http://astoriedcareer.com/2005/05/storynarrative-in-career-couns.html#more
This whole blog is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to utilize narrative and storytelling in their counseling practice.
This particular link leads to the first post in a long line of information that is pertinent to this particular subject.
Thank you Karen Hansen, PhD.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
NARRATIVE APPROACH TO CAREER COUNSELING
Clients narrate or tell about their past career development, present career development, and construct their future career.
This is an active approach that attends to how clients intentionally interact with the world and learn about it through these interactions.
Focuses on the clients’ lives.
Similar to a play or psychodrama, in which clients enact their lives; career is seen as a story.
Application of concepts from literary criticism
_ agent - client, narrator, author of story
_ setting - where story occurs, also important people such as family, friends, etc.
_ action - designed to reach a goal that will satisfy needs of agent
_ instrument - what agent uses to reach goal
Storytelling
Client’s narration has a beginning (difficult or troubling situation), middle (obstacles and instruments that may be used in working toward reaching a personal goal), and end (counselor and client work together to develop solutions that will provide satisfaction and to reach a goal that will satisfy client).
Goals of Assessment in Narrative Counseling
Counselor is like an editor. Find out what is important from client’s story and what’s not
Identify patterns in clients’ lives
Form a sense of the client’s identity
Learn about the client’s goals for the future
Narrative Career Counseling
Counselor’s role is to help clarify the narrative and help client make career decisions
Counselors should listen for 3 important elements in a story
Coherence (should make sense chronologically or in terms of sequence of events)
Continuity (story should be able to be seen in terms of action that is directed toward a goal)
Causality (being able to explain events)
Cochran’s Narrative Career Counseling
Cochran describes 7 “episodes” or phases in career counseling using a narrative point of view
First three episodes - emphasize making a meaning out of the career narrative
Episodes 4-6 - focus on enactment or being active
Episode 7 - refers to crystallization of a decision
1. Elaborating a Career Problem
Clarify the client’s concern¼fill in gap of what is actually happening to client and his ideal
Ordinary conversation is primary way of elaborating
Also vocational card sort, construct laddering, interest and values inventories, ability tests
Drawing
Anecdotes - short stories that clients tell that help counselor understand aspects of clients’ lives
2. Composing a Life History
Two basic intentions - (1) to gather information about client’s interests, values, abilities, and motives; (2) to attend to the way clients select and organize their life stories
Ask clients to describe important events in their lives and discuss their meaning
Dramatization - counselor becomes the narrator and may refer to the client in third person
Other techniques - success experiences, lifelines, career-o-gram, and life chapters
3. Eliciting a Future Narrative
Clients consider their strengths, interests, and values as they may appear in the future
Focus is on evaluation of one’s strengths, interests, and values
Use same techniques from previous stage, with an emphasis on future
Guided fantasy - descriptive and/or evaluative, often represents an end point (something to help client reflect on accomplishments that he would like to have)
Written and narrative outline - Five sections: mission, strengths, work needs, vulnerabilities, and possibilities
4. Reality Construction
Taking action in the world of work; three purposes to active exploration:
(1) Immerses client in the real world
(2) Clients get information from a variety of sources and are able to evaluate the information as they talk to many sources
(3) Can imagine themselves in an occupation
5. Changing a Life Structure
Change in situation, oneself, or both
Clients often expect to make a change in the way they work or who they work with
New opportunities arise (e.g. salary increase, training, etc.); also negative aspects (e.g. fear of failing, anxiety about doing a poor job)
6. Enacting a Role
Trying things out to make one’s desired goals possible
Some start with a small role which may lead to larger ones
7. Crystallizing a Decision
Occurs when a gap between a client’s career problem and the ideal or possible solutions diminishes. Sometimes takes place when clients experience the previous six episodes.
Can be facilitated in three ways:
Identifying and eliminating obstructions
Actualizing opportunities
Reflecting on career decisions
Internal obstructions (lack of confidence in being able to obtain a job) to crystallizing vs. external obstructions (pressures from parents to enter a certain occupation)
THE ROLE OF ASSESSMENT
Inventories and assessments play a small role in constructivist career counseling¼since clients see their own realities. Tests and inventories can be used for all individuals (but will not help in understanding the perceptual world of the client)
THE ROLE OF OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION
Can integrate occupational information in reptest, laddering, and vocational card sort and other techniques
APPLYING THE THEORIES TO WOMEN AND CULTURALLY DIVERSE POPULATIONS
Culture and gender interact within the context of client actions; stories or histories exist within a cultural context. How one views an action can have varying cultural interpretations.
Gender and culture guide how people develop attitudes, skills, and values
Young and colleagues have studied career projects in adolescence by studying pairs of adolescents and parents. A career project is a series of actions that adolescents and their parents take that is related to the adolescent’s choice of career.
COUNSELOR ISSUES
Counselors should be aware of their own perceptions of reality.
Understand the relationship fo the counselor’s constructs to those of the client.
This is an active approach that attends to how clients intentionally interact with the world and learn about it through these interactions.
Focuses on the clients’ lives.
Similar to a play or psychodrama, in which clients enact their lives; career is seen as a story.
Application of concepts from literary criticism
_ agent - client, narrator, author of story
_ setting - where story occurs, also important people such as family, friends, etc.
_ action - designed to reach a goal that will satisfy needs of agent
_ instrument - what agent uses to reach goal
Storytelling
Client’s narration has a beginning (difficult or troubling situation), middle (obstacles and instruments that may be used in working toward reaching a personal goal), and end (counselor and client work together to develop solutions that will provide satisfaction and to reach a goal that will satisfy client).
