Career Counseling

Foundations, Perspectives, and Applications

David Capuzzi, Mark Stauffer, David Capuzzi, Mark D. Stauffer, David Capuzzi, Mark Stauffer, David Capuzzi, Mark D. Stauffer

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351681049
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Psicología
• Subtopic: Asesoramiento psicoterapéutico

Career Counseling, 3 rd edition, provides a comprehensive, holistic overview of the foundations of career counseling, information on the most effective skills and techniques, and contextual perspectives on career and lifestyle planning, all by nationally and internationally recognized experts. Updated chapters introduce important material not often addressed in introductory texts, such as rehabilitation, addictive behaviors, counseling couples and families, and working with ethnic and gender/sexual minority clients. Included throughout the text are case studies, informational sidebars, and experiential activities that enhance the reading and encourage additional contemplation of chapter content. Readers can also turn to the book's companion website for chapter test questions, PowerPoints, and additional resources.

CHAPTER 1
Historical Influences on the Practice of Career Counseling

Anita A. Neuer Colburn and Christie Jenkins

Contents

Stage One: WWI and Frank Parsons

Stage Two: WWII and Theory Development

Stage Three: Civil Rights and the Search for Meaning in Work

Stage Four: Information Technology and Outplacement

Stage Five: Housing Crisis and Recovery

Stage Six: Post Housing Crisis to Present Future Trends in Career Counseling

Summary

Useful Websites

References

You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.

—Confucius

Confucius wisely points out the importance of understanding our history and how we ve impacted other people as we determine where we’d like to go next in our lives. Just as our personal histories are based partly on our own changing selves and partly on everything that happened outside of our control, so is the history of a profession. As you begin to explore the field of career counseling, you must first understand its foundational underpinnings in order to appreciate its current usefulness and contribution to the overall field of counseling. Career counseling is part and parcel of our development as a country. It is founded on our story to make our lives meaningful through our work. Career counseling has roots not only in economics and education, but also in philosophy and social change. If we look at career counseling through a historical lens, we begin to understand the overwhelming impact a career counselor has in the role of guiding others to their fulfillment. Career and vocational issues are interwoven into the fabric of our lives and the various roles we fill in our lives (e.g., individuals, partners, parents, siblings, friends).

Sidebar 1.1 The Case for Career Counseling

Ted, a 40-year-old African American, comes to counseling following the loss of his wife in a hurricane that devastated his entire neighborhood. You learn that his daughter was away at camp during the storm and that she survived. Ted feels guilty that he couldn’t save his wife, and he doesn’t know how to support his teenage daughter. Ted is an accountant with a local firm whose building was completely flooded in the storm, and he reports that he really never liked accounting to begin with, and that he wants to take this opportunity to change careers.

1. How might Ted’s dislike of his career as an accountant have impacted his relationships at home?
2. How might Ted’s guilt and grief impact his ability to make decisions about a new career?
3. How will Ted’s new role as a single parent impact his career choice?

Consider your own life. How has your work life impacted your personal life? How has your personal life impacted your work life? At one time, career counseling was really just about job placement, but it has evolved into a discipline addressing a central component of self-identity, which impacts every relationship a person has.

Because career issues impact, and are impacted by personal, relational, physiological, spiritual, and mental health issues, the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Programs (CACREP, 2015) requires counseling programs seeking accreditation to provide foundational training in this important area. Further, in 2010, delegates of the American Counseling Association (ACA, n.d. a) posited a consensus definition of counseling: “A professional relationship that empowers diverse individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, education, and career goals” (Kaplan, Tarvydas, & Gladding, 2014, p. 368) that was subsequently endorsed by a wide variety of counseling and counseling-related organizations.

Sidebar 1.2 Career Plan: CACREP 2016 Standards: Core Professional Identity Standards for Career Development

(Source Data: CACREP (2015 Standards 2.F.4.a-j)

Republished with permission of Taylor & Francis Books LLC, from “Career Counseling” by Anita A. Neuer Colburn, in Capuzzi & Gross (2017) Introduction to the Counseling Profession (7th Ed); permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.

Section F of the 2016 Standards (CACREP, 2015) specifically names the “common core” career development knowledge that all professional counselors should have, even if not specializing in career counseling. Consider the acronym CAREER PLAN to remind you of these important standards for foundational career knowledge. For each letter, the actual standard number is noted in parentheses:

• C— C ulturally relevant and ethical strategies for addressing career development (2.F.4.j)
• A—Methods to identify and use appropriate A ssessment tools and techniques (2.F.4.i)
• R— R elationships between work, well-being, personal relationships, and other roles (2.F.4.b)
• E—Assess conditions of the work E nvironment on life experiences (2.F.4.b)
• E—Identify and using E ducational, Career, Avocational, and Labor Market information (2.F.4.c)
• R— R eview all aspects of career management, including assessment of abilities, interests, values, personality, and other factors (2.F.4.e)
• P—Strategies for career development program P lanning, organization, implementation, and evaluation (2.F.4.f)
• L— L earn career development theories and models (2.F.4.a)
• A— A dvocate for diverse clients’ educational and career opportunities in a global economy (2.F.4.g)
• N— N ame strategies to facilitate client skill development for career and life planning (2.F.4.h)

Q: What do you think about these standards? How do you feel when you consider these areas for which all counselors must be trained? Which areas do you think will be most exciting to learn? Which do you think will be most challenging?

