A Summary for University of Warwick, Research Seminar 22nd May 2014
Part One: The High Career Dream – A Career Counselling Intervention
Part Two: The impact of a career counselling model and the implications for HE Guidance Services
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Part One: The High Career Dream – A Career Counselling Intervention
Introduction
The High Career Dream, a career counselling intervention is aimed at accessing the emotional and psychological identity that is embodied within a person’s perception of their future vocational self. The aim of the High Career Dream intervention is to harness the “projected sense of being” behind a person’s career aspirations. This process facilitates emotional access and a closer personal sense of an individual’s projected vocational identity (Richardson, 2012: 4).
Influences
This intervention is an extension of the identity development and projective identity theories developed in process-oriented psychology (Mindell, 1985) and a gestalt two-chair intervention (Perls, 1969). It also extends Freud’s (1894) work on defence mechanisms. Mindell and Perls use the projection of aspects of self onto other people or the projected on themselves across time and place, to help a client re-experience that projection in the moment and “re-own” or integrate that sense of self back into their awareness. The High Career Dream is aimed at accessing the emotional and psychological identity that is embodied within a person’s perception of their future vocational self.
Model
The three-step approach of the High Career Dream Model demonstrated by Alan Richardson supports the client to engage with and experience their ‘high’ dream. The client is encouraged to access the experience of the person they envisage they become in their career dream, or the future idealised job. The adviser acknowledges (A- acknowledgement) this career dream and the client is then invited (I-Invitation) to fully experience this sense of self and is supported (S-Supported) by the careers adviser, to stay in this position where the client can access the skills, attitudes and other ways of being associated with this vocational identity. The client is encouraged to role-play a dialogue between the ideal persona (which the client takes) and the client today (which the careers adviser takes) giving insights and encouragement and help to deal with the journey toward this career aspiration. This process informs the client’s sense of self, based on projected meaning of who he/she wishes to become. Sometimes the client will bounce between the idealised job and their concerns (‘low’ dream) and both are supported with the concerns being addressed by the client from their idealised vocational identity.
While vocational identity defines a construction of self in terms of the motivation, interest and aptitude for certain work roles and the emotional resonance. The psychological understanding of our vocational self can be understood as an affirming developmental extension of who we want to become and how we choose to participate in the world.
Case Study of Model
Video clip developed by National Centre for Guidance in Education, Ireland in March 2013.
“Building the Evidence Base: returns on investment in guidance practice” Career Dream presented by Dearbhla Kelly, Donegal Adult Learner Guidance Service, Letterkenny
Video:
Six Step Process
Below is an attempt to integrate the 3 step High Career Dream model (AIS) into 4 step Ali & Graham model (clarify, explore/ contract, evaluate, next steps). The High Career Dream in simplified terms replaces the evaluate phase.
Visuals are used as a powerful way to track the progress in the career counselling session. The High Dream, the Client Today and the Low Dream are all represented.
Part Two: The impact of a career counselling model and the implications for HE Guidance Services
Research Questions
R.Q.1What theoretically informed framework is useful to evaluate clients’ experiences after a career counselling intervention?
R.Q.2Using the response to Research Question One, what is the impact of the career counselling intervention on clients?
R.Q.3In light of answers to Research Questions One and Two, what are the implications for career education advice information and guidance services?
Research Methods
Findings of Research
R.Q.1An Evaluation Framework was designed. See Appendix with suggested six themes and ten questions.
R.Q.2The High Career Dream had a significant impact on participants resulting in them taking responsibility for themselves, becoming more self reliant and self-directing their own career path. More specifically the High Career Dream significantly enhanced participants self knowledge, position, beliefs, horizons for action and beliefs. It had a less significant impact on clients’ experience of their field. These are detailed below.
Self-knowledge
The Career Dream significantly enhanced participants’ self-knowledge. Their understanding of the importance of their interests and values in exploring careers and jobs as well as their motivations and abilities were significantly enhanced.
Position
Significantly the High Career Dream exceeded participants’ unconscious expectations and tended not to meet their expectations. Unanticipated expectations met included a change in attitude; more self-reliance; answering their own questions and being more involved in the guidance process.
Participants’ career related learning and career construction as Hodkinson suggests, are evidently enhanced with the Career Dream.
Beliefs
The High Career Dream significantly and positively impacted participants’ beliefs and self-confidence, and self-talk was more “positive” and “assertive”. Many realised how their lack of self-belief was holding them back and by addressing this believed that opportunities would open up for them.
Horizons for Action
The High Career Dream significantly enhanced participants gaining new perspectives on themselves and on their possibilities after college. This included taking responsibility for themselves, becoming more self-reliant and self-directing their career, as well as being more open to experimentation, feeling clearer and more focused.
The High Career Dream process affirmed many things for participants, from personal qualities to career ambitions, to goals being achievable. Participants invariably experienced change, either self-directed action or a change in outlook, over the intervening two-week period. It is noteworthy that the new perspectives gained changed over the two-week period.
Motivation
Participants were significantly more motivated as a result of the High Career Dream intervention. This was demonstrated in the positive attitudes that developed and in the action taken by participants both of which persisted over the two-week period.