Goals of Assessment in Narrative Counseling
Counselor is like an editor. Find out what is important from client’s story and what’s not
Identify patterns in clients’ lives
Form a sense of the client’s identity
Learn about the client’s goals for the future
Narrative Career Counseling
Counselor’s role is to help clarify the narrative and help client make career decisions
Counselors should listen for 3 important elements in a story
Coherence (should make sense chronologically or in terms of sequence of events)
Continuity (story should be able to be seen in terms of action that is directed toward a goal)
Causality (being able to explain events)
Cochran’s Narrative Career Counseling
Cochran describes 7 “episodes” or phases in career counseling using a narrative point of view
First three episodes - emphasize making a meaning out of the career narrative
Episodes 4-6 - focus on enactment or being active
Episode 7 - refers to crystallization of a decision
1. Elaborating a Career Problem
Clarify the client’s concern¼fill in gap of what is actually happening to client and his ideal
Ordinary conversation is primary way of elaborating
Also vocational card sort, construct laddering, interest and values inventories, ability tests
Drawing
Anecdotes - short stories that clients tell that help counselor understand aspects of clients’ lives
2. Composing a Life History
Two basic intentions - (1) to gather information about client’s interests, values, abilities, and motives; (2) to attend to the way clients select and organize their life stories
Ask clients to describe important events in their lives and discuss their meaning
Dramatization - counselor becomes the narrator and may refer to the client in third person
Other techniques - success experiences, lifelines, career-o-gram, and life chapters
3. Eliciting a Future Narrative
Clients consider their strengths, interests, and values as they may appear in the future
Focus is on evaluation of one’s strengths, interests, and values
Use same techniques from previous stage, with an emphasis on future
Guided fantasy - descriptive and/or evaluative, often represents an end point (something to help client reflect on accomplishments that he would like to have)
Written and narrative outline - Five sections: mission, strengths, work needs, vulnerabilities, and possibilities
4. Reality Construction
Taking action in the world of work; three purposes to active exploration:
(1) Immerses client in the real world
(2) Clients get information from a variety of sources and are able to evaluate the information as they talk to many sources
(3) Can imagine themselves in an occupation
5. Changing a Life Structure
Change in situation, oneself, or both
Clients often expect to make a change in the way they work or who they work with
New opportunities arise (e.g. salary increase, training, etc.); also negative aspects (e.g. fear of failing, anxiety about doing a poor job)
6. Enacting a Role
Trying things out to make one’s desired goals possible
Some start with a small role which may lead to larger ones
7. Crystallizing a Decision
Occurs when a gap between a client’s career problem and the ideal or possible solutions diminishes. Sometimes takes place when clients experience the previous six episodes.
Can be facilitated in three ways:
Identifying and eliminating obstructions
Actualizing opportunities
Reflecting on career decisions
Internal obstructions (lack of confidence in being able to obtain a job) to crystallizing vs. external obstructions (pressures from parents to enter a certain occupation)
THE ROLE OF ASSESSMENT
Inventories and assessments play a small role in constructivist career counseling¼since clients see their own realities. Tests and inventories can be used for all individuals (but will not help in understanding the perceptual world of the client)
THE ROLE OF OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION
Can integrate occupational information in reptest, laddering, and vocational card sort and other techniques
APPLYING THE THEORIES TO WOMEN AND CULTURALLY DIVERSE POPULATIONS
Culture and gender interact within the context of client actions; stories or histories exist within a cultural context. How one views an action can have varying cultural interpretations.
Gender and culture guide how people develop attitudes, skills, and values
Young and colleagues have studied career projects in adolescence by studying pairs of adolescents and parents. A career project is a series of actions that adolescents and their parents take that is related to the adolescent’s choice of career.
COUNSELOR ISSUES
Counselors should be aware of their own perceptions of reality.
Understand the relationship fo the counselor’s constructs to those of the client.
CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH TO CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Constructivism - Psychological approach that has developed out of a philosophical position, postmodernism, which believes that individuals construct or perceive their own reality or truth, and that there is no fixed truth.
_ Related to postmodernism
_ View individuals as creating their own views of events and relationships in their lives
_ Constructivist counselors help clients see problems as meaningful options that are no longer helpful
_ Constructivist counselors deal with the ways in which their clients impose their own order on their problems and how they derive meanings from their experiences with others
Postmodernism - Reaction to modernism, which takes a rationalist approach that emphasizes scientific proof and is a reflection of advances in technology and science
_ Reflects a multiculturally diverse world in which different individuals can have their own construct or view of what is real for them
PERSONAL CONSTRUCT PSYCHOLOGY
_ Most closely related to the work of George Kelly (The Psychology of Personal Constructs)
_ Constructive alternativism - individuals view the world differently from each other, to make sense of the world, people develop constructs or theories toward viewing people and events
_ Individuals behave as scientists predicting events by advancing theories about them and then testing the theories, constructs are continually modified to enhance predictions
Constructs
Bipolar-reflecting opposites (e.g. smart vs. stupid)
Not all constructs are applied to all events
Constructs are arranged in terms of how meaningful they are to individuals
Can be grouped into themes (e.g. related to the work role and to vocational choice)
Not events, but perception of events
Vocational construct system
_ Helps individuals to find a purpose in work
_ Control how they work
_ Evaluate the choices they make and the work that they do
_ Develop a sense of identity through work
_ Changes as an individual develops
Assessment and Counseling Strategies
Techniques that help assess clients’ perceptions of constructs about themselves and the occupational world are likely to lead to new constructs and the development of themes
Counselor interacts in a very collaborative way with the client
The Vocational Reptest
Most used instrument in construct theory
“Role Construct Repertory Test” is the full name
Client provides much of the information used in the reptest
Clients describe constructs related to occupations
Client is asked to compare and contrast various sets of items (e.g. occupations)
After comparing occupations, client would be asked to rate them
Requires time devoted to writing, ranking, and scoring
Laddering Technique
A means of determining which constructs are most important to clients
Helps identify the relative importance of the constructs within their system of constructs
Starts with choosing three occupations and then developing constructs about them by asking questions about them
Counselor continues to focus on questions about constructs as he moves up the “ladder”
Helps to clarify own feelings
Vocational Card Sort
VCS is a group of 60 to 100 cards with the name of an occupation on one side and information about the occupation on the other side
Clients are asked to sort the cards in three groups
_ Occupations one would consider or find acceptable
_ Those that one would not choose
_ Those that one is uncertain about
Then client must divide the three piles in any way by placing the cards in groups that have common reasons for acceptance or rejection
Counselor is attempting to determine the values or constructs that are important.
