Career Counseling Over the Internet

An Emerging Model for Trusting and Responding To Online Clients

Patricia Mulcah Boer

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2000
• Print ISBN: 9780805837445
• eBook ISBN: 9781135652340
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: History & Theory in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

This is one of the first books on the subject of counseling clients via e-mail. The author has taken the area of counseling practice and systematically reviewed relevant counseling theory, counseling ethics, and counseling skills in relation to Web counseling. The objective is to provide a practical text and guide for career counselors in online service. This book will be of interest to professionals in the field of career counseling, to graduate students of counseling, and to human resource management and outplacement professionals.

The book begins by articulating issues in the debate on Internet counseling, giving particular attention to counselor concerns about ethical issues and the client-counselor relationship. Next, it details the 11 necessary competencies and skills for counseling professionals in general, translating these for use online, including the role of assessment, various electronic interventions, and the pros and cons of career counseling via the Web. Specific guidelines are offered for career counselors to implement online. The book concludes with suggestions for continuing research, as well as recommendations for counselor supervision, preparation, and training models as the field makes a paradigm shift. Framed into 10 chapters, 35 question and answer examples are interspersed to bring to life the actual experiences, themes, issues, and questions presented by a global clientele regarding their career development. Each chapter closes with discussion questions for practitioners to consider themselves or discuss with students in classroom and practice settings.

PART
I
Reflections on Practice

As a career counseling practitioner and ethnographic researcher, reflections on practice permeate everything I do. For example, when I listen to a client’s story, simultaneously I am reflecting on the context of his or her life, individual circumstances, and how these fit with career counseling theories. As I review my notes or texts in a client file I also reflect on their meanings, all the while considering appropriate interventions or resources to help the client move forward. It seems only logical to begin the first chapters of this book with reflection on practice. This organizing theme allows me to share what I have learned as an online career counselor. My rationale for choosing online practice is explained in chapter 1, Articulating the Issues in the Debate. Chapter 2, Career Development Theory, focuses on the first of 11 career counseling competencies expected of a National Certified Career Counselor (NCCC). This chapter emphasizes the appropriateness of online services. providing assurances in chapter 3 about Safeguarding the Client-Counselor Relationship. Actual examples from online practice illustrate and reinforce the importance of online practice to clients. Additional examples are offered in Part II, Translating Reflections into Practice.

1

Articulating Issues in the Debate

There is consensus among counselors that the most satisfying part of our job is being with a client, witnessing the moment when a connection is made. At that moment you see a change in body language, such as posture, facial expression, a sparkle in the eye, all changes signaling the client feels heard and understood. They feel a burden has been lifted. They are freer, ready to focus, and move forward. No outside force, person, or supervisor is necessary to tell you when this happens. You know it. Although it may not happen with every client, when it does, you know clearly that you are doing your job. Theorists identify this moment as building the client-counselor relationship, a relationship built on trust, acceptance, and unconditional positive regard (Crose, 1990; Minchin, 1974; Rogers, 1961; Satir, 1972; Tiedeman & Miller-Tiedeman, 1988, 1989). Establishing and building this relationship is not a set of techniques alone. Instead, theorists characterize it as an attitude: Satir called this “nurturance,” Crose identified it as “caring,” and Minchin, “joining.” This special relationship is also characterized by a deep respect for individuals in all their complexities.

FIVE ISSUES MARK THE DEBATE ON INTERNET COUNSELING

Establishing and safeguarding the client-counselor relationship is both the heart of professional life for counselors, and a definition of the client-centered approach to the counseling process (Hansen, Stevic, & Warner, 1976). To counselors, safeguarding the client-counselor relationship is chief among the five core issues in the debate about online counseling, what Bloom (1997) defined as WebCounseling. Questions surrounding the client-counselor relationship focus first on how to protect the integrity of the relationship against potential misunderstandings arising from a lack of visual clues and what happens in emergencies when the client is halfway around the globe. Closely related to this issue is the second issue of ethical practice: how to ensure confidentiality and access. Third is technology (both keeping up with its changes and technological failures), as well as billing and termination issues: What impact does technology have on the counseling process? Fourth is research. Because there is virtually no research available, how do we know if WebCounseling is helpful or harmful? Counselor preparation is fifth, including certification to answer how we can make a paradigm shift and/or protect the public interest without legislation.

