Weekly Insight 4

              Though we did not meet for class, I still learned a lot of information on wikispaces and the article on Constructivist Counseling for Career Indecision.  I would like to focus on the positive aspects and importance in online education today.  In addition to learning more about wikispaces, I liked Savickas’ (1995) article. In particular, the points about career decision making as a subjective experience.

Although I agree with most students from class in their opposition to wikispaces, I am also intrigued by learning something new in technology.  In today’s society, technology is an integral part of education.  For example, last year during back to school night, my son (who was in second grade), showed me how to use an iPad. I suppose students probably had the same opposition when programs similar to D2L came out for online learning.  While face-to-face communication is favored because it is easier to understand and read another person, online communication is faster more readily available.  Sometime juggling schedules and “meet times” with multiple students is more difficult.

            The part of the article I agreed with most was Savickas’ (1995) paragraph on indecision as a subjective experience. In particular, the constructivist point of view. “From the constructivist perspective, counselors do not operationally define career indecision as a list of decision-making difficulties. Instead, constructivist counselors view career indecision as a sign of transformation in progress (Cochran, 1991). From this perspective, indecision is part of the normal experience that occurs when people are about to lose their place.” (Savickas, 1995, p. 365) I could relate to this in my life the most because I have had periods of “losing my place,” but in retrospect, it was an important part of me finding the career I am most passionate about.  I disagree most with the section of the article describing indecision as a dichotomy.  In particular, “The view that indecision reflects immaturity, or worse psychopathology, led counselors to concentrate their efforts on curing the underlying causes of career indecision.” (Savickas, 1995, p. 364) The way this section reads makes it seem as though, if an individual does not have a career choice by a certain time, there must be something wrong with them. As if they have some sort of disease. I think this point of view is ludicrous and a counselor coming from this approach can hinder a person from making a positive career decision.  From a client perspective, I would feel as though the counselor looked at me as an outcast. 
            I may be overly judgmental on parts of this article because I am looking at it subjectively, but putting someone into a group and classifying them as a whole does not seem as though it would be effective in counseling. In addition to being ineffective, it seems a bit stereotypical as well.

Savickas, M. L. (1995).  Constructivist Counseling for Career Indecision.  The Career      Development Quarterly, 43(4), 363-373.

Week 4/ Savickas

Constructivist counseling is an interesting way to look at Career Counseling.  The case study presented in the article really helped to clarify how exactly a counselor would help a client using the constructivist approach.  From what I understand, the pieces are all there for a client; the counselor just pieces them together and helps them see the “theme” in the client’s life.  I think this is a really neat idea.  This approach is different and useful because it “focuses on the person who is undecided, not the indecision itself”.  I also think it’s interesting that Savickas considered a stall or stop in the decision process as depression.  I just wonder how difficult it might be to figure out a client’s theme.  What if their stories don’t have a common theme?  This is probably due to my inexperience, but it’s a concern I have. 

                Another thing to consider is how accessible is this type of counseling?  Like the girl in the case study, this counseling would almost have to be pursued individually, and would most likely not be offered through any school.  So, does that limit this counseling to only the more privileged- to only those who can afford it?

                The case study presented in this article was about a girl in college; something very common among college freshman and sophomores.  Would it be beneficial to provide all undecided college students with career counseling?  I have often heard that it is beneficial for college freshman to not declare a major, as most of those who do end up switching majors anyway.  As an undecided or undeclared, a student has more freedom to explore options and classes.  I started my undergraduate education as undeclared, and did not declare a major until the end of my sophomore year, after I had taken two psychology courses and found that I enjoyed those more than my other classes.  I really didn’t have the help of a counselor to help me decide this, though there were some options and resources available to me, had I pursued them.  I can understand how overwhelming it is to try and decide what major to pursue, because it really is a huge decision.  Even after declaring a major, students don’t always know what careers and jobs will be available to them after they graduate, which is another process in itself. 

                Although this article presented a case study on a girl in college, I was wondering how someone else not in college might benefit from constructivist career counseling.  I think it would still be helpful for someone already in the work force.  But in their case, they can’t just switch majors; it involves a harder decision of switching careers, etc.

