Self Concept of Client

In the past few days, I have been fortunate to be working with four individuals who have recently lost their jobs.  They were assigned to be for two reasons: 1) because I was around there age and they needed to be able to converse with someone on a spiritual level and 2) because I volunteered.  Taking this class has given me a different perspective on understanding the needs of people who are at a crossroad in making new career decisions.  As I meet with them I hope that I am able to look at different theories and place them into different theoretical frameworks to help them advance into the next step in their career decisions.  I will be supervised and sit in the sessions initially and will use pseudo names for this blog.

Karen is a recently divorced mother of two. She has never worked and has been a stay at home mother for the last 3 years.  She is here because she feels that she does not have any other choices but to look at new opportunities. During the interview, she has repeatedly stated, “I do not know?”  Gottfredson’s Developmental Theory (as cited in Brown 2012) states that the career development process begins in childhood (p. 48). In addition, people develop from childhood occupational stereotypes that enable them to fit into this chosen profession (p. 48).  Karen certainly falls within this category. From an early age, she was given the impression by both her parents that she would someday assume the role of being a loving, dedicated mother and wife.  She has found this most daunting and feels that she has very little resources, traits and her self-concept is limited to what she is able to do in the workforce.  Karen in a limited way is still in Gottfredson’s Stage 3, she has begun the process of recognizing the symbols of social status and is developing ideas/perceptions to help build boundaries of acceptable occupations.  Karen has yet to know who she is and what her career choices are at this point in her life.

While I was part of the interview, I began to see the process at work not just the theoretical idea but the actuality of implementation of the theory itself.  One of the realizations that I began to see was that not all of the clients will fit into a set theory. But the actual hindrance was my own idea that I myself was pigeon holing the client into a theoretical application. As a clinician, I need to be open to hearing the story of the client. As I begin to understanding the client needs, I also need to be aware of their self-concept which I believe in this instance makes me a better clinician.

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN: 978-0132821391.