_ Related to postmodernism
_ View individuals as creating their own views of events and relationships in their lives
_ Constructivist counselors help clients see problems as meaningful options that are no longer helpful
_ Constructivist counselors deal with the ways in which their clients impose their own order on their problems and how they derive meanings from their experiences with others
Postmodernism - Reaction to modernism, which takes a rationalist approach that emphasizes scientific proof and is a reflection of advances in technology and science
_ Reflects a multiculturally diverse world in which different individuals can have their own construct or view of what is real for them
PERSONAL CONSTRUCT PSYCHOLOGY
_ Most closely related to the work of George Kelly (The Psychology of Personal Constructs)
_ Constructive alternativism - individuals view the world differently from each other, to make sense of the world, people develop constructs or theories toward viewing people and events
_ Individuals behave as scientists predicting events by advancing theories about them and then testing the theories, constructs are continually modified to enhance predictions
Constructs
Bipolar-reflecting opposites (e.g. smart vs. stupid)
Not all constructs are applied to all events
Constructs are arranged in terms of how meaningful they are to individuals
Can be grouped into themes (e.g. related to the work role and to vocational choice)
Not events, but perception of events
Vocational construct system
_ Helps individuals to find a purpose in work
_ Control how they work
_ Evaluate the choices they make and the work that they do
_ Develop a sense of identity through work
_ Changes as an individual develops
Assessment and Counseling Strategies
Techniques that help assess clients’ perceptions of constructs about themselves and the occupational world are likely to lead to new constructs and the development of themes
Counselor interacts in a very collaborative way with the client
The Vocational Reptest
Most used instrument in construct theory
“Role Construct Repertory Test” is the full name
Client provides much of the information used in the reptest
Clients describe constructs related to occupations
Client is asked to compare and contrast various sets of items (e.g. occupations)
After comparing occupations, client would be asked to rate them
Requires time devoted to writing, ranking, and scoring
Laddering Technique
A means of determining which constructs are most important to clients
Helps identify the relative importance of the constructs within their system of constructs
Starts with choosing three occupations and then developing constructs about them by asking questions about them
Counselor continues to focus on questions about constructs as he moves up the “ladder”
Helps to clarify own feelings
Vocational Card Sort
VCS is a group of 60 to 100 cards with the name of an occupation on one side and information about the occupation on the other side
Clients are asked to sort the cards in three groups
_ Occupations one would consider or find acceptable
_ Those that one would not choose
_ Those that one is uncertain about
Then client must divide the three piles in any way by placing the cards in groups that have common reasons for acceptance or rejection
Counselor is attempting to determine the values or constructs that are important.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Questions to consider in facing a career change
1. How would you describe your career path so far?
2. How has a company change affected you? How did it make you feel?
3. Have you experienced any failure in your career? If so, what did it lead to?
4. What were your childhood goals and ambition for life? Which have you been able to fulfill?
5. Who are two people you know who seem to have accomplished their dreams? What do you remember about their accomplishments?
6. What do you imagine your retirement will be like?
If you are facing a career change, I recommend this excellent book by Dan Miller (Miller 2007).
2. How has a company change affected you? How did it make you feel?
3. Have you experienced any failure in your career? If so, what did it lead to?
4. What were your childhood goals and ambition for life? Which have you been able to fulfill?
5. Who are two people you know who seem to have accomplished their dreams? What do you remember about their accomplishments?
6. What do you imagine your retirement will be like?
If you are facing a career change, I recommend this excellent book by Dan Miller (Miller 2007).
Handling a Crisis
A crisis can be a very scary thing. As many of us are aware, the present social climate of uncertainty can lead to fear and apprehension in addition to whatever unique problems we might each be facing.
There is a clever, but mistakenly contrived idea that a crisis = danger + opportunity and that there is a Chinese character that represents just that idea. This is simply not true. Either the "fact" of the Chinese character or the idea that we should consider a crisis to be an opportunity.
On count one, please visit this excellent webpage on the Chinese language.
On count two, a crisis begins when the unexpected leads to fear and apprehension. Now it could begin a lot sooner that that. However, we may not have any control over the beginnings of a crisis. What we do have some measure of control over is how we handle the crisis and whether we let fear and apprehension drag us down.
Crisis does not equal danger plus opportunity. In fact, a crisis, and how we handle a crisis, can prevent us from benefiting from the opportunities that are always there.
The First Century Roman philosopher Seneca said, “Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” Life is not easy. If life has been easy for you, you may be caught by surprise when a true crisis arises. As Viktor Frankl said, the courage to live comes from finding meaning in your suffering.
Seneca also said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
The first step in handling a crisis is to realize that you are in danger. Ask yourself, "What is at stake here?"
Consider the statement, "All progress requires change, but not all change is progress."
Progress happens when we face our struggles and suffering with a sense of purpose, and more precisely, with a plan. Do not let fear and apprehension prevent you from having hope for tomorrow.
For those who are experiencing change and especially for those who are facing a crisis, the discouragement, frustration, and resentment you may feel can put an obstacle in the way of embracing what is truly important to you. Getting stuck in these feelings is a result of looking backwards, at something that has already occured.
