Integrating Personal and Career Counseling to Promote Sustainable Development and Change

Jacobus Maree,Annamaria Di Fabio

doi:10.3390/su10114176

Abstract

This article reports on the integration of personal and career counseling to promote sustainable development and change. An explorative, descriptive, instrumental, single-case study approach was followed. Qualitative and quantitative data collection strategies were used to collect data, and an integrative career construction counseling intervention was conducted. The intervention comprised, first, elicitation of the participant’s micro- and meso-career-life stories; second, integration of these stories into a coherent macro-story, with the participant’s authorization of the narrative; and, third, co-construction by the participant and the counselor of action steps to facilitate action and forward movement. Integrating personal and career counseling helped to address the participants’ deep-seated personal needs while simultaneously addressing his career counseling needs. Longitudinal, qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research is essential to determine the value and importance of integrating personal and career counseling. This study contributed to expanding the research on interventions that integrate personal and career counseling, promoting the development of sustainable career-life projects.

Highlights

The ultimate aims of career counseling are to help people choose appropriate fields of study and careers, make meaning of their career-lives, find a sense of purpose in and design successful lives, and make meaningful social contributions [1,2,3,4]
In accordance with the first of the theoretical traditions associated with career construction theory (CCT), the ‘quantitative’ Maree Career Matrix (MCM) outcomes in combination with the ‘quantitative’ information obtained from Part 2 of the Career Interest Profile (CIP) yielded valuable information about different fields of study and careers as well as a number of preferred interest categories for the research participant
Certain questions in the CIP provided valuable qualitative information relating to the second of the theoretical traditions associated with career construction theory (CCT), namely the developmental approach or career education

Summary

Introduction

The ultimate aims of career counseling are to help people choose appropriate fields of study and careers, make meaning of their career-lives, find a sense of purpose in and design successful lives, and make meaningful social contributions [1,2,3,4]. Fouad and Jackson [6] argue that “ in light of the current economic recession and broad cutbacks in human services generally, integrative career services could be provided to facilitate preventative health and educational goals more effectively and for lower costs long-term.”. This view is supported by Krumboltz [7], Savickas [8], Blustein [9], and Maree [10] who believe that the close relationship between personal and career and counseling calls for an integrative approach to the training of all (career) counselors. We agree with Savickas [8,11] and others who maintain that career counseling is, by definition, personal counseling

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Conclusion