Abstract
Today, grounded on the turbulent conditions of the social and work environment as well as the unstable life and career paths individuals are going through (Guichard, 2015; Savickas, 2015), incorporating constructivist-narrative methods and techniques in career counseling seems essential, at least in some client cases. Narrative approaches could support the identification of an individual’s meaning-making process and have the capacity to face clients holistically with respect to career development issues. The aim of this article is to provide a brief review of several influential narrative approaches in career counseling that emerged in the last two decades. A second goal of this work is to highlight fundamental strengths of narrative career counseling approaches, showcasing their benefits in counseling practice, especially in promoting the construction of a robust and solid autobiographical career narrative.
Highlights
The traditional, positivist career development theoretical approaches have been employed in counseling practice for more than half a century, aiming primarily at the best possible matching between the individual and the work environment, so that both workers and employers get satisfied (Hartung & Santilli, 2018)
From our point of view, these theoretical approaches should not replace the traditional ones but rather complement them for the best interest of the clients. Another goal of this paper is to pinpoint fundamental strengths of narrative career counseling approaches, showcasing their benefits in counseling practice. It concludes with recommendations on utilizing narrative career counseling theories in practice to help clients realize solid autobiographical career narratives in real life
The authors intended to provide a brief overview of some important narrative approaches in career counseling that emerged in the last 20 years; starting from Cochran’s early narrative approach and moving towards more complex theories such as Systems Theory Framework of Career Development and Chaos Theory of Careers
Summary
The traditional, positivist career development theoretical approaches have been employed in counseling practice for more than half a century, aiming primarily at the best possible matching between the individual and the work environment, so that both workers and employers get satisfied (Hartung & Santilli, 2018). These early theories (e.g. Parsons’ trait-and-factor approach, Holland’s typology) are still dominant in the career guidance and counseling field. From our point of view, these theoretical approaches should not replace the traditional ones but rather complement them for the best interest of the clients Another goal of this paper is to pinpoint fundamental strengths of narrative career counseling approaches, showcasing their benefits in counseling practice. It concludes with recommendations on utilizing narrative career counseling theories in practice to help clients realize solid autobiographical career narratives in real life
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