As soon as we create a clear, meaningful plan for the future, those feelings dissolve and are replaced with enthusiasm, optimism, and hope.
It has been proven that negative thoughts and feelings have no power against a sense of purpose and a clear plan for the future. Look boldly at whatever you are facing and create a plan of action that will turn hopelessness and "bad luck" into meaningful action.
Again, opportunity is always there, but is difficult to benefit from it without preparation and a sense of purpose.
There is a clever, but mistakenly contrived idea that a crisis = danger + opportunity and that there is a Chinese character that represents just that idea. This is simply not true. Either the "fact" of the Chinese character or the idea that we should consider a crisis to be an opportunity.
On count one, please visit this excellent webpage on the Chinese language.
On count two, a crisis begins when the unexpected leads to fear and apprehension. Now it could begin a lot sooner that that. However, we may not have any control over the beginnings of a crisis. What we do have some measure of control over is how we handle the crisis and whether we let fear and apprehension drag us down.
Crisis does not equal danger plus opportunity. In fact, a crisis, and how we handle a crisis, can prevent us from benefiting from the opportunities that are always there.
The First Century Roman philosopher Seneca said, “Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.” Life is not easy. If life has been easy for you, you may be caught by surprise when a true crisis arises. As Viktor Frankl said, the courage to live comes from finding meaning in your suffering.
Seneca also said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
The first step in handling a crisis is to realize that you are in danger. Ask yourself, "What is at stake here?"
Consider the statement, "All progress requires change, but not all change is progress."
Progress happens when we face our struggles and suffering with a sense of purpose, and more precisely, with a plan. Do not let fear and apprehension prevent you from having hope for tomorrow.
For those who are experiencing change and especially for those who are facing a crisis, the discouragement, frustration, and resentment you may feel can put an obstacle in the way of embracing what is truly important to you. Getting stuck in these feelings is a result of looking backwards, at something that has already occured.
As soon as we create a clear, meaningful plan for the future, those feelings dissolve and are replaced with enthusiasm, optimism, and hope.
It has been proven that negative thoughts and feelings have no power against a sense of purpose and a clear plan for the future. Look boldly at whatever you are facing and create a plan of action that will turn hopelessness and "bad luck" into meaningful action.
Again, opportunity is always there, but is difficult to benefit from it without preparation and a sense of purpose.
CAREER CRISES AFFECTING CULTURALLY DIVERSE POPULATIONS
Discrimination is well documented as a major problem for members of minority groups in their career development
When discrimination occurs, person is more likely to face a crisis
Atkinson, Morten, and Sue’s model can be applied here.
Atkinson, Morten, and Sue’s Identity Development Model
Conformity
Dissonance
Resistance and immersion
Introspection
Synergetic articulation and awareness
When discrimination occurs, person is more likely to face a crisis
Atkinson, Morten, and Sue’s model can be applied here.
Atkinson, Morten, and Sue’s Identity Development Model
Conformity
Dissonance
Resistance and immersion
Introspection
Synergetic articulation and awareness
CAREER CRISES AFFECTING WOMEN
Three general types of career crises more likely to affect women than men
1. Experiencing discrimination – usually unanticipated and involuntary
2. Making decisions based on child-raising and family issues –
most times anticipated and voluntary, but not always
3. Facing sexual harassment – dramatic, unanticipated, and involuntary
Temporary Re-entry into and Leave-taking from the Labor Force
Women may follow a large variety of patterns in going in and out of the labor force (e.g. maternity leave, marriage, divorce, death of a husband)
Sometimes can be traumatic, particularly if because of divorce or death of husband
Sexual Harassment
May be an unanticipated, involuntary crisis that threatens one’s career and psychological health
Definition: form of sexual discrimination that includes sexual threats, sexual bribery, sexual jokes or comments, or touching that interferes with a person doing her job.
Till’s 5 levels of sexual harassment:
• Level 1: Gender Harassment – verbal remarks or non-touching behaviors that are sexual in nature
• Level 2: Seductive Behavior – inappropriate sexual advances
• Level 3: Sexual Bribery – request for sexual activity in turn for some kind of reward
• Level 4: Sexual Coercion – individual is coerced into sexual activity by threat of punishment
• Level 5: Sexual Assault – forceful attempts to touch, grab, fondle
Adult women who are sexually harassed – 16% to 90%; other studies – 25% to 50%, most cases are the least severe level
How do victims respond? Fitzgerald and Ormerod summarize reaction into 2 major categories:
Internally focused strategies
• Minimizing a behavior or denying it is really offensive
• Putting up with harassment
• Excusing the offender
• Taking responsibility for the incident
Externally focused strategies
• Avoiding or placating the harasser
• Confronting the harasser and telling him the behavior is unwanted
• Getting support from the institution
• Getting social support from friends and family
Gutek and Koss’ 4 stages of reacting to sexual harassment
• Confusion and Self-Blame – individual assumes responsibility
• Fear and Anxiety – fear for career and safety
• Depression and Anger – when a woman realizes she is not responsible for harassment, she may become more angry
• Disillusionment – even if she charges harasser, process is long and arduous and may not always have a successful outcome
1. Experiencing discrimination – usually unanticipated and involuntary
2. Making decisions based on child-raising and family issues –
most times anticipated and voluntary, but not always
3. Facing sexual harassment – dramatic, unanticipated, and involuntary
Temporary Re-entry into and Leave-taking from the Labor Force
Women may follow a large variety of patterns in going in and out of the labor force (e.g. maternity leave, marriage, divorce, death of a husband)
Sometimes can be traumatic, particularly if because of divorce or death of husband
Sexual Harassment
May be an unanticipated, involuntary crisis that threatens one’s career and psychological health
Definition: form of sexual discrimination that includes sexual threats, sexual bribery, sexual jokes or comments, or touching that interferes with a person doing her job.
