Frank Parsons Overlooked And Unappreciated Field Of Career Counseling

The timeline in Fig 1.2 showing “events, high points and key moments in counseling history” since the beginning of the 20th century both interested and surprised me in several ways. Firstly, I was surprised to learn that, rather than evolving slowly in parallel with the medical profession in general in response to the needs of the mentally ill (perhaps more descriptive of the field of psychiatry), counseling as a profession was in fact pioneered by Frank Parsons, or at least by the vocational guidance movement that he represented (Granello, 2012, p. 14). It is interesting to me that career guidance is still an important part of counseling, (Granello, 2012, p. 18) since Frank Parsons struggled with this personally and identified it as a need in society. On consideration, I realize that it makes a great deal of sense that finding an enjoyable and appropriate career has a huge impact on personal well-being, and therefore one’s mental health. Frank Parsons identified an important aspect of society (lack of education regarding suitable professions) that he felt might contribute to its dysfunction, and wrote a number of books, including “Choosing a Vocation” (Granello, 2012, p. 14). Although at first this seemed to me a surprising initiator of the Counseling profession, it is probably quite a natural one.

A professional who holds a Master’s degree in counseling my also chose to have a career as a Vocational counselors. They may also be referred to as a career or employment counselors. These counselors offer counseling services in places other than the school setting. Their main objective is to help individuals with career choices, examine an educational background, employment history, skill and abilities, personalities and other aspects to help them. Additionally, career counselors may offer support services to people who have lost their jobs or experiencing career change issues (Baxter, 1997).

Nemko’s article is established on a personal and relatable exemplum, “a device for clarifying or simply, example”, that immediately connects to his audience – who have seemingly had this exact conversation he’s had as a career counselor (Johnson 105). He briefs us on the “saddest moments as a career counselor [] when [he] hear[s] a story like this: ‘I wasn’t a good student in high school, but I wanted to prove to myself that I can get a college diploma--I’d be the first one in my family to do it. But it’s been six years and I still have 45 units to go’” (Nemko 32). Right off the bat, Nemko gains trust through his appeal to ethos. His “saddest moments as a career counselor” tell us of his knowledge of the

Obtaining a career focus is valuable in any college student’s lifetime; therefore, it would be profitable to meet with a career counselor to discuss occupational goals and interests. Moreover, involvement with the Focus 2 assessment is another contributing factor used to guide the career decision making process. The Focus 2 is comprised of five simple tests that will analyze compatible careers for the individual taking the assessment. Mr. Richard Glass, the career counselor that agreed to meet with me, believes that the work interests assessment produces the most promising results. For instance, my work interests fall under the social, artistic, and investigative categories. Through computerized analysis, I was given a list of occupations that would agree with the data received. The content of this paper will evaluate the results of the Focus 2 assessment, in addition to the major points discussed by Mr. Glass. Come the end of this paper, the reader will gain a better understanding of my work

During the interview, Stashia presented issues of career changed frequently as she diverted from majoring in one career path to another. She divulged in the interview that she had once listened to others and not decided on her own path. She reported changing her major, considered doing things differently if she could, and not having taken any vocational assessments that would have helped her. The writer will conceptualize interviewees barriers with theories of career counseling.

Pamelia E. Brott, an associate professor of counselor education at Virginia Tech with a Ph.D. in Counseling and Counselor Education at the University of North Carolina, wrote the article “A Career Story Approach to Management, Business, and Financial Occupations”. The article discusses what the future outlook is on business, while giving a personal story on how to achieve a good future outlook in the field. The target audience deals with business majors in general, with some specific majors in mind. Searching for something to do for the remainder of one’s life requires a lot of thinking, which produces a large amount of stress and uncertainty. For one to be able to pick a career that he or she will find a passion for many years will never be

Certain skills are necessary for obtaining a job as a middle school guidance counselor, such as personality attributes, communication skills, and management abilities. These are attributes which I must possess in order to receive the position of the middle school guidance counselor for the Edison Public Township School. Much of my experiences throughout life have provided some of these various skills, however there are many aspects of this career which I still need to develop and obtain experience. Therefore, in order to obtain a career working at a middle school as a guidance counselor, and become of professional in the field, I must enhance the skills I already obtain through experience within the field of school counseling and experience

One of the overall goals of the career counseling process is for the counselor to assist the client to transition from a stage of exploration of themselves and their abilities, interests and values to that of making career decisions. By identifying this in Ruby helped me guide her throughout our sessions and formulate an action plan to overcome her obstacles and challenges at work. As a counselor I must informed Ruby of the many phrases that we may go through during the career counseling process as well as to discuss the goals of each phase. This process is called “Exploring Phase” then “Decision-Making Phase” (Andersen and Vandehey, 2006, p.179).

What I have learned over the time in this course is career counseling incorporates all aspects of the individual. Yes, career counseling is focused on helping people find that career that fits them best matching their interests and personality but deals with other issues in the individuals’ life. The theory that resonates most with me is Holland’s theory and the use of Self-Directed Search (SDS) to identify interests, abilities, and personality (Sharf, 2013). When we were able to complete the Strong Interest Inventory and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Career Report and compare the result with the SDS to recognize the consistencies. These assessments reinforced my choice of becoming a professional counselor, although with my past career history

Savickas (2013) discussed the life design model to narrative career counseling, as it pertains to individuals already involved in a career. He stated that this model assists

In the beginning, career counseling was strictly developed to help with job placement, but it became so much more than that after the career development was further researched by a group of theorist that focused on career process. What is it that drives us to choose a specific career path? According to Zunker (2012), different theorists such as Parsons, Holland, Krumboltz, Bandura, Super, and Gottfredson all developed theories on career development and their perspective on the importance of occupational process. Throughout this paper one will discuss the John Holland’s Typology and the significance of this particular career theory. Some of the points that will be covered in this paper include: history of theory, strengths and weaknesses, assessments used, population best fit for this theory, and diversity and

Patton and McMahon (2006) developed a systems theory framework for development of careers called the Therapeutic Framework. The system categorizes the various factors that influence the choice of career into individual factors (for both the learner who is to choose their career and their counselor), organizational factors, or environmental factors (Patton & McMahon, 2006). The system also recognizes the effect of timing on these factors; thus incorporating the aspects of past, present and future (McMahon, Forde, & Dickson, 2015).

For many people, finding a career that is both fulfilling and practical is a strenuous task. Fortunately, there is a plethora of different interventions, techniques, assessments, and inventories designed to aid those individuals in making the wisest career choices possible. But are any of those routes inherently better than the others? Or are all the differing options separate but equally effective? Donald Super’s Life Span Theory and John Holland’s Theory of Vocational Choice are just two of the many theories used for career counseling. Both methods are distinct in the way they approach career issues, yet despite their differences, there are some resemblances between the two theories as well. Comparing and contrasting these two theories will make it easier to see if one theory is better than the other for career counseling or if they are both equally effective.

Gysbers (2003) proposes that the value of career theories comes from providing practitioners with a framework to examine client behaviour, help understand the possible meanings of or explanations for the behaviour and subsequently, enables them to identify and respond to clients’ goals or problems. Significantly then, such theories may help explain an individual’s vocational behaviour, such as their initial career choice or later aspects of career development. This essay attempts to identify the theoretical framework that will underpin my guidance practice in the future.

Career Counseling, or Career Services depending on the institution, is frequently offered on a one-on-one basis, but at times this service is provided through group workshops, classes, or computerized guidance systems. Traditionally a standard function of the career services role is to help students develop job search skills however the scope of the