Weekly Insight 6

Last week we discussed Donald Super’s Life Span, Life Space Theory and completed our own Life-Career pie chart.  Learning about this theory and applying it to my life gives me perspective on what I consider important in my life today and what I want to be important ten years from now.  This week’s article describes nonlinear dynamics and it’s relation to career development. 

Completing the two pie charts is a great way for a client to find out where their energies are spent today.  Is the amount of their energies spent where they would like? If not, where would they like to focus their energy and how much?  I was able to see that more than half my days are spent as a homemaker and a student.  Just over two months ago this pie chart looked much different.  I was spending half my time as an employee and one-quarter time as a homemaker.  Looking into the future, I would like to spend more time as a homemaker and an employee, but in order for that to be possible I will have to continue my education.  Super suggests in proposition 10 “The process of career development is essentially that of developing and implementing occupational self-concepts.  It is a synthesizing and compromising process in which the self-concept is a product of the interaction of inherited aptitudes, physical makeup, opportunity to observe and play various roles, and evaluations of the extent to which the result of playing meet the approval of superiors and fellow (interactive learning).” (Brown, 2012) This idea of change over a lifetime and ability to reach satisfaction by playing various roles can be liberating for clients.

 

In the article, Bloch describes “Nonlinear dynamics. Each person's career development pattern makes sense in terms of that person's work life, the specific dynamics of the environment in which it occurred, and the internal dynamics of that person. So, too, people experience parts of their careers that seem to form patterns for them, but these patterns are either not explicable, or are only partially explained, in terms of the patterns of other careers. The career development of each individual is a series of choices that have internal harmonics or resonances for that individual and can only be understood in terms of that individual.” (Bloch, 2005)  I found this explanation very similar to the article we read a few weeks ago on Spirituality, Religion, and Career Development: Current Status and Future Directions. This idea that things can “happen” in one’s career and have significant meaning is helpful in counseling a client. I think focusing on where a client has been can have significant improvement in helping them “find what they want to do in life.”  I have recently been through a similar situation, but did not realize this was the path I was going to take until a counselor helped me follow these things that “happened” in my life.  I realized they all had some meaning and going back to school is what I need to do to get where I want to be.

 

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

 

Brown, D. (2012). Trait-and-Factor and Developmental Theories of Career Choice and Development and Their Applications. In Career Information, Career Counseling, and Career Development (10th ed., pp. 24-58). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.