Savickas, M. L. (1995). Constructivist counseling for career indecision. The Career Development Quarterly, 43(4), 363-373.

Week Four

            The article written by Savickas (1995) about career indecisiveness was one that I could relate to and its interpretations of career development I could apply to my own life.  One idea that I found interesting was how indecisiveness is linked to one’s maturity level. According to Savickas, indecisiveness reflects immaturity and can lead to psychopathology (1995). This has posed a red flag for career counselors, in that now they concentrate on interventions to help with adolescents and young adults work on becoming more decisive with their career paths in order to prevent mental illness.  For young people the future, in terms of their career, is very uncertain and can bring a lot of worry and anxiety since not knowing can lead to not having or not attaining. I think it is important for career counselors to consider this factor into one’s indecisiveness, and allow young people to feel more secure about the future by relaying coping strategies, and words of encouragement.

            When I think about my career development, I have shown high indecisiveness to the point at which I didn’t declare a major until my junior year in college. After I declared my major, I made a career change once I graduated from biology to psychology/mental health field. It appears that my indecisiveness may have stemmed from not quite establishing my identity, and knowing what I liked and disliked. I somewhat disagree with the fact that if one doesn’t know what they want to do when they grow up that it is linked to someone being immature. I think one’s indecisiveness could be linked to lack of knowledge, culture, or socioeconomic status. In my life, going into the medical field was going to be very expensive, since I planned on going to medical school, and I changed my career options because I didn’t have the money to attend. I was indecisive about my career path because I was considering a lot of factors in the decision making process, and I think by weighing out my options before making a hasty decision was a sign of maturity not immaturity.

            The example of the college student seeking advice from his professor about his indecisiveness is important because it shows how helpful it can be for young people to have mentor in helping their career development. It was really profound for the professor to admit that he was very indecisive when he was in college too, and that by dealing with it empowered him to try out different professions in order to find himself. The student was relieved and some of his psychopathology lessened. Career counseling is extremely useful and important for young adults in high school as well as college.

Savickas, M. L. (1995). Constructivist counseling for career indecision. The Career Development Quarterly,43(4), 363-373.

Savickas Article

Although we did not have any class discussion to reflect on, this article provided plenty of information to blog about. In this article, Mark L. Savickas (1995) presents ideas on the Constructivist view of career counseling and examples of how to implement the technique. I was definitely intrigued by this view and especially enjoyed reading the case study example he described as it helped me to apply and truly understand the concepts.

What I thought about most after this reading is that the Constructivist point of view somewhat describes how my career path has gone. The view of counseling describes indecision as a normal experience that occurs when people are about to lost their place. A transformation then occurs and a new identity is formed. For me, like many, this is what college was all about. As I’ve said in class before, I started my college career as a broadcasting student. While I was on that path, I was very hesitant and unsure that it was truly what I wanted to do. I went into that major with much encouragement from others telling me it would be something I’d be good at. While that may have been true, I wasn’t as passionate about it as I should have been. During this time I began working in a job that helped me realize what my true life-themes were and re-defined myself as “a helper” with a strong desire to build relationships with people and serve them in any way I could. Although I went through this process without an actual counselor, I can see how my story of career development relates with the Constructivist view. My story shows that I’ve continuously always wanted to serve others and work with people, but was hesitant to pursue a career doing so for whatever reason. I was able to resolve any doubt about becoming a school counselor because I was reaffirmed by the stories that my pattern of living told and therefore could move towards that goal.

I think that the case study described in the article is a theme commonly found in many students, like myself. Some feel pressure to go into a certain field because of their parents and therefore lose meaning leading to indecision. It’s amazing how much our past events and stories can affect who we are today, regardless of us knowing it or not. The fact that the young woman described was able to reach her career goals after hearing her own story reveals that self-awareness is at the heart of fixing one’s problems and reaching one’s goals, which I’m beginning to realize is a common theme in any counseling situation. Savickas (1995) notes that client's must become aware of their narratives so they can see the future as a continuation, get past hesitations, and author their next chapter. 

