Career Development and Counselling Theories

Career Development and
Counselling Theories
Employment Counselling Services
Department of Post-Secondary
Education, Training and Labour
COURSE 111
NEW BRUNSWICK

Training Program
COURSE TITLE PREREQUISITE
Course 111: Career Development and Counselling
Theories
None
Process
Course 111
Challenges
Course 121
Course 141: Using Labour Market Information in
Employment Counselling
None
Course 151: Facilitating Client Learning None
Course 211: Assessment Instruments Course 111
Course 311: Work Search None
COURSE 111 – Career Development and Counselling Theories – November 2010 2

Learning objectives and competencies
 Relate models of personal development to models of career
development; (C3.1.1)
 Describe the main models and theories of counselling and career
development; (C3.1.2; S3.1.1)
 Name the main models of career change and transition; (S3.1.3)
 Explain the main components of career development; (C3.1.5)
 Identify the repercussions of social roles on career development;
(C3.1.4)
 Define a personal intervention approach, taking into account
recognized theories and models in the practice of employment
counselling and career development; (S3.2.1)
 Develop a continuous learning plan describing the activities to be
undertaken to continue their professional development

“Experience without theory is blind,
but theory without experience
is mere intellectual play.”
Emmanuel Kant

Career Development:
Points to Remember
 The development of individual identity is
influenced by many factors
 Each individual is unique and develops within a
particular social context
 Individuals are multi-potentialed and can work
in many different areas
 Each individual plays many roles throughout life
 The individual evolves in a world which is also
constantly changing and evolving

Overview of the theories
APPROACHES IN COUNSELLING AUTHORS
Reality therapy William Glasser
Rational-emotive Albert Ellis
Individual psychology Alfred Adler
Client-centred Carl Rogers

Overview of the theories… cont’d
CAREER DEVELOPMENT AUTHORS
Harmonizing approaches
Frank Parsons: trait factor
John Holland: person – environment
Developmental approaches
Donald Super: lifelong career
development
Constructivist approaches
John Krumboltz: social learning
Vance Peavy: socio-dynamic approach

Overview of the theories… cont’d
TRANSITION AND CHANGE AUTHORS
Process of transition William Bridges
Process of change James Prochaska

Our itinerary for the next few days…
Day 1 and 2 Counselling Theories
Day 2 and 3 Career Development Theories
Day 3 and 4 Change and Transitions

Definition of counselling
Counselling is a way of entering into a relationship
based on established principles and special
knowledge in order to facilitate self-knowledge,
acceptance and emotional growth and optimal
development of personal resources. The final
objective is to give the individual the opportunity
to evolve toward a more satisfying way of life by
increasing his or her own resources.
British Association for Counselling

Definition of counselling… cont’d
Counselling, a form of psychological and social
coaching, designates a situation where two
persons enter into a relationship in which one
explicitly calls on the other by expressing a request
that the other will deal with, resolve or assume
one or more of the problems that concern him.
Catherine Tourette-Turgis in “Le counselling”,
Paris, PUF, 1996, collection Que sais-je?

More specifically, in their book Essential Elements
of Career Counselling, Amundson, Harris-
Bowlsbey and Niles (2005, p.6) describe career
counselling as a process by which a counsellor
works in collaboration with a client/student to
clarify, specify and implement his or her career-
related decisions and to adjust them as needed.
Career counselling also takes into account the
interaction of different roles in life with work.

The central goal of career counselling
is to help individuals make congruent
work or career choices that will allow
them to have a job, a career and a
satisfactory life in a changing society.
Brown, S.D. and Ryan Krane, N.E., 2000

Theories of counselling
APPROACHES IN COUNSELLING AUTHORS
Reality therapy William Glasser
Rational-emotive Albert Ellis
Individual psychology Alfred Adler
Client-centred Carl Rogers

Alfred Adler
Therapy based on a feeling of inferiority
 A feeling of inferiority is “natural” for a child
 This feeling disappears with the development of
the personality if the need for self-affirmation is
satisfied
 If not, the feeling of inferiority becomes
problematic and may crystallize into an
“inferiority complex”
 We seek to compensate for any feelings of
inferiority

Alfred Adler
Therapy based on a feeling of inferiority…
 The inferiority complex:
• It is often unconscious and can lead to grandiose
achievements or asocial behaviour
 Compensation may be:
• Intellectual over-development in contrast to
• Physical under-development, or vice-versa

Alfred Adler
 Inferiority may be:
• Organic constitutional physical: accidental or
congenital physical limitation
• Conventional social: differences with respect to others
(child who has red hair; wears glasses, etc.)
 Inferiority pushes a person to engage in certain
types of compensation

Alfred Adler
 Examples
• Physical inferiority: Johnny Weissmuller – Tarzan
(1904-1984): scrawny child, became a champion
swimmer
• Conventional social inferiority: differences in race,
culture, sex, age, occupation, etc.

