1. Career Counseling: A Holistic Approach
Chapter 4: Integrating Career and Personal Counseling
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2. Integrating Career and Personal Counseling
Work is core element of an individual’s everyday existence
It gives meaning to the many facets of each person’s life and should be addressed more aggressively in the counseling profession
What is being suggested is a holistic counseling approach that is much more inclusive when addressing client concerns – focus on how all concerns interrelate
The call for the counseling profession to integrate career and personal counseling was heightened in the 1990s
Osipow (1979) put forward the idea of blending vocational development with mental health when working with adults in the workplace – Occupational Mental Health
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Counselor and client should work together to develop the client’s self and situational knowledge as shaped in person-in-environment interactions
Personal problems cannot be separated from career problems because they are intertwined - there are interrelationships of personal and career problems and that affect multiple life roles
Career counseling is a highly personal matter that includes the multidimensional self and its relationship to life and work
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4. Biopsychosocial Model
The contributions of cognitive science and neuroscience have underscored the position that the interplay of biological, psychological and social influences are recognized as major forces that drive behavior (fig. 4.1)
Brain function is complex: stressful life situations & psychological interventions can alter brain functions; biochemistry is part of the interactions; biological vulnerabilities include genetic predispositions, which are not certainties in most cases of mental health
Emotions and cognitions can be reinforced or diminished in interactions between dimensions – e.g. high serotonin can influence development of distorted beliefs that interfere with all life roles
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Environmental influences can alter brain functions
Much of what one learns is through social contexts, which can contribute to disorder (e.g. pressure, a lack of social support, specific experiences, etc can increase anxiety) – learning can change the genetic structure – social experiences become part of one’s biology
Poverty, social inequality, discrimination, & oppression can diminish one’s sense of self-control and can adversely affect self-concept & self-esteem
Positive thinking & related behavior can increase the effectiveness of the immune system
A multidimensional model does not imply that all dimensions have contributed equally to disorder - Individuals react differently when exposed to identical events & stressors
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6. Development of Dysfunctional Personality Dimensions
All life roles are adversely affected by personality dimensions that could lead to psychological disorders (fig 4.2 – Antisocial example)
- early detection of influences & prevention is key
4 Domains of Conceptualization (table 4.1, p 129): Career, Affective, Cognitive-Behavioral and Cultural - all are interrelated & addressing this can enhance counseling
With some clients, it may be best to delay career counseling; with others, career & personal concerns can be dealt with simultaneously
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