Monday, September 16, 2013

Blog 3



           In class, I really enjoyed discussing as a whole the case study of the young girl. I think it helped put into perspective how helpful career counseling can be even for young individuals. As people entering the mental health field we are going to have a lot of influence and I think we need to remember how much of an impact this can have on young students. Just like with the case study we may be able to help enlighten students to the endless possibilities of careers that are available to them. We can also help to open up their parents eyes.
As I was reading chapter three this week, I found myself really drawn to Solution-Focused Brief Career Counseling (Brown, 2012). This type of counseling speaks to me, because it is my personal belief that the best solution to a problem can only be found by the person experiencing that problem. So for me it just makes sense that this idea could also be applied to finding a career. I also really like how it gets the client to actively participate in the counseling process. As the facilitator we are just asking the tough questions and searching for exceptions (Brown, 2012). The exceptions part I feel is really key because too often as individuals we focus so much on what we are doing wrong instead of the instances where we did something right. As a counselor I think it is important for us to help open our client’s eyes to their successes and times when they acted in a more desirable way. This helps to reassure them that they can change and that they have done it before so they can most certainly do it again.
            I also found chaos theory interesting. This is the first time I was introduced to a chaos theory but I found some of the points to be valid. I think as counselors and maybe even career counselors someday we always need to remember that career development is not only influenced by one moment in time. It is something that can be influenced by all parts of a person’s life and over a long period of time. I think especially with career counseling it is important to remember that we all walk different paths of life and we will all have different influences on our career choice.
            The article I felt tied in really nicely with this week’s chapter reading. It added another consideration to think of when we are working with someone during career choices. Religion and spirituality I thought could only impact how a person behaves in their life but I never thought it would impact what career they were drawn to or even the type of career field. However, after reading this article it definitely makes sense. Religion especially assists in the development of a person’s values which in turn makes certain careers attractive to this individual. I also found the studies interesting that looked at how satisfaction differed among people who found their job to be a calling or just a means to ends (Duffy, 2006). I thought it was really interesting that people who found their job to be a calling, were working in industries that had social interaction and they had higher satisfaction and job security. I just had never thought about how a certain frame of mind could easily change how satisfied a person is with their job.

Brown, D. (2012).  Career information, career counseling, and career development
(10th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

Duffy, R. D. (2006). Spirituality, religion, and career development: Current status
            and future directions. The Career Development Quarterly, 55, 55-63.

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