Career counselling and psychotherapy use similar approaches. This is a finding of Career researchers and professionals from the University of Southern Queensland.

Don’t worry, this isn’t complex and I’m writing this to help parents and students to understand how I work.

Each client brings a complex story, therefore my notes are case notes.

Counselling Case Formulation

I read the recent article on career counselling and psychotherapy with interest. The authors wrote about the case notes, or the “Case Formulation”, that career counsellors compile. They then talked about the importance of making sure that counsellors don’t jump to conclusions based on the words that the clients used. This is not uncommon. For example, if a client said they were ‘swamped’, this use of language might make the career counsellor assume that the individual is drowning. See the link? It happens if the coach or counsellor doesn’t take care to explore the metaphor of being “swamped” really carefully.

This is also a good reason why the sharing of client notes must be handled very carefully. If a careers service has more than one coach, and a client is not always able to see the same person, it might be possible for the notes taken by one coach to be misinterpreted by another. Hand-over meetings would be essential in order that this did not happen.

Karen Your Career Coach as a Career Counselling Service

My practice is made up of me, myself and only me! My notes are confidential and so there is no possibility of another counsellor reading and possibly finding meaning in words spoken in confidence. I am not a psychotherapist, but my qualifications and experience combine to mean that I am well versed in how to explore language, narrative, story, metaphors, and to investigate deeply.

I will:

• develop rapport
• ask open questions
• dig deeper into a client’s narrative, use of words and metaphors
• watch for posture, body language, visual gaze
• carefully and empathetically challenge irrational beliefs
• maintain unconditional positive regard at all times
• keep confidential comprehensive notes and refer to these with care so that I don’t develop any biases

So if you or your child needs career counselling, the most experienced and qualified practitioners will be able to use psychotherapy approaches. In this way you will gain the best possible support. Please contact me at [email protected] to find out more.