The case study exercise we completed in pairs in class last week really helped me to apply the culturally appropriate career counseling models. I think it is very important to work with your client to learn more about your client's culture and what your client wants and what your client values instead of trying to push your own values onto that client. As a counselor, we are seen as an authority figure and we could really hurt our clients if we do not respect their culture.
It was shocking to me to see women in the workforce as a classification system of special needs (Brown, 2012, p. 117). However, this reminds me of the Joan Blades presentation we saw earlier this semester. She said that women make significantly less money than men do in the same occupations. This salary difference is completely unfair and could result in low self-esteem and serious mental health issues, along with stress. This combination of issues could link to having special needs for career counseling. Brown (2012, p. 123) says that women make less than men because of the female careers they choose and that they are in the workforce less than men in order to care for their children. Women in the workforce might have children and as Joan Blades said, the United States is only one of three countries that does not give mothers paid maternity leave. Again, this can cause significant stress and lead women to have special needs with career counseling.
In chapter six, Brown (2012) talks about people who voluntarily change their occupation. People that voluntarily change their occupation in midlife connects with the Theory of Work Adjustment (Brown, 2012, p. 34-35). People need to have both satisfaction and satisfactoriness in order to remain in a job. In midlife, people re-evaluate their career direction and look at how their needs have changed since they entered their original career. These people could then conclude that they do not have satisfaction with their current job, or their current job does not meet their expectations or needs anymore. Therefore, they decide to enter a new field or change jobs in their current field in order to have satisfaction with their job again. They could still be meeting the demands of their work environment, or have satisfactoriness. However, they need both satisfaction and satisfactoriness to remain in a job, according to the Theory of Work Adjustment (Brown, 2012, p. 34-35).
In chapter 14, Brown (2012) talks about career counselors in private practice. I think that it is a problem that career counseling is not covered by health insurance unless there is also a mental health issue (Brown, 2012, p. 313). Having a difficult time obtaining a career can lead to mental health issues so I think that health insurances should cover career counseling to prevent additional mental health issues from occurring.
As others have mentioned, I have a difficult time imagining having my career counseling private practice office located in my house. I do not want my clients knowing where I live. I understand that this can be significantly less expensive than paying the rent for an office building. However, I believe that having my work and my personal life separate is necessary. If my client wanted to hurt me because of something that I said or did during a session then it would be easy with the client knowing where I live. I also feel like this is an ethical issue because it would be more difficult to assure client confidentiality with my family members living in the house where my client's files are stored.
Reference
Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.
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