CAREER COUNSELLING

Career Counselling



Career Counselling

ABSTRACT: The relational career counselling approach presented here begins to move counselling forward toward a more contextually based meta-perspective of understanding and facilitating career progress. Scholarly efforts aimed at the development of practical frameworks to guide treatment can strengthen our conceptual understanding and improve counselling interventions designed to enhance the holistic functioning of clients. Theory supports the notion of healthy development of the self through relationships with others. Empirical evidence suggests that relationships with others are a critical resource that can inform the decision-making process for even the most self-directed deciders (Phillips et al., 2000). The time has come to develop and assess new models of intervention that incorporate these new theoretical models and empirical findings.

Keywords: Relational Career Counselling, Music Career, Intervention Practices.

ISSUE/PROBLEM

Michelle was a 25-year-old, single, second generation Asian American woman who attended a large public organisation. She was in a department of event management, where she was suffering from the stress. During the first month of her job, she went to career counselling at the organisational counselling centre at the insistence of her boss. She reported that her counselling experience was a positive one, but not very helpful in assisting her to choose stress medication. She had considered side hobbies like in music, etc. Michelle was now returning for career counselling because her supervisor had suggested that she needed to be more "directed" and performance oriented.

Michelle obtained good performance in the starting of her job. She enjoyed the goal setting and felt very comfortable there. Michelle enjoyed playing the violin at home, and her music professors had told her that she had real talent. She had not been very active in other activities. Michelle had held part-time summer jobs, such as working as a cashier at a local grocery store. The supervisor thought that Michelle could have been better in the career of music department side, rather than being in the event management.

RELATIONAL COUNSELLING APPROACH

The relational assessment for Michelle revealed a more complete contextual view of the environment in which she strives toward self-definition and choice. Discussions with Michelle clearly indicate that she is emotionally close to her father and that she honours him by valuing his opinion and following his suggestions. She describes him as a very enthusiastic father who has a very special interest in her pursuing a career in music. On careful exploration of Michelle's career decisions, one finds that she has typically complied with others' suggestions, such as those of her father (e.g., her decision to attend the college of her father's choice) and her advisor. Little else is revealed in terms of her use of others in approaching career decision tasks. As such, it seems that Michelle relies almost entirely on using others for their advice and knowledge (e.g., father, music teachers, advisor). Consequently, one might argue that Michelle is at risk of using others in a limited manner (cf. Phillips et al., 2001) and allowing others to assume responsibility for her ...