week 5

In the article by Bloch (2005), she explains how we adapt to situations in order to continue our existence but we allow an opening between chaos and complexity for emergence to occur. Many times once one reaches this border of chaos and complexity that is where the greatest opportunities lie. After reading last week’s article, there seems to be theme revolving around life stories. This article reinforces the idea that career paths are chosen by some connection in a person’s story that they tend to hide or keep secret. By using their personal stories we are able to see the whole picture rather than just parts. After reading the case study of Marion I found it somewhat relative to my own life. After working in a specific field for years I began to get bored. I enjoyed the work I did but I felt as though I had learned everything in the position and excelled, but there was no real room for advancement in the job role. At this point I didn’t know what else I could do that would still allow me to use my skills and enjoy the job as well. That is when the opportunity came for work at a new agency, making a better wage, and still allowing me to do what I love which is working with children.

I feel as though the things pointed out in this article would be easy to apply in a career counseling setting. I believe that when we look at career counseling we tend to focus only on the career part and not the other factors that play a major role in choosing a career. Another point that really stuck out to me was the idea that small change brings about large effects. Realistically, most people do not like change, but in order to emerge change is necessary. By helping clients to surpass these phase transitions, they will hopefully find their “peak” and land a successful career that they enjoy.

Bloch, D. P. (2005), Complexity, Chaos, and Nonlinear Dynamics: A New Perspective on Career Development Theory. The Career Development Quarterly, 53: 194–207