Carl Rogers
Person-centred approach
 Fundamentally positive vision of humanity
 Essential concepts for Rogers
• Authenticity and congruence
• Empathy
• Unconditional acceptance of the client
• Confidence in the client’s capacity

Carl Rogers
Person-centred approach…
 Notion of non-directiveness
• The client has the right to choose his/her own
vital goals
• “The client knows what is wrong, in which
direction she/he needs to look, what the crucial
problems are and the experiences which have
been deeply repressed.

Albert Ellis
Rational-emotive approach
 Epictetus – Ellis’ inspiration
• “What troubles men is not things but their judgement
of these things”
• “Death isn’t frightening, just our idea of death”
 Irrational beliefs

Albert Ellis
Rational-emotive approach…
 Examples of Irrational Ideas:
• To be happy, I need to receive love and approval
from almost everyone around me for almost all
of his present, past and future actions.
• Everybody has to succeed perfectly in everything
he undertakes.
• It is useful and appropriate to blame yourself
and/or to condemn others.

Albert Ellis
 People’s negative feelings are generated by their
irrational beliefs about the different situations in
which they find themselves.
 The approach plays on two levels at once
• Emotions
• Reasons
 Ideas are one of the causes of emotions in
adults

Albert Ellis
 The approach is aimed at
• Recognizing emotions, accepting them and verbalizing
them
• Changing the cognitions (ideas) that are attached to
them
 Succeeds in acquiring behaviours that are more
favourable to attaining one’s objectives and
reduces the intensity, duration and frequency of
disagreeable emotions.

William Glasser
Choice theory/Reality therapy
 In reaction to the Stimulus-Response theory
based on the erroneous idea that motivation is
external to the person.
 Replaces the Stimulus-Response theory by the
choice theory, which says that… “Human are
motivated intrinsically by the well-being that
comes from satisfaction of their needs.”

William Glasser
Choice theory/Reality therapy…
 Needs underlying all our behaviours
• Survival
• Belonging
• Power
• Liberty
• Pleasure

William Glasser
 Any behaviour linked to satisfying my needs is
chosen
 The only behaviour over which I really have
control is my own

William Glasser
 Reality therapy
 Humans are responsible for their behaviours, not
society, heredity or their past history
 Humans can change and pursue a more satisfying
life
 Humans act intentionally in order to modify their
environment to make it conform more closely to
the image of their needs.

William Glasser
Choice theory/Reality therapy…
 Two components of the practice of reality
therapy
• Creation of a climate of trust
• Use of specific techniques to
‣ Help a person discover what she/he really wants
‣ Reflect on what he/she is doing now
‣ Formulate an action plan to more effectively satisfy needs in the
future

Lifeline…
10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
Positive experiencesNegative experiences
05
45
10
50
40
35
30
25
20
15
55
60 plus
Age
Meaningful events or choices

Theories of career development
CAREER DEVELOPMENT AUTHORS
Harmonizing approaches
Frank Parsons: trait factor
John Holland: person – environment
Developmental approaches
Donald Super: lifelong career
development
Constructivist approaches
John Krumboltz: social learning
Vance Peavy: socio-dynamic approach

Trait-factor and person-environment
theories
 Frank Parsons (1854-1908)
• Father of career counselling
 The theory unites
• Traits: interests, values, aptitudes and personality
characteristics
with
• A work environment which is congruent (a “good fit”)
with those traits
Parson, F. (1909). Choosing a Vocation.

theories
 According to Parsons’ the choice of a vocation
assumes self-knowledge and knowledge of
occupations
 No one can decide for someone else
 A person can benefit from expert advice
 The counsellor’s role is to give clients accurate
feedback on their strengths and weaknesses

theories
 Three elements are central
• Clear self-understanding
• Knowledge of occupational requirements and
conditions for success, the advantages and
disadvantages, the compensation and future outlook
for different types of work
• A fair understanding of the relationship between these
two types of facts – the application of reasoning to
determine “fit” between person and occupation