National Standards

Together, these five issues unleashed an intense debate when the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) approved standards for counseling over the Internet in September 1997. One month later, the Board of Directors of the National Career Development Association (NCDA) approved NCDA Guidelines for the Use of the Internet For Provision of Career Information and Planning Services. These guidelines:

1. Outline four major ways to provide career planning services to clients.
2. Differentiate career planning services from career counseling.
3. List eight multiple means for delivery including:
   • Developer/provider qualifications
   • Access and understanding of environment
   • Content of career counseling and planning services
   • Appr opriateness of client for receipt of services via the Internet
   • Appropriate support for the client
   • Clarity of the contract with the client
   • Inclusion of linkages to other websites
   • Use of assessment
4. Add three categories focusing on:
   • Professional and ethical guidelines related to job posting/searching
   • Unacceptable counselor behaviors on the internet
   • Need for research and review

The debate about online counseling services began long before the development of NBCC and NCDA standards for counseling over the Internet. Approval of new standards simply gave permission for professionals to formally express their concerns. Reaching back a decade earlier, the debate started when vendors of psychological assessments and career interest inventories began marketing online capabilities. Companies like Consulting Psychology Press, now Consulting Psychology Press-Davies Black Publishing (CPP-DB) and the National Scoring Center (NSC) were among the first to target online assessment instruments to college and university counseling and career centers. Online administration and scoring options offered increased access to users. For test administrators and counselors, the service offered a confidential and expedient method to retrieve and review assessment results with clients. Online assessments thereby served as tools for counselors rather than a replacement for their services. Yet not all counselors welcomed this direction.

The Growth of Electronic Interventions

In the years since, online career counseling services evolved and flourished, quickly becoming part of the career guidance movement in the United States. Today, an array of electronic career interventions, or online services, is available to the public. Although many, these interventions are not the focus of this chapter, nor specifically germane to key issues in the debate. However, for purposes of understanding the growth of online services, selected interventions are listed here:

• computer-based career guidance and information systems
• vocational assessments and interest inventories
• message boards
• chats
• telephone counseling
• e-mail counseling
• databases
• video and teleconferencing
• combinations of the above interventions

Zunker (1994) described this evolution, including aspects of the debate, by characterizing the career guidance movement as “the story of human progress in a nation founded on the principle of human rights. It touches all aspects of human life, for it has involved political, economic, educational, philosophical and social progress and change” (p. 3). Further evidence of the evolution and expansion of electronic career counseling services and interventions can be observed by the growth of Web sites dedicated to academic career centers and commercial online career services.

ACADEMIC AND COMMERCIAL ONLINE CAREER SERVICES

A brief search of the hard copy and online literature identified more than 1,700 college and university career centers listed on the databases of The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE; 1998). Through these more than 1,700 campus services, students, alumni, and interested parties have access to online career services, with many sites encouraging visitors to e-mail questions to staff.

Like the growth of academic career centers, commercial career centers have mushroomed. Dixon (1998) noted “at last count, well over 1,300 employment sites were on the web—and that’s a conservative estimate.” To help the user know where to start, Dixon identified the top seven career sites, nicknaming them “The Big Seven,” and listing their individual attributes.

The Big Seven

1. America’s Job Bank (www.ajb.dni.us): for finding state and government jobs.
2. Career Mosaic (www.careermosaic.com): for finding technical and other general jobs.
3. CareerPath.com (www.careerpath.com): one of the best when you’re relocating.
4. Espan (www.espan.com): recently renovated and upgraded.
5. Monster Board (www.monster.com): for new graduates and the upwardly mobile.
6. Online Career Center (www.occ.com): high-quality site for seasoned professionals.
7. Yahoo! Classified (classified.yahoo.com/employment.html): for all types of jobs.

