Career Counselling: A Practitioner’s Approach

Facilitators
Hannah Azizollah and Jonathan Middleburgh

Who should attend
This workshop is intended both for those who have no experience of career counselling and those who have some experience and want to build on their skills. In previous years, the workshop has been attended by a wide range of participants: Practitioners-in-Training,
psychologists with no experience of career counselling and experienced career counsellors. All have reported that the workshop was of value to them. No detailed knowledge of career counselling is necessary to take part in the workshop.

Workshop overview
This is a one-day career counselling workshop, suitable for both Practitioners-in-Training and more experienced Practitioners. The workshop is designed so that practical exercises used at each stage of the workshop will build on knowledge and skills acquired at earlier stages of the workshop. Additionally, the facilitators will help participants integrate their acquired knowledge and understanding. After a general introduction we will introduce some relevant psychological theory underpinning the workshop and take participants in some detail through the three stages of the typical career counselling process. We will also provide participants with basic knowledge of some of the tools and techniques at the practitioner’s disposal.

To illustrate the first stage of the process, we will outline and role model a lifeline exercise, which is a useful way to explore life issues with the client. Participants will then practise in pairs, followed by feedback to the group. In looking at the second stage of the career counselling process we will role model a short session in which the ‘counsellor’ takes the ‘client’ through a values exercise and helps the ‘client’ explore possible conflicts between expressed values and possible career options. Participants will practise in trios. In looking at the third stage of the career counselling process we will outline desired outputs of a successful counselling process. There will be a practical exercise to help participants practise skills in facilitating action planning.

Aims of the workshop

• To give participants an overview of a general approach to career counselling.
• To allow participants to practise some specific aspects of career counselling.
• To give participants some broader perspectives and ideas in relation to careercounselling (rather than ‘teaching’ a prescriptive approach to career counselling).
• To allow participants to share their own experience of career counselling within a
• supportive workshop environment: to discuss those experiences and learn from the
• discussion and from the experience of other practitioners.
• The workshop will adopt a highly practical approach in fulfilling the above aims.

Projected outcomes and benefits of attending

• Awareness of a basic career counselling model.
• Understanding the principal issues to cover at each stage of that model.
• Awareness of some of the tools and techniques available for use during the counselling
• process, including appropriate psychometric testing.
• Development of practitioner skills in a range of the above techniques.
• Development of practitioner insight from discussion with other participants and theobservation of role modelling.

Psychological theory underpinning the workshop
Several theorists propose a three-stage model of career counselling - the shape of these various models is broadly similar. For example, Nathan and Hill (1992) propose a threestage model of career counselling, namely (1) screening, contracting, exploring; (2) enabling client’s understanding (including consideration of ‘who am I?’, ‘where am I now?’, ‘what do I want?’); (3) Actions and endings (including action planning). We will briefly explore this and similar models (e.g. Ali & Graham, 1996; Egan, 2002) that help the practitioner map out an appropriate arc for the counselling process. Psychological theory that seeks to describe the nature of career counselling will be discussed. We will also outline the prevailing modern approach (see e.g. Nathan and Hill,1992), which sees career counselling as a process enabling people to recognise and utilise their resources to make career-related decisions and manage career-related problems. This approach will be contrasted with the more outdated approach of an expert advising on appropriate career choice (see e.g. Parsons, 1909).

Pre/post work required
N/A

Date and venue
22 May 2008, 09.30 - 17.00.
The British Psychological Society, 30 Tabernacle Street, London, EC2A 4UE.

Facilitator details
Since obtaining her MSc at the University of Hull in 1978 Hannah Azizollah has worked for 15 years at the Post Office and then PT as an in-house consultant. Since 1994 Hannah has been an independent practitioner working for a wide range of clients - large organisations in the public andprivate sectors, small businesses and many individuals. Much of the work has involved aspects of selection, assessment and development for individuals, teams and whole organisations. Hannah has a wide range of experience in the area of career counselling and one-to-one coaching both in-house and with private clients (students and adults). She has recently set up a career counselling service targeted specifically at school and university students. Hannah and Jonathan ran this workshop in 2005 and 2006, and feedback was highly complimentary.

After graduating in Law from Oxford University in 1988 Jonathan Middleburgh taught Law in Chicago, New Zealand and at Oxford. He then practised for 12 years as a Barrister specialising in commercial and employment litigation, leaving the Bar in 2002 to pursue an interest in psychology. Jonathan obtained the Postgraduate Certificate in Occupational Psychology in 2003 and has undertaken a wide variety of work as an independent consultant, primarily focused around individual and team development within a variety of sectors including the legal sector. In terms of career counselling he has counselled in excess of 100 individual clients, developed and co-facilitated a series of training workshops and run a career counselling service targeted at school and university students.

Registration is now open

Reg Form: Azizollah 22.05.08

or book on-line

The Division of Occupational
Psychology is part of:
The British Psychological Society