Scholars (e.g., Aubrey, 1977; Kerr, 2001; Neuer Colburn, 2017; Pope, 2000; Savickas, 1993; Shen-Miller, McWhirter, & Bartone, 2012; Zunker, 2016) concur that social, political, and economic forces both domestically and internationally have had, and continue to have, a significant impact on the development of career counseling in the United States. In this chapter, we present the historical events that have shaped the development of the field of career counseling, and provide support for the inclusion of career counseling training in the preparation of any professional helper. We’ve organized the chapter into six stages of development, modeled after the work of Pope (2000) and following a new breakdown of historical influences posited by Neuer Colburn (2017).

Table 1.1 Career Counseling: Historical Highlights

	History of Career Counseling
Stage One WWI and Frank Parsons 1890–1928	• “Vocational Guidance” focusing on job placement and school guidance programs
	• Protestant work ethic and social Darwinism
	• Humanitarian reformer Jesse B. Davis as counselor for career problems (Central H.S., Detroit)—1898
	• Frank Parsons establishes the Vocations Bureau and publishes “Choosing a Vocation” with a focus on schools—1909
	• National Vocational Guidance Association (NVGA), now the National Career Development Association (NCDA)—1913
	• Industrialization and Urbanization; displaced returning soldiers
	• Post WWI: psychological testing and self-assessment increase; attention to contextual factors decreases
Stage Two WWII and Theory Development 1929–1958	• Great Depression, social unrest, and mass unemployment
	• Increased organization of labor unions
	• Vocational legislation establishes government offices
	• E. G. Williamson’s How to Counsel Students—1939
	• First edition of Dictionary of Occupational Titles—1939
	• WWII and Truman’s Fair Deal program for returning soldiers
	• Influx of college students resulting from Gl Bill of Rights
	• NVGA as founding member of American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA), now the American Counseling Association (ACA)—1952
	• Postwar themes of personal autonomy and self determination, along with developmental stage theories from other disciplines (Erikson, 1950; Maslow, 1954; Rogers, 1951) shift vocational theory to emphasis on context of clients’ lives
	• National Defense Education Act (1958) in response to our perceived loss of technological superiority following USSR Sputnik launch. Counselor training established.
Stage Three Civil Rights and Search for Meaning in Work 1959–1979	• “Career Counseling” now with emphasis on finding meaning in work; organizational career development
	• Development of social programs to assist workers in finding jobs
	• Vocational and Education Act of 1963 in response to highest unemployment since 1930s
	• Growth in career counseling in government, nonprofit, and business and industry
	• Edwin Herr (noted ACA and NCDA leader; deceased in 2016) publishes Vocational Guidance and Human Development—1974
	• Influence of Watergate and Vietnam War on societal trust in government
	• Inflation and high unemployment in late 1970s
Stage Four Information Technology and Outplacement 1980–2006	• Employers demanding more technically skilled workers; massive layoff in industrial sectors of economy
	• Rise of private practice career counseling; career counseling competencies established
	• Multicultural counseling considerations gain attention
	• APGA changes name to American Association of Counseling and Development in 1983, then to American Counseling Association in 1992 (ACA, n.d.b)
	• Americans with Disabilities Act—1990
	• Corporate-sponsored outplacement services for “downsized” workers
	• Services for poor and homeless being required to go to work (welfare-to-work movement)
	• Technological sophistication and instant communication
	• Perception that multiple careers over the course of one’s life may be possible
Stage Five Housing Crisis and Recovery 2007–2013	• Financial crisis rooted in subprime mortgages; worldwide economic impact
	• Housing “bubble” and millions of people losing homes
	• Job stability decreasing, higher unemployment
	• 9/1 1/01 attacks on World Trade Center; Pentagon
Stage Six Post Housing Crisis/Current 2014–Present	• Artificial intelligence, robotics, and nanotechnology
	• New concerns regarding ethical and privacy issues
	• Women’s rising aspirations and economic power
	• Aging labor force (median age 42.4 by 2024)
	• Youth participation in labor force decreasing
	• Increased ethnic diversity
	• Election of President Trump

Source data: BLS Employment Projections Report {2015); Herr (2013); Pope (2000); Shen-Miller et al. (2012); and WEF Future of Jobs Report (2016)

Republished with permission of Taylor & Francis Books LLC, from ,Career Counseling- by Anita A. Neuer Colburn, in Capuzzi & Gross (2017) Introduction to the Counseling Profession (7th Ed); permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.

In each stage, readers will find sidebars designed to help apply the material to the current realities of working with clients around career issues.

Stage One: WWI and Frank Parsons

Frank Parsons

The late 1800s and early 1900s brought havoc and evolution in the United States. The industrial revolution brought a huge influx of European immigrants who found it difficult to find their place in a new country filled with the mistreatment of workers, poverty, and inequity in the workplace. Many people moved from rural areas to urban areas due to the magnetism of new jobs. This attraction soon waned as the employees found the long hours and congested living conditions to be disagreeable. As some workers began to rise up and ask for reformation of the impersonal and chaotic conditions, others responded uniquely with a message of social change. This time period was heavily influenced by a Protestant work ethic and social Darwinism. It was thought that hard work pays off and if you work hard enough, you could...