Consistent with Dixon’s assessment, the National Business Employment Weekly (Weddle, 1998) published a special report on “The Best Web Sites for Job Hunters.” The report reviewed 70 sites highlighting the best in the following five categories: overall support, job search support, career resources, general purpose use, and specialty use.

Fíve Best Career Sites for Job Seekers

1. CareerMagazine (www.careermag.com)
2. CareerMosaic (www.careermosaic.com)
3. CareerPath.com (www.careerpath.com)
4. Excite Careers Network (www.excite.com/careers)
5. Online Career Center (www.ooc.com)

Additionally, the report in the National Business Employment Weekly selected “the Online Career Center’s Magazine, Career Karma, with its Career Guru Q & A Column (individualized e-mail career counseling) as the best service for job seekers on the web.”

Less than 1 year later, online commercial career centers and Web sites continued to evolve, offering expanded services. For example, The Online Career Center (OCC) and Monster Board merged, expanding services under the new name, Monster.com. Headquartered in Maynard, Massachusetts, Monster.com is considered the leading global careers Web site. Media Metrix, a New York-based company that measures traffic on the Internet, ranked Monster.com as the 71st most visited of all Internet sites. According to a recent report, its ranking was measured by 8.1 million unique visits per month and a network of language sites in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Its newest service, The Talent Market, launched July 4, 1999, provides independent professionals and consultants with a method to market their skills in real time to employers, and speaks to the continuing evolution of new career services via the Web (Time Warner Telecom, Inc., 8/11/99, http://www.prnewswire.com).

The Number One Site

By the end of December 1999, research conducted by Media Metrix for the month of November, reported Monster.com as the number one destination for career seekers and one of the top 100 most visited Web sites overall on the Internet. In December, Monster.com topped off a tremendous year when it announced a 4-year, $100 million relationship with America Online, Inc. (AOL). Under this new agreement, Monster.com (AOL Keyword: Monster) will become the exclusive career search across AOL, AOL Canada, AOL.COM, CompuServe, ICQ, Netscape Netcenter, and Digital City. With more than 20 million members, AOL is the world’s leading Internet online service, and its Web brands serve tens of millions of other Internet consumers (Business Wire, 1999).

A review of the online and hard copy literature not only points to the ongoing expansion of Internet career services, it captures concerns surrounding the debate. As noted earlier, the following include: (a) Ethical practice (Can we ensure confidentiality, access?), (b) Client-counselor relationship (How do we protect its integrity against potential misunderstandings arising from a lack of visual clues and what happens in emergencies when the client is halfway around the globe?), (c) Technology (both keeping up with the changes and technology failures), as well as billing and termination issues (What impact do these have on the counseling process?), (d) Research (Because there is virtually no research available, how do we know if online counseling is helpful or harmful?), and (e) Counselor preparation, including certification issues to answer (How can we make a paradigm shift and/or protect the public interest without legislation?).

RESPONSES BY THE STAKEHOLDERS

Given the five issues just outlined, it is my belief that the debate focuses not on whether or not we will have online career counseling, but on the value and efficacy of how this movement continues, including its value to the profession, the individual, and society. Like any debate, the issues articulated in the literature represent various stakeholders. Before discussing my position (first lesson on the road), I offer a closer look at the issues, turning first to (a) leaders in the career development field; (b) providers or vendors of technology and information; and (c) counselors in the trenches.

Leaders in the Field

Differentiating stakeholders starts with a summary of the issues and perspectives articulated by leaders in the field of career development. Germane to their concerns are comments made by Harris-Bowlsbey, (1996), executive director of the ACT Educational Technology Center and former president of the NCDA, who noted:

the profession of career counseling is at a crossroads, at a time when its services are more desperately needed than at any other time in history. The structure, that have supported career counseling since its foundation was laid by Frank Parsons, are under attack. If the profession can redesign its structure, theories, and methods of providing services, and if strong, cohesive, national policy and legislation can support those changes, the profession could have a very exciting future. (p. 57)

Like Harris-Bowlsbey, Watts (1996, 1998), an international leader in the field, also viewed the career counseling profession at a crossroads, suggesting that the “explosion of the information technology in general and the rapid expansion of the Internet in particular have huge implications for access to information and to ‘distance’ career counseling” (Watts, 1996, p. 52). Accordingly, Watts believes that, “Its time (career counseling) has come,” noting that it will move forward

If (career counseling) can demonstrate new forms of adaptability and creativity in its work, it will be able to grasp the opportunity. If it can do so, this could have a powerful contribution to make to the health and prosperity both of our societies and of the individuals within them. (p. 52)

For Harris-Bowlsbey and Watts, the debate is focused on the bigpicture, the future of the profession, its contributions to society, legislation, and public policy issues.

