Career/Individual/Development

Counseling
History
Frank Parsons is considered the father of the guidance movement.
1913: The National vocational Guidance Association was founded.
1940s: The Trait-and-Factor Approach was widely used in career
counseling.

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Career/Individual/Development
Counseling
History
1950s: Career guidance utilized more counseling using career
development theory with a focus on communication and decisionmaking skills.
1970s: The federal government subsidized a career educational
program to facilitate career planning and increase career options.
1990s: Career education also included a school-to-work transition
program.

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Career/Individual/Development
Counseling
Definition
Career: Defined as a client working out a purposeful life
pattern through work over time.
Career development: Defined as the psychological,
educational, sociological, physical, economic, and chance
happenings that influence and shape a client's career.
Career Counseling: The series of interventions throughout a
client's lifespan that deals with: work selection, satisfaction,
intrapersonal matters, lifestyle issues, and integrating lifes
roles.
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Career/Individual/Development
Counseling
Definition (continued)
Lifestyle: A persons aspiration for social status, a specific work
environment or climate, education, mobility and financial security.
Career Life Planning: An ongoing evaluation of life and career
plans that allows for changes as needs and circumstances change.

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Career/Individual/Development
Counseling
Theories of Career Counseling
Trait-and-Factor (Frank Parsons & John Holland): Finding a suitable
match between the work environment and the personality traits of the
worker.
Social Learning Theory (John Krumboltz): Learning experiences are
followed by rewards and punishments and learning experiences
influence a persons career choices.
Situational Approaches: A sociological approach that accounts for
situational factors (e.g. space and time, political climate, social factors,
ethnic, religious and family beliefs etc.)
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Career/Individual/Development
Counseling
Theories of Career Counseling
Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent, Brown, and Hackett):
Contextual and social cognitive factors shape experiences,
expectations and interests. These, in turn, shape the choices one
makes regarding career.
Developmental Theories (Ginzberg, Ginsburg, Axelrad & Herma;
Donald Super and Linda Gottfredson): Early experiences, life events
and opportunities, and the maturation process play a role in the
development of interests, exploration, and career outcomes.

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Career/Individual/Development
Counseling
Diversity
Most theories were developed with white, middle-class,
heterosexual, able-bodied, adult, males as models. Therefore, they
may not be applicable to all people or groups.
Some theories, such as the social cognitive career theory, do
account for factors that affect women, ethnic minorities, gays and
lesbians, and people with disabilities.
More and more information is circulating regarding diversity issues.
The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 has helped raise
consciousness in the workplace.
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Career/Individual/Development
Counseling
Career Counseling
Assessment: Includes both verbal and nonverbal assessment , the
clients interests and past job attempts, as well as clarification of the
counselors role and the clients expectations. Assessment also
includes the establishment of career goals.
Intervention: Interventions depend upon the needs of the client, the
theoretical orientation of the counselor, and available resources.
Information Giving: Helping the client find pertinent information
about job and career opportunity.

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Career/Individual/Development
Counseling
Career Counseling
Career Counseling: Can include both group and individual
counseling and might focus on exploration, understanding, and
action.
Teaching the Decision-Making Process: Helps clients integrate
new learning with previous knowledge and implement a decision.
Work Adjustment: Helping the client adjust to work and learn
skills needed to be successful (e.g. learning intrapersonal skills).

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Career/Individual/Development
Counseling
Salomones Five Stages
Stage One (Knowledge of the Self): Explore and identify the client's
interests, aptitudes and values.
Stage Two (Knowledge about the World of Work): The client needs to
learn how to access occupational data.
Stage Three (Creating a Match): Helping the client to decide which
occupations fit with his or her skills, interests, and values.

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Career/Individual/Development
Counseling
Salomones Five Stages (continued)
Stage Four (Implementation of A Decision): The counselor helps
the client learn the skills needed, supports the client through the
process, and helps the client gather the information needed to
implement the decision.
Stage Five (Adjustment to a New Setting): Helping the client to
adapt to the new environment or job and deal with his or her stress.

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Career/Individual/Development
Counseling
Educational Considerations
The United States is the only industrialized nation without a
comprehensive system in place to help youth acquire the skills,
knowledge, and abilities to help them succeed in the world of work.
Many poor and minority students lack the education and skills needed
to become successful and are essentially locked out of certain types
of employment due to lack of opportunity.

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Career/Individual/Development
Counseling
Economic Considerations
Businesses avoid building in poor neighborhoods and therefore
many of the poor are denied access to good paying jobs.
Education and obtaining the skills necessary to land a well-paying
job is expensive and the cost is out of the reach for many.

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