Chapter ThreeChapter ThreeToward a Holistic View: Toward a Holistic View:

Decision-Making, Postmodern, Decision-Making, Postmodern, and Emerging Theoriesand Emerging Theories

Jane Goodman

Career Counseling: Foundations, Perspectives, and Applications edited by David Capuzzi and Mark Stauffer

Holistic ApproachHolistic Approach• Career along with life planning

• Individual as well as contextual and cultural

• Masculine and Feminine

• Relational approach to career counseling

BarriersBarriers

• Counselors help clients work through external barriers and Internal barriers.

• Counselors advocate on behalf of clients and teach clients how to advocate on their own behalf.

PathwaysPathways

Peterson (1995) states that “most people entering the work force today will have three to five careers and eight to ten jobs.”

Most unlikely to have one job or job field for life.

Finding Meaning In Work and Finding Meaning In Work and CareerCareer

Two Tramps in Mud Time

But yield who will to their separation,My object in living is to uniteMy avocation and my vocationAs my two eyes make one in sight

(Frost, 1930, p. 314)

Finding Meaning In Work and Finding Meaning In Work and CareerCareer

Victor Frankl (1963)—meaning is essential to survival.

Calling (Vocation)—“vocare” in Latin is “to call”

Burnout and failure in the search for meaning through work

Authentic existence with occupation

Integrating Spirituality and Integrating Spirituality and WorkWork

Whole selves at work

Spirituality as an answer to isolation, existential frustration, alienation, and violence in the workplace

Defining SpiritualityDefining Spirituality

• Connectedness of history• Interconnectedness of life• Sense of transcendence• Spirituality of dwelling• Spirituality of seeking• Peak experiences• Sense of awe

• Purpose and meaning by adhering to sets of larger beliefs• Exercise of faith• Experience of a connection with God• Spirituality of moral responsibility• Other?

Cohen’s (2003) Cohen’s (2003) Existentialism and Career Existentialism and Career

DevelopmentDevelopmentKey concepts

Responsibility Evaluation Action Reevaluation

Bloch’s (1997) “Right work”Bloch’s (1997) “Right work”

Implications for finding right work1.Nature of meaning in life as it relates to connectedness2.Forms of Stillness (e.g., meditation)3.Intentionality

Brewer’s (2001) Vocational Brewer’s (2001) Vocational Souljourn ParadigmSouljourn Paradigm

“the ongoing interior process of discovering meaning, being, and doing and the expression of that discovery in the exterior world of work through four possible paths: job, occupation, career, and Vocation”

(p. 84).

Seligman’s Learned Seligman’s Learned OptimismOptimism

Optimism is a critical life skill, and that can be learned (Seligman, 1998).1.Distraction2.Disputation

a) Evidenceb) Alternativesc) Implications

The Decision-Making ProcessThe Decision-Making Process

Planned Happenstance

• “Chance favors the prepared mind.”• Indecision as open mindedness• Curiosity, persistence, flexibility, optimism, and risk taking

The Decision-Making ProcessThe Decision-Making Process

Positive Uncertainty1.Be focused and flexible about what you want.2.Be aware and wary about what you know.3.Be objective and optimistic about what you believe.4.Be practical and magical about what you do (Gelatt, 1991, pp. 7-10).

The Decision-Making ProcessThe Decision-Making Process

Dealing with ChangeGelatt’s (1991) “resilient” mouse:

1) change happens 2) anticipate change3) monitor change4) adapt to change quickly5) change6) enjoy change7) be ready to quickly change again and again.

Post Modern ApproachesPost Modern Approaches

Narrative Approach

Integrative life planning

Constructivist theories

Contextual action theory of career counseling

Relational approach to career counseling

Narrative QuestionsNarrative Questions1. Who do you admire? Who would you pattern your

life after? Who did you admire growing up? How are you like this person? How are you different from this person?

2. Do you read any magazines regularly? Which ones?

3. What do you like to do in your free time? 4. Do you have a favorite saying or motto?5. What are (were) your three favorite subjects in

school? What subjects do (did) you hate?6. What is your earliest recollection?

(Savickas, 2003)

Integrative Life PlanningIntegrative Life Planning

1. Finding work that needs doing 2. Attending to our health3. Connecting family and work 4. Valuing pluralism and diversity5. Managing transitions and organizational

change6. Exploring spirituality and life purpose

(Hansen, 2002, p. 61)

Post Modern ApproachesPost Modern Approaches

Constructivist theories

Contextual action theory of career counseling

Relational approach to career counseling

Adult Career TransitionsAdult Career Transitions

Schlossberg’s 4-S system for transitions Situation Self Support Strategies

ReferencesReferences

Brewer, E. W. (2001). Vocational souljourn paradigm: A model of adult development to express spiritual wellness as meaning, being, and doing in work and life. Counseling and Values, 45, (2), 83-92.

Cohen, B. N. (2003). Applying existential theory and interventions to career decision-making. Journal of Career Development, 29, 195-209.

Frankl, V. E, (1963). Man’s search for meaning: An introduction to logotherapy. New York: Washington Square Press.

Frost, R. (1930). The poems of Robert Frost. New York: Random House.

Gelatt, H. B. (1991). Creative decision making: Using positive uncertainty. Los Altos, CA: Crisp.

Peterson, L. (1995) Starting out, starting over. Palo Alto, CA: Davies-Black.