Vendors and Providers of Services

The second perspective on the debate comes from concerns expressed by technology providers and vendors. Vendors (providers of occupational information and assessment services) see the Department of Labor (DOL) as stepping into their territory. According to Guerra (1998), the DOL traditionally has gathered information that is passed on to career development vendors. The information focuses on occupations and occupational choice. From this information, vendors develop products, which are sold to career counselors and career centers. Currently, vendors are arguing to Congressional officials that this is an antitrust case involving the use of tax dollars by a government agency to compete with private business, versus providing a service to support the business community.

Providers are also concerned that the DOL Web site is being designed without involvement of the career development community. James Sampson, a professor of counselor education at the University of Florida in Gainesville, noted that focus groups are meeting to determine what role the government should play in distributing its information on the Internet. According to Sampson (cited in Guerra, 1998), it is a slow process, with the most important question underlining this facet of the debate being “the ethics of providing these services over the Internet” (p. 22). Accordingly, ethical issues refer to the quality of the information, the question of equal access, and the qualifications of the person delivering the services over the Internet.

Counselors in the Trenches

In contrast to ethical issues focused on the quality of information, the voices of individual career counselors do not appear as vocal as the vendors and leaders, who at times both appear to speak for counselors. Instead, counselors in the psychotherapy camp are the ones articulating the third perspective that focuses on direct service issues or ethical issues about the client-counselor relationship. Sirch-Stasko (1998) described this relationship as “dynamics, which cannot be replicated via the Internet. The spiritual component of what transpires within the therapeutic hour, the non-verbal dialogue, the potential impact…the proximity of counselor to client, are all integral elements of the counseling process” (p. 20). Sirch-Stasko feared by omitting these dimensions that “the very essence of what we do has changed and not for the better” (p. 20).

Others concur with this assessment. For example, Sussman (1998) discussed the loss of the “dialectical process. In face to face counseling there is a continuous and immediate feedback loop between counselor and client. E-mail precludes this…(and)…the complete lack of nonverbal information” (pp. 8, 28). Sussman’s assessment is at the heart of the debate for counselors (i.e., that without non-verbal information in a face to face exchange, counseling cannot take place, or at best is compromised). This is consistent with Morrissey (1997) who earlier reported concerns about the:

difficulty in developing a rapport with someone they’ve never seen, the absence of body language, clients written communication skills, the expense of keeping up with the latest technology and billing and termination issues. (p. 3)

Sussman also wrote about the pros of online counseling, identifying “some 80 sites where some form of counseling or psychotherapy is purported to occur” (p. 8). Although focusing on mental health counseling, Sussman articulated several advantages that are equally applicable to online career counseling, namely increasing access. She cited four examples of access:

1. Bringing services to underserved populations and geographically isolated areas.
2. Providing increased access to specialists regardless of geographic location.
3. Overcoming transportation problems for people with disabilities or confined to their homes, as well as parents who are restricted by arrangements for leaving work or day-care concerns.
4. Allowing people who are apprehensive about seeking services to do so feeling safe from the confines of their homes.

In contrast Lanning, a professor formerly in the Department of Counseling at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and contributor to the NBCC WebCounseling Standards, shared a different view. According to Lanning (cited in Morrissey, 1997), at presentations on the Internet, he regularly asked audiences to suggest pri...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Introduction
• Acknowledgments
• Part I Reflections on Practice
• Part II Translating Reflections Into Practice
• Part III Preparing for a Paradigm Shift
• Appendix A: Websites
• Appendix B: Databases
• References