Last week’s
class activity was not an easy one for my partner and I. We found that our case
study was hard to understand because the woman was a part of two different
cultures and did not really identify with either of them. This made it hard for
us to identify what exactly she was seeking with her employment because she
never finished high school and had never entered the workforce. After reading Chapter 6, I was surprised to find out that women were considered “Clients with
Special Needs.” However, in reading what Brown (2012) wrote about the challenges
of women, I understood and could relate this to the case study from our class
activity. More specifically, the idea that women spend less time in the labor
force than men because of child-rearing. Brown (2012) notes that specialized
knowledge may be required for success of these displaced homemakers like the
one in our case-study. Finally, the numbers on the gap between men and women’s
earnings was astonishing to me.
Another idea
that stuck out to me in the readings was what Brown (2012) said about
counseling clients with disabilities. Brown (2012) emphasizes the importance of
focusing on what the client can do,
rather than what they cannot do
because of their disability. I feel like it would be really easy as a career counselor
to rule out jobs the client cannot do. When reading this I thought about the
literature review my group and I have been working on for the Middle School age
group. The literature has emphasized the importance of students feeling a sense of belonging in their schools and that their coursework is actually relevant to
their futures. According to Brown (2012), effective career counselors empower
their clients with disabilities by fostering inclusion in the broader workforce
and society. This lead me to think about what values drive us to pursue the
careers that we do. I thought about the value that work is fulfilling a greater purpose, which I believe Brown (2012) is trying to say is especially
important for those with special needs because of their low self-esteem and
fewer opportunities to make decisions for themselves.
Finally, the
chapter about career counseling as a private practice was not very relevant to
me. However, it did get me thinking about other options in the counseling field.
I especially like the table about the different types of services. This helped
me understand what the difference is between career counselors and coaches and
other services offered for clients, some of which I may need to use if I work
with secondary or college aged kids. Brown (2012) emphasized how private
practice is beneficial economically and professionally, which I would identify with, but making money is not the most important value I have in terms of my career, which is probably good seeing that I hope to be in a school.
Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10th
ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.
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