Abstract
This article describes a potential way of counseling emerging adults from a life design perspective to construct a self that could enable them to be agents of both their own development and the development of others. Theoretical issues relating to a dynamic, developmental and systems framework of the understanding of wellbeing are described and the process involved is delineated. The research design was qualitative and comprised case studies. Six participants who subscribed to the definition of “emerging adults” and were comparatively representative of the ethnic diversity of South Africa, were selected purposively from a group of individuals who applied for career counseling in a private practice context. The intervention involved life design counseling and occurred over a period of 6 weeks. Information related to participants' self-construction was gathered using qualitative techniques, including the Career Interest Profile, the Career Construction Interview, a timeline, video clips, a collage, and semi-structured interviews. Following the intervention, the participants revealed heightened insights with regard to aspects of their sense of a relational-moral self. Results indicated that life design counseling could enhance elaborative personal development (enhancing self-awareness and reaping the benefits of developing an improved relational-moral self) and the promotion of an awareness of the importance to promote social justice in work-related contexts.
Highlights
Much has been written about the ripple effect of multiple changes in the world at large, as well as the tremendous impact of change on humankind in general and on workers in particular (Guichard, 2013)
Descriptive, collective case study was implemented to facilitate an in-depth investigation of the outcomes of life design counseling with regard to the self-construction of emerging adults (McMillan and Schumacher, 2009)
Selection criteria called for participants in the “new life phase” group so that we would be able to understand the relational-moral relationships of emerging adults by obtaining a holistic picture of the interaction between the subsystems at play during self-construction
Summary
Much has been written about the ripple effect of multiple changes in the world at large (and especially in the workplace), as well as the tremendous impact of change on humankind in general and on workers in particular (Guichard, 2013). While Krumboltz and Chan (2005), contend that it is crucially important to embrace change, Blustein (2006, 2011) has made repeated requests for a wide-ranging psychology of working. It is important for career counselors in particular to prepare their clients to accept, but welcome change: “Expecting people to decide on a lifetime career and commit to that choice is a formula for personal disaster. The field of career counseling has no choice but to stay abreast of changes if it is to remain relevant (Blustein, 2011). Assessment and intervention should be aimed at improving people’s employability, enhancing their career adaptability, and helping them assume authorship of their career and life stories
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