Week 6

Over the past week, there have been multiple activities, discussions, and readings that have been meaningful to me, both personally and in my growth and continued understanding of career counselling.  One such activity was the pie chart we created in response to Donald Super’s Life Span, Life Space Theory.  This activity, in combination with looking at the Life-Career Rainbow in more depth, led me to think about my roles throughout my lifetime and how my pie charts have changed each of the decades I’ve been alive.  My personal Life-Career Rainbow, to this point, has been pretty typical, progressing from spending the most time as a child, then student, then worker, while balancing other roles in differing amounts depending on the current circumstances.  Then I started thinking about my boyfriend’s Life-Career Rainbow and my students’ Rainbows, as these are the type of clients I would work with in career counselling. 

My boyfriend is 32 years old and is still in the exploratory stage of career choice, due to restricting factors within his family that limited him from exploring work options based on his interests and skills.  After spending the bulk of ages 16-30 taking care of the medical needs of his immediate family and sacrificing desirable and fulfilling work, he is finally in a place where he is able to explore his interests and careers that may satisfy those interests.  Though it is an exciting time, it is also filled with pressure and uncertainty due to the general standards of work set forth by our society and the ‘typical’ ages, as reinforced by Super’s Rainbow, that people should be hitting career milestones.

Many of my students’ lives reflect similar patterns to my boyfriend’s, especially in the years before they arrive at Milton Hershey School.  Some children spend the majority of their time as homemakers or parents of younger siblings, instead of having the freedom to focus on interests and future aspirations.  Some of them are caretakers of parents and are overwhelmed with the immediate needs (food, shelter, heat, etc.) of those living in their homes.  I think it is important to recognize these exceptions, and commit to being open to each individual.  This connects directly to our class discussion regarding synchronicity.  As counselors, we should commit to being open to things outside of the norm and outside of our natural comfort zone, so we can be successful in listening to, and ultimately helping our clients find success and fulfillment in life and work.

The Bloch article (2005) also connected directly to our class discussions last week, as well as the Duffy article about spirituality.  Bloch and Richmond’s seven connectors between spirit and work helped solidify some of the connections people experience, and support earlier discussions emphasizing the essential role of career counselors to lay aside personal beliefs to allow the client’s view to be expressed and explored within their world of work.

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

Bloch, D. P. (2005). Complexity, chaos, and nonlinear dynamics: A new perspective on career development theory. The Career Development Quarterly, 53, 194-207.