Till’s 5 levels of sexual harassment:
• Level 1: Gender Harassment – verbal remarks or non-touching behaviors that are sexual in nature
• Level 2: Seductive Behavior – inappropriate sexual advances
• Level 3: Sexual Bribery – request for sexual activity in turn for some kind of reward
• Level 4: Sexual Coercion – individual is coerced into sexual activity by threat of punishment
• Level 5: Sexual Assault – forceful attempts to touch, grab, fondle
Adult women who are sexually harassed – 16% to 90%; other studies – 25% to 50%, most cases are the least severe level
How do victims respond? Fitzgerald and Ormerod summarize reaction into 2 major categories:
Internally focused strategies
• Minimizing a behavior or denying it is really offensive
• Putting up with harassment
• Excusing the offender
• Taking responsibility for the incident
Externally focused strategies
• Avoiding or placating the harasser
• Confronting the harasser and telling him the behavior is unwanted
• Getting support from the institution
• Getting social support from friends and family
Gutek and Koss’ 4 stages of reacting to sexual harassment
• Confusion and Self-Blame – individual assumes responsibility
• Fear and Anxiety – fear for career and safety
• Depression and Anger – when a woman realizes she is not responsible for harassment, she may become more angry
• Disillusionment – even if she charges harasser, process is long and arduous and may not always have a successful outcome
ADULT CAREER CRISES AND TRANSITIONS
Transition – from a stage point of view, it is the movement from one stage to another, may be smooth
Crisis – more negative term, a situation in which a person has to develop new methods of dealing with a problem that has arisen rather suddenly and may be disorienting
TYPES OF TRANSITIONS
Schlossberg’s 4 types of transitions:
_ Anticipated -happens in the lifespan of most people
e.g. graduation, marriage, starting a job, retirement
_ Unanticipated - unexpected events, such as death of a family member, being fired or transferred
_ “Chronic hassles” - situations such as a long commute to work, an unreasonable supervisor
_ Nonevents (events that don’t happen) - an event that someone wishes to happen, but never occurs e.g. a promotion that never happens; for women: not being able to leave or enter the workforce easily
Hopson and Adams class of transitions:
voluntary - e.g. quitting one job to do another
involuntary - e.g. being fired or laid off
CATEGORIES OF CAREER TRANSITIONS
Career events are classified into three areas (Schlossberg):
1. Normative role transitions
Anticipated and voluntary (e.g. starting your first full-time job)
Occurs in Super’s exploration stage
Become crises when not anticipated
Louis’s 5 categories of normative transitions that people experience in work roles similar to Marvis and Hall’s “boundaryless” careers:
• Entering or reentering a labor pool
• Taking on a different role in an organization
• Moving from one organization to another
• Changing professions
• Leaving the labor pool
Career Transitions Inventory – to assess how well people believe they have made career transitions; 5 subscales:
• Readiness – how motivated you are to make a career transition
• Confidence – one’s sense of self-efficacy in being able to make a successful transition
• Control – degree to which people feel they can make their own decisions
• Perceived Support – how much support people feel they get from their friends and family
• Decision Independence – the extent to which people make decisions based primarily on their own needs or whether or not they are considering the needs and desires of others
2. Nonnormative career events
Far more likely to become crises than normative transitions
Most common – loss of a job (being fired or laid off), can be devastating unless
the work role is not a salient one
Other examples – promotion, transfer, or demotion to another job
3. Persistent occupational problems
career problems that persist for a long period of time, causing a cumulative effect that can lead to a transition crisis
examples – unpleasant work environment, pressures on the job, relations with colleagues and superiors
MODELS OF TRANSITIONS AND CRISES
Reaction to crises takes place over a period of time
Two basic phases of transitions.
_ Dealing with and decreasing stress
_ Attending towards details of the crisis so that one can return to normal life
Individuals respond to job loss with depression, anxiety and reduced self-esteem
Positive change and growth can occur with involuntary work changes.
Outplacement counselors can help with these severe reactions (e.g. shock and negative emotional impact)
_ Help people access their current situations, abilities, values, and interests
_ Help clients set career goals and develop strategies for job search
_ Teach resume writing, interviewing, and locating job or educational opportunities.