This confirmed what I had observed anecdotally prior to conducting this research. It is likely that the process of the client connecting to their “High Career Dream” and the intrinsic motivators helped them to embody the experience to maintain their motivation to follow through with taking action or a change in attitude.
Field
A less significant impact was experienced by participants. Many felt that the guidance meeting focused on them rather than the world of opportunities, reflecting the psychological nature of the meeting. This approach was unexpected for participants.Note: The field theme could be addressed more by the High Career Dream approach.
R.Q.3Recommendations for Careers Service provision
High Career Dream
•Use the High Career Dream model as it offers clients’:
•access to and an embodiment of their future vocational self (vs matching approach)
•the opportunity to take responsibility for themselves; to become more self reliant and to self direct their own career path
•Balance the psychological with career information when using the High Career Dream model
•Explore the application of the High Career Dream in the delivery of other services e.g. careers education
Evaluation Framework
•Keep abreast of emerging theories and learn to apply them to practice. This will ensure that careers services more effectively respond to the complex reality of career development
•Use this evaluation tool. It helps to make explicit the inherently subtle and unconscious changes that clients often experience as a result of guidance interventions. In addition to self knowledge and field an evaluation tool ought to include (a) beliefs and attitudes (b) position in the world © horizons for action (d) motivation
•Evaluate other careers service provisions in addition to career counselling using this evaluation tool e.g. careers education, employer fairs, mentoring programmes
•Communicate evaluation outcomes to senior management. Career counselling contribution is more justifiably monitored and evaluated using qualitative tools
Further Research Ideas
High Career Dream
- Compare the impact of the High Career Dream with other models of guidance
- Explore if more time spent in the guidance meeting embodying the motivators would be useful to connect clients to their vocational identity and enhance their agency.
- Research adapting this model to a classroom setting would broaden its impact and scope.
Evaluation Framework
- Exploring other theories to further enhance this evaluation framework.
- A longitudinal study, longer than two weeks, on the impact of guidance on clients would be useful.
- The significance of clients’ unconscious expectations when delivering guidance interventions could be explored.
- Monitoring non-users’ understanding of what the careers service offers as a basis to adjust communication of services to clients.
- Researching the impact of the careers professional as well as the guidance model on the client’s experience would be interesting.
References
Ali, L. and Graham, B. (1996). The Counselling Approach to Careers Guidance. London: Routledge.
Bimrose, J. and Barnes, S.A. (2008) Adult Career Progression and Advancement: A Five Year Study of the Effectiveness of Guidance, Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick.
Hodkinson, P. (2009) Understanding career decision-making and progression: careership revisited, National Institute for Careers Education and Counselling Journal, 21: 4–16.
Killeen, J. (1996) The learning and economic outcomes of guidance, in A.G. Watts, B. Law, J. Killeen, J.M. Kidd and R. Hawthorn Rethinking Careers Education and Guidance: Theory, Policy and Practice, London: Routledge, 72–94.
Mindell, A. (1985) River's Way: The Process Science of the Dreambody; Information and channels in dream and bodywork, psychology and physics, Taoism and alchemy, London: Routledge and Kegan.
Mitchell, L.K., and Krumboltz, J.D. (1996) Krumboltz’s learning theory of career choice and counseling, in D. Brown, L. Brooks and Associates (eds.) Career Choice and Development, 3rd edn., San Francisco, USA: Jossey-Bass, 233–280.
Perls, F. (1969) Gestalt Therapy Verbatim, Moab, UT, USA: Real People Press.
Super, D.E., Savickas, M.L. and Super, D.L. (1996) The life-span, life-space approach to careers, in D. Brown and L. Brooks (eds.) Career Choice and Development, 3rd edn., San Francisco, CA, USA: Jossey-Bass, 121–178.
Richardson, Alan (2009) Training session with AHECS, Dublin
Appendix
Recommended Evaluation Framework of Careers Service Interventions
Self- awareness
Q. 1. How has this meeting influenced your understanding of what is important to you? In terms of your interests, values, abilities, motivators, strengths*
Position
Q. 2. Were your expectations met? Yes/ no. Please elaborate.
Q. 3. Can you describe where you are currently in your career?*
Beliefs-Disposition
Q. 4. How has your relationship to your beliefs (possibilities/ limitations/ fears/ indecision) changed as a result of the meeting?
Q. 5. How has your self-confidence been affected?
Horizons for Action
Q. 6. What new perspectives did you gain?* 1
Q. 7. What has changed (for you) since the guidance meeting?*2
Motivation
Q.7. How has this meeting affected your motivation?*3
Field
Q. 8. As a result of this meeting how has your understanding of the job/ postgraduate market and your place in it, changed?
Q. 9. As a result of this meeting what skills and or knowledge do you have or need to develop to help you enter the work place/ develop your career?
Q. 10. As a result of this meeting how accurate is your knowledge of the opportunities open to you?
*questions yielded insightful answers
1 People’s perspectives change over time; this needs to be kept in mind when designing an evaluation tool and interpreting the findings.
2 When evaluating days or weeks later.
3 When evaluating immediately after the intervention.
1
Orlaith Tunney, Careers Adviser, Careers Advisory Service, Trinity College Dublin
email: ; LinkedIn: ie.linkedin.com/in/orlaithtunney/