Synchronicity

Synchronicity is certainty an interesting concept and seems somewhat mystical or magical. The article connected it mainly with religion and spirituality (Guindon & Hanna, 2002).  I have to admit after reading the article I did not question the concept and just accepted it as a part of life experiences.  Although now, I have thought about it some more and developed a more critical viewpoint.

I do agree with Jung, there are events that are unpredictable and seemingly unrelated yet comprise of a meaningful coincidence (Guindon & Hanna, 2002). However, does this concept have any permit in career counseling?  Career counseling can aid an individual to be prepared and opportunistic of synchronicity.  In this way the philosophical concept is useful, but the theory seems hard to test and it is not falsifiable.  In other words, if an individual had not gone to career counseling the events prior and proceeding that are unrelated are still happening, so will that individual still experience synchronicity even though they had not gone to career counseling?  Will they still take the opportunity for career change?  But researchers would never be able to develop an experiment in this way.

We can experience synchronicity without knowing the term.  Furthermore, it is easier to look back retrospectively and make connections between unrelated events and make them relate.  It is harder to know if one event had not happened would there be a different outcome.  Moreover, some clients may make connections of unrelated events and make a coincidence that is unhelpful or in the wrong direction.  How would synchronicity work with special populations or even with a client who overthinks and over analyzes?

 I think that in my undergraduate coursework we learned that psychology can be just as much of a science as the “hard sciences”.  The philosophical underpinnings of synchronicity create an unappealing theory for practitioners, thus it makes sense there is very little literature and research on synchronicity.

However, the concept and recognition of synchronicity is important to create a more holistic approach toward career counseling (Guindon & Hanna, 2002).  I thought that was a good point made in the article because there does not need to be a dichotomy of subjective and objective practices.  As future professionals going into fields with a variety of theories that are in objection to each other it is essential for us to recognize their strengths, weaknesses, and connections in order to best serve clients and the community.

In this case an individual who has indecision and is highly religious or spiritual would benefit from a synchronicity viewpoint.  For example, the counselor could use a constructivist counseling theory and elicit a life theme which would include some religious or spiritual aspects (since the person is highly spiritual and religious) (Duffy, 2006; Savickas, 1995).  At the same time the counselor could make the client aware of synchronicity.  Hopefully this will help the client with indecision and make him or her aware of “unpredictable instances of meaning coincidence” (Guindon & Hanna, 2002, p. 195) in turn leading to a career decision.

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

Guindon, M. H. & Hanna, F.  J. (2002) Coincidence, happenstance, serendipity, fate, or the hand of God:  Case studies in synchronicity.  The Career Development Quarterly, 50, 195-208.

Savickas, M. L.  (1995). Constructivist counseling for career indecision. The Career

Development Quarterly, 43(4), 363-373.