HOPSON AND ADAM’S MODEL OF ADULT TRANSITIONS
Immobilization
Example: initial shock when you find out you’ve been fired
Overwhelmed, unable to make plans, possibly unable to verbally respond
Few moments to few monthshow long it lasts depends on situation and psychological makeup of person
Minimization
Desire to make the change appear smaller than it is
Often, person will deny that change is even taking place or will tell herself that event doesn’t matter
Self-Doubt
Doubting oneself and one’s ability to provide for oneself and for one’s dependents
Common reactions are anxiety due to not knowing what will happen, fear of the future, sadness, and anger
Letting Go
Individual lets go of angry, tense, frustrated, or other feelings
Accepts what is really happening to her
Detaches herself from original situation and starts to look at future
Testing Out
May develop a burst of energy, a sense of “now I can do it”
Sometimes people will describe the way things should be, may have advice for others in the same situation
May have ideas of how they will move forward
Search for Meaning
Seeks to understand how events are different and why
Cognitive process in which people try to understand not only the feelings of others, but also their own
Internalization
Change in both values and lifestyle
May have developed new coping skills and has grown emotionally, spiritually, or cognitively as a result of going through difficult crisis
COUNSELOR ISSUES
Counselor’s experience with her own crises and transitions
Problems when the counselor is in crisis
Crisis – more negative term, a situation in which a person has to develop new methods of dealing with a problem that has arisen rather suddenly and may be disorienting
TYPES OF TRANSITIONS
Schlossberg’s 4 types of transitions:
_ Anticipated -happens in the lifespan of most people
e.g. graduation, marriage, starting a job, retirement
_ Unanticipated - unexpected events, such as death of a family member, being fired or transferred
_ “Chronic hassles” - situations such as a long commute to work, an unreasonable supervisor
_ Nonevents (events that don’t happen) - an event that someone wishes to happen, but never occurs e.g. a promotion that never happens; for women: not being able to leave or enter the workforce easily
Hopson and Adams class of transitions:
voluntary - e.g. quitting one job to do another
involuntary - e.g. being fired or laid off
CATEGORIES OF CAREER TRANSITIONS
Career events are classified into three areas (Schlossberg):
1. Normative role transitions
Anticipated and voluntary (e.g. starting your first full-time job)
Occurs in Super’s exploration stage
Become crises when not anticipated
Louis’s 5 categories of normative transitions that people experience in work roles similar to Marvis and Hall’s “boundaryless” careers:
• Entering or reentering a labor pool
• Taking on a different role in an organization
• Moving from one organization to another
• Changing professions
• Leaving the labor pool
Career Transitions Inventory – to assess how well people believe they have made career transitions; 5 subscales:
• Readiness – how motivated you are to make a career transition
• Confidence – one’s sense of self-efficacy in being able to make a successful transition
• Control – degree to which people feel they can make their own decisions
• Perceived Support – how much support people feel they get from their friends and family
• Decision Independence – the extent to which people make decisions based primarily on their own needs or whether or not they are considering the needs and desires of others
2. Nonnormative career events
Far more likely to become crises than normative transitions
Most common – loss of a job (being fired or laid off), can be devastating unless
the work role is not a salient one
Other examples – promotion, transfer, or demotion to another job
3. Persistent occupational problems
career problems that persist for a long period of time, causing a cumulative effect that can lead to a transition crisis
examples – unpleasant work environment, pressures on the job, relations with colleagues and superiors
MODELS OF TRANSITIONS AND CRISES
Reaction to crises takes place over a period of time
Two basic phases of transitions.
_ Dealing with and decreasing stress
_ Attending towards details of the crisis so that one can return to normal life
Individuals respond to job loss with depression, anxiety and reduced self-esteem
Positive change and growth can occur with involuntary work changes.
Outplacement counselors can help with these severe reactions (e.g. shock and negative emotional impact)
_ Help people access their current situations, abilities, values, and interests
_ Help clients set career goals and develop strategies for job search
_ Teach resume writing, interviewing, and locating job or educational opportunities.
HOPSON AND ADAM’S MODEL OF ADULT TRANSITIONS
Immobilization
Example: initial shock when you find out you’ve been fired
Overwhelmed, unable to make plans, possibly unable to verbally respond
Few moments to few monthshow long it lasts depends on situation and psychological makeup of person
Minimization
Desire to make the change appear smaller than it is
Often, person will deny that change is even taking place or will tell herself that event doesn’t matter
Self-Doubt
Doubting oneself and one’s ability to provide for oneself and for one’s dependents
Common reactions are anxiety due to not knowing what will happen, fear of the future, sadness, and anger
Letting Go
Individual lets go of angry, tense, frustrated, or other feelings
Accepts what is really happening to her
Detaches herself from original situation and starts to look at future
Testing Out
May develop a burst of energy, a sense of “now I can do it”
Sometimes people will describe the way things should be, may have advice for others in the same situation
May have ideas of how they will move forward
Search for Meaning
Seeks to understand how events are different and why
Cognitive process in which people try to understand not only the feelings of others, but also their own
Internalization
Change in both values and lifestyle
May have developed new coping skills and has grown emotionally, spiritually, or cognitively as a result of going through difficult crisis
COUNSELOR ISSUES
Counselor’s experience with her own crises and transitions
Problems when the counselor is in crisis
LATE ADOLESCENT AND ADULT CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Super’s two major concepts – life role and life stage (values are also important)
ROLE SALIENCE
People have differences in terms of the importance of work to them
Importance of work can also vary depending on their state in life
Salience Inventory – measures 3 aspects of life roles: commitment, participation, and value expectations
Super’s rainbow illustrates life roles
Life roles measured by Salience Inventory listed below:
Life Roles
Studying
Includes a number of activities: during school years – courses, school, studying at library or home
Many people continue their education at some point in their life for pleasure or to enhance their job advancement or success
Working
May start in childhood (e.g. babysitting, mowing lawn, etc.)
Adolescents usually get part-time work
Adults work at one or more jobs at various times in their lives
At retirement, jobs for pay or profit may be for fewer hours than when individuals were younger
Community Service
Includes broad range of voluntary service groups (e.g. social, political, or religious)
Home and Family
Varies greatly depending on age of individual
As adults enter later years, their responsibility for home and family may increase or decrease markedly
Leisure Activities
Nature and importance of leisure varies considerably throughout life
Particularly important for children and adolescents
Lifetime sports – sports that are less physically demanding and require fewer participants, so they are easier for adults to participate in at various times in their lives
For adults, leisure activities become more sophisticated and intellectual (i.e. theatre, books, stocks and bonds, etc.)
