Career Counseling

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that to be an effective career counselor, a counselor must address the psychological needs and desires of a prospective client, not simply prescribe a career based needupon the individual's education as it fits into the current job market. However, the writer also points out that theories of matching personalities to career paths, or using an individual's hobby to suggest what he or she really ought to be doing, is only helpful in answering the question of what one would like to do. While answering this question is undeniably an important part of a career counselor's task, an equally frequent issue that occurs in counseling is when a person does not feel able to do a particular job. The writer discusses treating issues related to a lack of self-efficacy. The writer concludes that the counselor must help the client unburden him or herself of specific concepts of a lack of self-efficacy related to career skills and goals--but there also must be a more general component of raising the client's self-esteem and efficacy that is essential to fully realize the individual's maximum potential in the workforce.

From the Paper:

"Answering this question by empowering the client's self esteem requires a certain basic knowledge of the concept of self-efficacy, one of the core concepts developed from the larger psychological theory of attachment. Attachment theory was the brainchild of the British psychoanalyst John Bowlby who wished to explain the intense distress experienced by infants separated from their parents, even for a short time. Bowlby stated that this response was a necessary evolutionary mechanism to ensure that children were cared for by their parents, and that the separation between child and parent was taken seriously. Bowlby theorized that children who grew up in a household with accessible and attentive caregivers grew up feeling secure and became greater risk-takers and more sociable because their basic needs for secure attachment and attention were satisfied. A child without such an available caregiver who was forced to cry without being comforted developed a sense of learned helplessness, a low sense of self-efficacy or ability to affect the environment, and eventually may sank into despair and finally, depression as an adult. A person whose attachment needs was unsatisfied as a child may be highly avoidant of new tasks that may provoke anxiety, as well as fearful of others."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bartholomew, K. (1990). Avoidance of intimacy: An attachment perspective. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 7, 147-178. Model Available 15 Apr 2007 at: http://www.personalityresearch.org/attachment.html#references
• Betz, Nancy. (2004). "Contributions of self-efficacy theory to career counseling: apersonal perspective." Career Development Quarterly. Retrieved 15 Apr 2007 athttp://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JAX/is_4_52/ai_n6148412
• Bolles. Richard Nelson. (2002) What Color is Your Parachute? New York: Ten Speed Press.
• Fraley, Chris R. (11 Jun 2004) "A Brief Overview of Adult Attachment Theory and Research. The University of Illinois. Retrieved 15 Apr 2007 at http://www.psych.uiuc.edu/~rcfraley/attachment.htm
• Guindon, Mary H. & Lee J. Richmond. (Dec 2005). "Practice and research in career counseling and development--2004." Career Development Quarterly. Retrieved 15 Apr 2007 at http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JAX/is_2_54/ai_n16057611/pg_1

More papers on Career Counseling:

• Research Paper # 84995 : "Career Counseling"
• Term Paper # 125202 : "Model for Career Counseling"
• Essay # 32956 : "Career-Counseling Programs and Pregnant Teenagers"
• Persuasive Essay # 138614 : "Career Counseling and the "Glass Ceiling" Effect"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: