Essential Elements of Career Counseling: Processes and Techniques » (2nd Edition)

Norman Amundson is a professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of British Columbia. A leader in the field of career development, Amundson recently received the Best Book Award from the Canadian Counseling Association for his book Active Engagement (Ergon Communications, 2003). His research focuses on counseling methods, unemployment, and changes in working life, while his numerous lectures, articles, workshops and seminars emphasis the importance of imagination, creativity, and action in the career counseling process.

The second edition of this textbook focuses primarily on the practice of career counseling by describing some of the basic techniques and resources that can be used to support the theories of career choice and development. The authors present information and a structure that is robust and, as such, can be widely applied. They also address some emerging issues such as Web-based counseling and provide case studies throughout the text. A belief in quality career counseling is at the forefront of this book, as well as the exploration of various myths and emerging trends. Career counseling is defined and the competencies that counselors need to pursue as part of their training agenda are outlined. As a supplement, the text includes the NCDA guidelines for competency standards and ethical guidelines as appendicies at the back of the book.

Career Counseling: Myths, Realities, and Emerging Trends     1
What Is Career Counseling?     2
Factors Contributing to Shifts in Career Counseling     3
Seven Common Career Counseling Myths     5
Defining Career Counseling     7
Career Counseling Competencies     7
Using Career Theories to Help Clients     10
Theory of John L. Holland     11
Counseling Goals     17
Sample Counselor-Client Interchange     18
Second Interview     18
Theory of Donald E. Super     20
Counseling Goals     22
Sample Client-Counselor Interchange     23
Second Interview     24
The Narrative Approach of Mark L. Savickas     24
Counseling Goals     26
Sample Client-Counselor Interchange     26
Theory of John Krumboltz     27
Counseling Goals and Steps     28
Sample Counselor-Client Interchange     28
Summary     31
Context and Career Planning     32
Internal Variables     35
Assessing Self-Variables     37
External Variables     37
Summary     40
Negotiating the CareerCounseling Relationship     41
Creating a Mattering Climate     42
Building Bridges     45
Negotiating the Working Alliance     46
Coping with Client Reluctance     48
Fear of the Unfamiliar     48
Refusal to Acknowledge or Take Responsibility for the Problem     49
Job Loss and Job Search Burnout     49
Fighting the System     49
Secondary Gains     49
Mandated Participation     50
Summary     51
Defining the Client's Career Concerns     52
Elaborating the Problem     57
Viewing the Problem Through a Metaphoric Lens     58
Changing Direction     60
Summary     61
Exploring the Problem: Understanding the Self     62
Questioning and Storytelling     63
In Search of Flow and Excellence (Self)     63
In Search of Flow and Excellence (Others)     66
No Worries, Mate     66
Strengths in Other Places     67
Metaphors     67
Structured Assessment     69
Limitations     72
Summary     72
Exploring the Problem: Contextual and Labor Market Options      74
Social Context     75
Educational and Work/Leisure Context     77
Labor Market Options (A Personal View)     80
Summary     81
Using Websites in Support of Career Counseling     83
Deciding Whether to Use a Technology-Based Intervention     85
Selecting Systems and Sites     88
An Example     89
Summary     90
Building and Using a Virtual Career Center     92
Components of a Virtual Career Center     93
Local Information as a Part of the Virtual Career Center     96
Access to Web Counseling     96
Monitoring Feature     98
Organization of the Virtual Career Center     98
Sample Sites     99
Summary     100
Consolidation, Decision Making, and Action Planning     101
Consolidation     102
Decision Making     104
Readiness for Action Planning     107
Developing the Action Plan     107
Advocacy and Social Action     109
Summary     110
Implementing Action Plans     111
Providing Support to Clients     112
Processing New Insights and Information      114
Action Plans That Aren't Followed Through     117
Handling Additional Concerns     119
Summary     120
Evaluating Client Progress     121
Evaluating Client Progress During the Course of Career Counseling     123
Career Counseling Goals Often Change Over Time     124
Career Counseling Is Often Short-Term Counseling     125
Evaluating Client Progress at the End of Career Counseling     127
Eliminate the Ambiguity     127
Addressing the Emotions Associated with Ending     127
Creating an Environment for a Positive Ending     128
Knowing When to Terminate     131
Summary     132
Adapting Career Counseling to Counseling Settings     133
School Settings     136
University Settings     138
Community Settings     140
Summary     141
The National Career Development Association's Career Counseling Competencies and Performance Indicators     143
National Career Development Association Ethical Standards (Revised 2003)     153
References     162
Index     168