Chapter 3 and Duffy Article

In class, we talked about Holland’s theory of personality. I enjoy Holland’s hexagonal structure because it gives a counselor something to work off of in terms of the client’s interests. It is important to know what the client might be successful in based on their interests so that there can be a discussion directed toward that. I feel that the discussion will be more client lead because they will be talking about something they enjoy. I also really enjoyed the discussion about how this theory might not be as useful with the ever-changing society and work opportunities. This brought up a very good point that I had never thought about before. I really like the case study as well because it gave a real life example of something that we might see in a client as a counselor. There was a significant amount of information that could have influenced Susan’s career path. She also had an inconsistent Holland Code that was not plain and simple to figure out. I enjoyed the discussion questions about this because it gave us the opportunity to come up with ideas that we could use in the future.

            In the book, I enjoyed Krumboltz’s Social Learning Theory because it relates best to my beliefs. Undeniably, people are born with certain characteristics. Through each life experience, the person learns. Based on their passed experiences and their knowledge on the subject at hand, they decide if the situation is pleasurable or whether they should avoid that situation if they found themselves in that situation again (Brown, 2012). If the situation was undesirable, the person will come up with a plan of how to avoid this situation in the future. On the other hand, if the situation was pleasurable, the person will develop a course of action to find themselves in a similar situation in the future (Brown, 2012). I feel as though I go through these steps often in everyday life. I think this theory also has to do with my genogram because my environment and experiences lead me to my current career path. I also like the solution-focused model because it is a positive approach to counseling. It provides the client with a window of hope (Brown, 2012).

            As far as the article, I thought that it was very interesting that spirituality and religion have such a high correlation with job satisfaction (Duffy, 2006). Although it is a developing theory, the statistics thus far have been very believable. One part stated, “Some dimensions in the workplace such as meaning making, meditation and sense of mission relate to a positive job satisfaction and higher levels of involvement and productivity” (Duffy, 2006). I also thought that Brewer’s Vocational Souljourn Model provided a good “guide to life” with the idea that there needs to be a balance between meaning, being and doing (Duffy, 2006). I really enjoyed reading this article and I look forward to future studies that confirm/deny that religion/spirituality positively impact job satisfaction. 


References:

Brown. D. (2012). Career Information, Career Counseling, and Career Development. (10th ed.). New York: Pearsons Education Inc. 

Duffy, R.D. (2006). Spirituality, Religion, and Career Development: Current Status and Future Directions. The Career Development Quarterly. 55. 52-61.