Liptak’s Leisure Theory of Career Development: leisure is a substitute for work as a way of trying out new activities, importance of play throughout the lifespan, shows significance of leisure in a variety of life stages, leisure plays a more important role in career development than work (especially in beginning and end of lifespan)
• Early childhood – parents are important influence in development of play and curiosity
• 6 to 12 – school and after-school activities allow for cognitive and motor skill development through play or leisure activity
• Adolescence – team and individual activities (i.e. sports, clubs, and hobbies) helps refine interests and abilities
• 19 to 25 – leisure related to work or education
• Adulthood – leisure related to work or family related activities,
Indicators of the Salience of Life Roles
Nature of involvement changes throughout a person’s life
Involvement is measured in terms of:
• Participation - measures actual behavior of a person
• Commitment - future plans, a desire to be active
• Knowledge - information about a role from experiencing the role or by observing it
• Value Expectations - opportunity for various roles to meet a variety of needs; values measured by
Value Expectation Scale of the Salience Inventory; includes 14 value expectations*:
Ability utilization – using one’s skills and knowledge
Achievement – feeling that one has produced good results
Aesthetics – finding beauty in the role one chooses
Altruism – helping others with problems
Autonomy – independent and working on your own
Creativity – discovering or designing new things
Economic Rewards – to have a have a high standard of living and material things
Lifestyle – plan one’s own activities and live the way you want to
Physical activity – being physically active
Prestige – opportunity for individuals to be acknowledged for what they accomplish
Risk – dangerous or exciting challenges
Social Interaction – being with other people and working in a group
Variety – being able to change work activities
Working Conditions
*The Values Scale also includes authority, personal development, social relations, cultural identity, physical prowess, economic security
ADULT LIFE STAGES
Both age-related (there are typical times when people go through the stages) and NOT age-related (also possible to experience each stage at almost any time during their lifetime)
One can be involved in several stages at once
MAXICYCLE – five major life stages
MINICYCLE – describes the growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and disengagement that can occur within any of the stages in the maxicycle
Basic Stages of Career Development
Exploration – 15 to 25 years old, the efforts that individuals make to get a better idea of occupational information, choose career alternatives, decide on occupations, and start to work.
Crystallizing – clarify what they want to do, learn about entry-level jobs, typically high school students, narrow choices
Specifying - college graduates, early 20’s, high school students who go straight to work, must choose their first full-time job, specify their preferences so they may find an employer
Implementing - last phase prior to working, making plans to fulfill their career objectives, start to network, talking to university counselor
Establishment - 25 to 45, getting established in one’s work by starting in a job that is likely to mean the start of working life, work in an occupation that will probably be steady for many years, for semi- and unskilled workers, it refers to the person who works for much of his or her lifetime.
Stabilizing - settling down in a job and being able to meet those job requirements that will ensure that a person can stay in the field in which he started, apprehensive about whether he has the skills necessary to stay with the work
Consolidating - starts to become more comfortable with work and wants to be a dependable producer, competent, and reliable
Advancing - occurs any time in the establishing stage, moving ahead into a position of more responsibility with higher pay
Maintenance - 45 to 65, not advancing, but maintaining their status in work. Find out how their work will change in the future
Holding - some level of success has been attained, concerned with holding onto the position that they have
Updating - updating workers on changes in their field, learning new things
Innovating - making progress in one’s profession, develop new skills
Disengagement - continue to use their mental capacities for growth and at the same time disengage from various activities (e.g. work)
Deceleration - slowing down one’s work responsibility (i.e. finding easier ways to do work or spending less time at work)
Retirement Planning - financial planning and planning activities to do when retired, individuals return to crystallization stage
Retirement Living - late 60’s, leisure, home and family, and community service becomes more important than work
Recycling - Not everyone follows stages in a neat orderly outline, may reenter any stage at any time
SUPER’S LIFE STAGES OF WOMEN
Seven career patterns for women:
_ Stable homemaking career pattern - get married soon after school and do not work
_ Conventional career pattern - enter work after high school or college, but after marrying, they are full-time homemakers
_ Stable career working pattern - after school, work continuously
_ Double-track career pattern - combine work and homemaking
_ Interrupted career pattern - enter work, then marry and full-time homemaking, then go back to work after children are older
_ Unstable career pattern - drop out of workforce, return, drop out, return.
_ Multiple-trial career pattern - works, but never really establishes career, has a number of unrelated jobs in her career
Others suggest ways to manage careers, such as making decisions decision with partner
Bardwick - Bardwick described typical experiences of women at various points in their adult life
_ Many women between 30 to 40 who have been involved in a career are concerned with not wanting to delay having children any longer
Many women are concerned with balancing their professional role and their feminine role
_ Between 40 to 50, women start to develop more autonomy and to become more independent. Women got back to work after children have gotten older, not a time of maintenance, but of career accomplishments
_ Bardwick is contrasted with Super by her notion that marriage and family are important to women’s career decision making and planning
_ Ecological perspective focuses on relationship between women and their environment
LIFE STAGES OF CULTURALLY DIVERSE ADULTS
Minority Identity Development (Atkinson, et al.)
_ Conformity - prefer majority culture
_ Dissonance - through information and experience, encounter conflict and confusion between values of own culture and majority’s
_ Resistance and immersion - rejects dominant culture and embraces minority culture
_ Introspection - begins to question total acceptance of minority culture
_ Synergetic articulation and awareness - incorporates cultural values of both the dominant group and other minorities
COUNSELOR ISSUES
Be aware of life stages of counselor in contrast with the client.
ROLE SALIENCE
People have differences in terms of the importance of work to them
Importance of work can also vary depending on their state in life
Salience Inventory – measures 3 aspects of life roles: commitment, participation, and value expectations
Super’s rainbow illustrates life roles
Life roles measured by Salience Inventory listed below:
Life Roles
Studying
Includes a number of activities: during school years – courses, school, studying at library or home
Many people continue their education at some point in their life for pleasure or to enhance their job advancement or success
Working
May start in childhood (e.g. babysitting, mowing lawn, etc.)
Adolescents usually get part-time work
Adults work at one or more jobs at various times in their lives
At retirement, jobs for pay or profit may be for fewer hours than when individuals were younger
Community Service
Includes broad range of voluntary service groups (e.g. social, political, or religious)
Home and Family
Varies greatly depending on age of individual
As adults enter later years, their responsibility for home and family may increase or decrease markedly
Leisure Activities
Nature and importance of leisure varies considerably throughout life
Particularly important for children and adolescents
Lifetime sports – sports that are less physically demanding and require fewer participants, so they are easier for adults to participate in at various times in their lives
For adults, leisure activities become more sophisticated and intellectual (i.e. theatre, books, stocks and bonds, etc.)
