Week 9

Given the fact that 20% of the population lives with a disability, it is particularly relevant to consider their special needs in career counseling (Brown, 2012, p. 118). It seems that the most relevant concern when working with disabled clients is considering how an occupation or career pathway may correspond with their disability. Kacie and I got a little taste of this when we worked on our in-class case study. Our client suffered from multiple sclerosis, so we did our best to choose occupations with less travel and physical demands.

I was pleased to read that career counselors can advocate for clients living with mental illness. It doesn’t seem all that surprising now that I think about it, but I never really considered the possibility of granting employees leniency and accommodation for their mental illness. This is wonderful. I would be interested to know how many employers would be willing to cooperate in these scenarios though, and how many employers are willing to hire those suffering from chronic mental illness.

I also understand the benefit of considering Gottfredson’s theory, and whether or not women have foreclosed on their true desires and career potential. At the same time, I don’t think all women are at risk for this. I believe part of this tendency relates to personality traits. Some women are likely to be more confident in pursuing an untraditional career path, while others aren’t. I wouldn’t want any career counselor to assume that most women are passive or susceptible to societal standards and gender roles. I feel that I ended up in this profession as a result of my own interests and passions. Not because I was socialized to be this way.

In terms of counseling those who are economically disadvantaged, I understand that they face higher rates of depression, helplessness, and lower self-esteem. I am still not sure how we can help them though. I realize we can point them in the direction of some resources and options, but I feel career counselors are probably fairly limited in the amount they can really do. We cannot provide them with the resources they need to have access to education that will ultimately provide them with many more desirable occupations to choose from.

With regard to this past week’s class, I enjoyed partnering with a school counseling student! The case study activity was useful, as it stimulated some critical thinking about how culture may influence our client’s decision-making processes, and how we must be mindful of these values in our approach to counseling.

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