members, with 5-8 members viewed as
optimal.

Career Counseling Groups,

continued
Structured career counseling groups address
a specific issue that is a common concern.
Structured career counseling groups
typically meet for 3-7 sessions.
Less structured career counseling groups
focus on the intrapersonal and interpersonal
concerns that clients have about career
development.

Career Counseling Groups,

continued
Less structured career counseling groups
tend to be more affective-oriented than
structured groups.
Less structured groups meet over a longer
period of time than structured groups.

Stages in Group Career

Counseling (Pyle)

Opening stage
Investigation stage
Working stage
Decision/Operational stage

Why Use Career Groups?

(Kivlighan)
Members learn new information about
themselves and others.
Members receive social and emotional
support from other group members.
Members learn from peers who are in
similar situations.
Members can share resources and ideas.

Criteria for Successful Groups

Members

are in open communication with each other.

share a common goal.
set norms that direct and guide their activities.
develop a set of roles to play within the group.
develop a network of interpersonal attraction.
work toward satisfaction of individual needs.