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Career Counseling Process

Career counseling has been defined as an ongoing, face-to-face interaction between counselor and client with career- or work-related issues as the primary focus. The goal of career counseling is typically to assist individuals in developing self-understanding, articulating direction in their careers, and achieving their potential and discovering their purpose in daily activities.

There are indications that many people at some point during their lives would like assistance with career planning or with making decisions related to vocational or occupational issues. Although there are some uncertainties related to what specific process factors should be included in career counseling, there are still indications that most clients benefit from participating in career counseling. It should be noted that there are many similarities between the process of career counseling and personal counseling, but counselors need specific training for career counseling. More knowledge is needed, however, on the underlying processes and mechanisms that lead to effective change in career counseling. Specifically, there is a need for additional research related to which career interventions work with whom and under what conditions.

Multiple studies have found that individuals benefit from career counseling, and this entry will discuss the research related to the process of the career counseling that assists clients with work issues. More specifically, career counseling process relates to the overt and covert thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of both clients and counselors while engaged in career counseling. This discussion of the career counseling process will address the following: (a) whether career counseling process is different and distinct from personal counseling, (b) process factors that positively affect outcome, (c) process factors that negatively affect outcome, and (d) process factors worthy of additional investigation.

Process in Career Counseling versus Personal Counseling

There has been a long and extensive debate about the distinctions between career counseling and personal counseling or psychotherapy. Some scholars have argued that there is research support for the integration of career and personal counseling because there are similarities among clients, associated with research related to similarities of clients; common elements or counseling techniques; and similar outcomes for many clients. Both career and personal counseling clients share common problems, and they are not different in terms of level of adjustment or amount of emotional discomfort. In career and personal counseling, counselors use many of the same helping skills. A study conducted in England found that clients, counselors, and expert witnesses all agreed that the career guidance interviews were more effective if the counselor helped the client feel comfortable in discussing personal information. Interestingly, both career and personal counseling have been found to decrease clients' harmful psychological symptoms and to increase their abilities to solve problems. Although the process of career counseling is similar to personal counseling, practitioners also need to know about career or vocational theories and specific interventions strategies.

Process Factors That Produce Positive Outcomes

In comparison to psychotherapy research, there is limited process research in career counseling and therefore significantly less is known about the relationship between the process of the counseling and what contributes to positive results. However, researchers have identified five critical ingredients that should be included in any type of career counseling. The five critical ingredients are written exercises, individualized interpretations, occupational information, modeling, and attention to building support. Each of these critical ingredients contributes to positive outcomes for clients, and research suggests that clients benefit from the addition of each critical ingredient to the career counseling process.

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