Liptak’s Leisure Theory of Career Development: leisure is a substitute for work as a way of trying out new activities, importance of play throughout the lifespan, shows significance of leisure in a variety of life stages, leisure plays a more important role in career development than work (especially in beginning and end of lifespan)
• Early childhood – parents are important influence in development of play and curiosity
• 6 to 12 – school and after-school activities allow for cognitive and motor skill development through play or leisure activity
• Adolescence – team and individual activities (i.e. sports, clubs, and hobbies) helps refine interests and abilities
• 19 to 25 – leisure related to work or education
• Adulthood – leisure related to work or family related activities,
Indicators of the Salience of Life Roles
Nature of involvement changes throughout a person’s life
Involvement is measured in terms of:
• Participation - measures actual behavior of a person
• Commitment - future plans, a desire to be active
• Knowledge - information about a role from experiencing the role or by observing it
• Value Expectations - opportunity for various roles to meet a variety of needs; values measured by
Value Expectation Scale of the Salience Inventory; includes 14 value expectations*:
Ability utilization – using one’s skills and knowledge
Achievement – feeling that one has produced good results
Aesthetics – finding beauty in the role one chooses
Altruism – helping others with problems
Autonomy – independent and working on your own
Creativity – discovering or designing new things
Economic Rewards – to have a have a high standard of living and material things
Lifestyle – plan one’s own activities and live the way you want to
Physical activity – being physically active
Prestige – opportunity for individuals to be acknowledged for what they accomplish
Risk – dangerous or exciting challenges
Social Interaction – being with other people and working in a group
Variety – being able to change work activities
Working Conditions
*The Values Scale also includes authority, personal development, social relations, cultural identity, physical prowess, economic security
ADULT LIFE STAGES
Both age-related (there are typical times when people go through the stages) and NOT age-related (also possible to experience each stage at almost any time during their lifetime)
One can be involved in several stages at once
MAXICYCLE – five major life stages
MINICYCLE – describes the growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance, and disengagement that can occur within any of the stages in the maxicycle
Basic Stages of Career Development
Exploration – 15 to 25 years old, the efforts that individuals make to get a better idea of occupational information, choose career alternatives, decide on occupations, and start to work.
Crystallizing – clarify what they want to do, learn about entry-level jobs, typically high school students, narrow choices
Specifying - college graduates, early 20’s, high school students who go straight to work, must choose their first full-time job, specify their preferences so they may find an employer
Implementing - last phase prior to working, making plans to fulfill their career objectives, start to network, talking to university counselor
Establishment - 25 to 45, getting established in one’s work by starting in a job that is likely to mean the start of working life, work in an occupation that will probably be steady for many years, for semi- and unskilled workers, it refers to the person who works for much of his or her lifetime.
Stabilizing - settling down in a job and being able to meet those job requirements that will ensure that a person can stay in the field in which he started, apprehensive about whether he has the skills necessary to stay with the work
Consolidating - starts to become more comfortable with work and wants to be a dependable producer, competent, and reliable
Advancing - occurs any time in the establishing stage, moving ahead into a position of more responsibility with higher pay
Maintenance - 45 to 65, not advancing, but maintaining their status in work. Find out how their work will change in the future
Holding - some level of success has been attained, concerned with holding onto the position that they have
Updating - updating workers on changes in their field, learning new things
Innovating - making progress in one’s profession, develop new skills
Disengagement - continue to use their mental capacities for growth and at the same time disengage from various activities (e.g. work)
Deceleration - slowing down one’s work responsibility (i.e. finding easier ways to do work or spending less time at work)
Retirement Planning - financial planning and planning activities to do when retired, individuals return to crystallization stage
Retirement Living - late 60’s, leisure, home and family, and community service becomes more important than work
Recycling - Not everyone follows stages in a neat orderly outline, may reenter any stage at any time
SUPER’S LIFE STAGES OF WOMEN
Seven career patterns for women:
_ Stable homemaking career pattern - get married soon after school and do not work
_ Conventional career pattern - enter work after high school or college, but after marrying, they are full-time homemakers
_ Stable career working pattern - after school, work continuously
_ Double-track career pattern - combine work and homemaking
_ Interrupted career pattern - enter work, then marry and full-time homemaking, then go back to work after children are older
_ Unstable career pattern - drop out of workforce, return, drop out, return.
_ Multiple-trial career pattern - works, but never really establishes career, has a number of unrelated jobs in her career
Others suggest ways to manage careers, such as making decisions decision with partner
Bardwick - Bardwick described typical experiences of women at various points in their adult life
_ Many women between 30 to 40 who have been involved in a career are concerned with not wanting to delay having children any longer
Many women are concerned with balancing their professional role and their feminine role
_ Between 40 to 50, women start to develop more autonomy and to become more independent. Women got back to work after children have gotten older, not a time of maintenance, but of career accomplishments
_ Bardwick is contrasted with Super by her notion that marriage and family are important to women’s career decision making and planning
_ Ecological perspective focuses on relationship between women and their environment
LIFE STAGES OF CULTURALLY DIVERSE ADULTS
Minority Identity Development (Atkinson, et al.)
_ Conformity - prefer majority culture
_ Dissonance - through information and experience, encounter conflict and confusion between values of own culture and majority’s
_ Resistance and immersion - rejects dominant culture and embraces minority culture
_ Introspection - begins to question total acceptance of minority culture
_ Synergetic articulation and awareness - incorporates cultural values of both the dominant group and other minorities
COUNSELOR ISSUES
Be aware of life stages of counselor in contrast with the client.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)