Person-Environment Fit
 John Holland (1919-2008)
• Personality is a basic factor in career choice
• Interest inventories are really personality inventories
• People often have a stereotyped vision of trades
• Different tasks require different workers

 Typology describes persons, environments and
their interactions
 Different personality types look for work
contexts or milieus than suit them
 The six personality types correspond to six
professional environments

 Six personality types (RIASEC)
• Realistic
• Investigative
• Artistic
• Social
• Enterprising
• Conventional

Lifelong Career Development
 Donald Super (1910-1994)
• Career development is:
 A continuous process (childhood to old age)
 Influenced by different situational (school, family, economy, etc.)
and personal (needs, interests, values, etc.) factors
 Composed of different roles (parent, spouse, worker, etc.)
 Experienced across life cycles, each implying a transition period

Lifelong Career Development
 Interests are the results of a learning process
and have been developed through activities that
have been successful because of the skills and
aptitudes of the individual
 Aptitude determines the distance an individual
will cover whereas interest indicates the
direction he will take
 Self concept as well as the concept of oneself as
a professional develop through learning
experiences

Lifelong career development
The career rainbow

Social learning
 John Krumboltz (1928- )
• 4 categories of factors influence career development:
• Genetic factors and special aptitudes
• Environmental factors
• Learning experiences
• Competencies related to tasks

Social learning
 From these four types of influence stem two
categories of generalization:
• Generalization about oneself
• Generalization about the environment
 These generalizations have an influence on what
an individual can learn and on his aspirations
and actions.

Social learning
 An incalculable number of learning experiences
combine to shape each person’s career
trajectory.
 Based on these experiences, people adopt
behaviours that lead them to undertake their
career (concept of action).

Socio-dynamic counselling
 Vance Peavy (1929-2002)
• Socio-dynamic counselling is a method of planning
one’s life. It includes the following three elements:
‣ A perspective on contemporary post-industrial society and life
and on the social construction of self in contemporary society
‣ A philosophy of the helping relationship
‣ A series of counselling practices based on the first two elements.

 The concept of career seen as a vocation is
replaced by that of life seen as a career.
 Problem-solving is seen as a “tinkering” process
using the models that are the most appropriate
to the client’s needs and in which both the
helped and the helper are considered to be
experts.

 Socio-dynamic counselling does not look
primary at changing people’s behaviour; it
defines itself more as a process of “making
sense”.
 It’s goal is to mobilize intelligence and creativity
to answer these two questions
• How do I want to live my life?
• What do I do now?

Daisy Theory
 Part 1: (20 minutes) small groups
• These groups are the same teams who were the
trainer’s alter egos during the presentations of the
theories in career development
‣ Read the case
‣ Share your understanding of the case
‣ Plan the intervention
 Part 2: (40 minutes) large group
• Case study
‣ Present the intervention plan by team
‣ Identify the differences
 Part 3: (10 minutes) feedback on the activity

Transition and Change
 Transition and change are closely related
 Transition is associated with an event (losing
a job) or a non event (not getting an
expected promotion) leading to
transformations

Transition and Change
 Situational perspective: event regarding a
situation
• Change is external and visible
• Transition is internal and defined as the psychological
process allowing an individual to adapt to change
 Developmental perspective: evolution of an
individual during his/her life
• Change is defined as a series of developmental cycles
• Transition is defined as a boundary zone between
two cycles

Typology of life events that can trigger a
transition
BIOLOGICAL EVENTS SOCIAL EVENTS
PSYCHOLOGICAL EVENTS UNFORSEEABLE EVENTS

Transition and change
TRANSITION AND CHANGE AUTHORS
Process of transition William Bridges
Process of change James Prochaska

William Bridges
Process of transition
Current state Desired state
Loss Renewal
Disengagement
Disidentification
Disenchantment
Disorientation
Neutrality Action
Introspective
reflection
Anxiety
Confusion
(NEW BALANCE)(IMBALANCE)
RENEWALNEUTRALLOSSES
RENEWAL

James Prochaska
Stages of change
Contemplation
Ending
Precontemplation
Preparation
ActionMaintenance

Conclusion
 Knowledge acquisition consolidation exercise
 Taking Charge: online self-evaluation
 Evaluation of how the training went
Thank you very much!

Career Development and Counselling Theories

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (20)

Ähnlich wie Career Development and Counselling Theories

Ähnlich wie Career Development and Counselling Theories (20)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

Career Development and Counselling Theories