ERIC Number: ED456399
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 2001-Oct
Pages: 8
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Hand-Me-Down Dreams: Integrating Family Perspectives into Career Counseling.
Jacobsen, Mary H.
Exploring family influences is particularly helpful for career counseling clients who are stuck pursuing goals they know they want; clients who feel torn between practical or realistic paths and their individual passions; clients who express guilt or fear about defying their family's or society's expectations; clients who perceive the barriers blocking them from forward movement as stemming exclusively from outside sources; and clients who fear feeling like a failure if they make the wrong choice. Family perspectives can be introduced to clients by discussing their current goals and what they believe to have prevented them from reaching these goals. The counselor can then help the client see the "familiar" lenses through which they have become accustomed to viewing--and limiting--their choices. Four primary interventions that can be used with these clients are: become peers with parents by assuming authority over your own life; change yourself--don't wait for family approval or permission to change; know the patterns and habits that block you and break them deliberately and persistently; and reframe "defects, failures, and inadequacies" as purposive and evolutionary. In career counseling, exploring family perspectives can help clients uncover the deepest barriers to their progress. (MKA)
Descriptors: Career Counseling, Career Planning, Counselor Role, Counselor Training, Family Influence, Family Work Relationship, Intervention, Objectives
ERIC Counseling and Student Services Clearinghouse, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 201 Ferguson Building, P.O. Box 26171, Greensboro, NC 27402-6171. Tel: 336-334-4114; Tel: 800-414-9769 (Toll Free); Fax: 336-334-4116; Web site: http://ericcass.uncg.edu; e-mail: ericcass@uncg.edu.
Publication Type: Information Analyses; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: In: "Focus on the Future: Achieving Balance in Career & Life Integration. International Career Development Conference 2000"; see CG 031 198.