Savickas, M. L. (1995). Constructivist counseling for career indecision. The Career Development Quarterly,43(4), 363-373.

Week 4

         I was able to connect to the Savickas (1995) article as I also had many feelings of indecisiveness when trying to select a career path.  I still go through various phases and feelings of confusion and anxiety as I continue to develop my future.  In high school, I had so little assistance with deciding a career path and looking back on that now, I wonder how I ever even decided anything.

         Some of the article I had trouble following but the case study was helpful.  I found the case study of the girl who did not want to sit still very interesting.  It demonstrates how a counselor assisted the girl with looking back at the past, and exploring old memories, patterns that had occurred, and where she is now (Savickas, 1995).  The girl was not decided with her major because she, finally “sat still” for her family as her father pressured her to take a premed path.  As the girl gives in to her father’s coaxing, she sits still and becomes depressed as she feels the persuasion to go into premed, but it turns out her desires were in another field, mathematics.  The case study helped illustrate the method of combing the past, present, and future. 

         I am a little skeptical of this method it takes a lot of self-awareness from the client as well as willingness to revisit the past (which may not be easy in some cases).  This method would also take a lot of interpretation from the counselor.  With this being said, I feel this method may be more applicable in some cases than others.

         It is interesting that studies in the past have led to the assumption that those who are undecided have a personality problem or defect (Savickas, 2995).  According to these studies, undecided people are less accomplished and less mature.  I am pleased to see that researchers are now seeing career growth in a more positive light.  If it were true, that those who are undecided are less mature, I feel that nearly every person would fit that category one way or another.  Perhaps when we look at other aspects of life, not just careers, we can see how indecisive humans really are.  Here are a few examples that may lead to indecisive feelings:  purchasing a new car, purchasing electronics, deciding on a job, a future school to attend, location to live, type of home to live in or purchase, number of children you wish to have, type of pet, style of haircut and so on.  I am pleased to see that more recent studies have moved away from such pessimistic views on indecisiveness because I am sure at some point in our life, we all have faced these feelings, career related or not. 

Savickas, M. L. (1995). Constructivist counseling for career indecision. The    Career Development Quarterly,43(4), 363-373.

Week 4

          I found this article to be particularly interesting because it ended with a case study which perfectly illustrated the concepts that were discussed earlier in the reading. The idea of learning more about the client by asking him or her to discuss role models is something that I have spent a lot of time thinking about even before reading this article. I think this is a really good way to get to the client’s core values and beliefs. I do think some people are more impacted by role models than other people, but investigating this will likely lead to very important information (Savickas, 1995). I believe part of the reason this is a good method is because it allows the client to talk about his or herself without directly talking about his or herself. In other words, whatever they say about the role model is their direct interpretation of that person, which in turn tells the counselor a lot about the client. For example, a person who idolizes a certain political figure for being a strong leader and skilled speaker is likely someone who values leadership and oratory skills. These are qualities they might not yet have, but they are likely to be highly desired in the person. The client reveals a desire to lead without directly saying it.

          Another question that can be posed using Savickas’ (1995) method is asking clients what haunts them. This is a powerful question and is by no means something that should be opened with at the start of a session. By the point in the interview when this question could be posed, the counselor should already have some opinions formed regarding the client and the situation, but the answer to this question will either validate those opinions or lead the counselor to revise those opinions in order to reach the true core of the issue.

          When the strategies of asking about role models and investigating the fears of the client are used in conjunction there is a high probability that the counselor will know a lot about the client’s thoughts and feelings, which should ultimately lead to a solution that will satisfy the client. I could not help but examine my own role models and fears when reading this article. The three most influential role models in my life are very similar in their lifestyle and the way they conduct themselves. If a person knows my role models and has an idea of how I live my life, they would certainly see the influence. For a career counselor, this could help them narrow down a list of careers that would satisfy the characteristics that I value as a result of my role models. A counselor knowing my deepest fears would also understand the reasons behind some of my decisions and would thus have a broader understanding of me as a person which can only lead to a more informed decision about how to approach the counseling.

References

Savickas, M. L.  (1995). Constructivist counseling for career indecision. The Career

Development Quarterly, 43(4), 363-373