Applying Career Development Theory to Counseling

by Richard S. Sharf

A must read for practicing counselors and counselors in training, APPLYING CAREER DEVELOPMENT THEORY TO COUNSELING shows you how to apply principles of career development in a counseling setting! A clear writing style, useful case examples, and integrated coverage of diversity set this text apart from others in the field. The book-specific website makes studying easy with discussion questions, tutorial quizzes, and relevant links.

Genres: Counselling, Psychology, Textbooks, Nonfiction

468 pages, Hardcover

First published August 9, 2004

Reviews

[The Badger · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you read this, you WILL question why in the hell you went into counseling. You will also wonder if it's too late to change your major to computer programming.

[Shelby M. (Read and Find Out)]

Read for my Career Development course

[Monster · Rating 1 out of 5]

A regrettable instantiation of capitalist values with patronizingly small "diversity" sections intended to address all non-cis/het/white/able men (ie. the majority of the US population).

[Dana Libhart · Rating 1 out of 5]

I very much disliked the structure and formatting of this textbook. It was difficult to find specific information and that’s saying something because I had the ebook and I could search for keywords. Oof.

[Kimmie]

*grad school requirement

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Required reading for counseling Masters. Pretty clear writing. Interesting choice to have the references be chapter specific, without a master glossary or reference guide at the end. Chapter summaries were decent. Example conversations were very useful. Well-thought-through in terms of order of introduction of theories; although at times confusing when two theories are compared with no transition (ie: a heading). "Counselor issues" a good addition to chapters. Major critique that the Applying the Theory sections are easily dated, and sound like a ticking off of index cards - a list of articles that the author showcases to show that there is research out there. For an introductory text, either admit the research is developing, or sum up what there is. Listing random studies is confusing and irrelevant.

[Alexa · Rating 1 out of 5]

If i could rate lower than one star i would. Obviously written by a white man for white men. Absolutely reductive towards women and “culturally diverse” people. Offensive, off-putting, anger inducing.

[Brandt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Broken down into four parts, trait and type theories, life-span theory, special focus theories, and theoretical integration, this book is designed to provide an overview of the various theories prevalent in career counseling. After a short introduction to the use of theory from a career development perspective and an outline of goals, ethics and career development considerations for diverse populations, the first part mostly addresses (1) trait and factor theory; (2) information and theory on occupations; (3) work adjustment theory; (4) Holland’s theory of types; and (5) Myers-Briggs type theory.

In the second part, the intriguing world of life-span theory is overviewed utilizing heavily the models of Super (1990), Gottfredson (1981, 2002, 2005), and Hopson and Adams (1977). Each stage, from childhood through adult career development, examines how individuals deal with work issues and career choices. Special consideration is given to topics such as sexual harassment, retirement, and unexpected job loss. Additionally, both the career development in childhood and in adolescence, have been modified by including information about Howard and Walsh’s (2010, 2011) fantasy substage (childhood) and their substages of internal processes and interaction (adolescence).

The third part explains the specific issues relevant to career theory, such as the role of parent and other in career decision making. Covering the special focus theories, these represent a different way of approaching career counseling. From the constructivist approaches of narrative and career construction, through the cognitive information-processing theories, each of the special focus theories provides an intriguing contrast to the traditional approaches reviewed earlier in the text. Of interest, are Blustein’s (2011) relational theory of working and Krumboltz’s (2009) Happenstance Learning Theory. Moreover, the cognitive and behavioral approaches to career development also provide useful views on career counseling.

In the last chapter of the book, the relevance of job placement, non-counseling interventions, group counseling, and other concerns, are discussed as they pertain to career counseling. Moreover, each theory of career counseling is assessed according to its strengths and weaknesses, making it useful to quickly assess a variety of career intervention methods. Lastly, all the theories presented in the text are given an adequate discussion about their relevance and implications for a wide variety of diverse populations.

Overall, the text accomplishes a tremendous task of providing the reader with years of theory and research consolidated into a useable format for quick reference. I would highly recommend this text as a source to provide an overview of the career counseling process and as a reference for researching different styles, the curious reader may be intuitively drawn towards.

References:

Blustein, D.L. (2011). A relational theory of working. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79(1), 1-17.

Gottfredson, L.S. (1981). Circumscription and compromise: A developmental theory of occupational aspirations. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 28, 545-579.

Gottfredson, L.S. (2002). Gottfredson’s theory of circumscription, compromise, and self-creation. In D. Brown & Associates (Eds.), Career choice and development (4TH ed., pp. 85-148). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Gottfredson, L.S. (2005). Applying Gottfredson’s theory of circumscription and compromise in career guidance and counseling. In S.D. Brown & R.W. Lent (Eds.), Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work. (pp. 71-100). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Hopson, B., & Adams, J.D. (1977). Towards an understanding of transitions: Defining some boundaries of transition. In J. Adams, J. Hayes, & B. Hopson (Eds.), Transition: Understanding and managing personal change (pp. 1-19). Montclair, NJ: Allenheld & Osmun.

Howard, K. A. S., & Walsh, M.E. (2010). Conceptions of career choice and attainment: Developmental levels in how children think about careers. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 76(2), 143-152.

Howard, K. A. S., & Walks, M.E. (2011). Children’s conception of career choice and attainment: Model development. Journal of career development, 38(3), 256-271.

Krumbolz, J.D. (2009). The happenstance learning theory. Journal of Career Assessment, 17(2), 135-154.

Super, D.E. (1990). A life-span, life-space approach to career development. In D. Brown, L. Brooks, & Associates (Eds.), Career choice and development: Applying contemporary theories to practice (2nd ed., pp. 196-261). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Happy Reading!

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, I am reviewing my Career Counseling textbook. But only because I read every single chapter.

This is a good textbook, but not a great one. It has lots of good information on a number of theories and explains their applications in the counseling context. However, it was extremely tedious and dry. The vignettes throughout the chapters were the only moderately interesting part- and even those were silly little stereotypes. Like Sharon, the girl who's bad at math, and Bonnie, the girl who wants to be an actress though her parents want her to be a doctor. Boooooring.

Besides, this book seemed frustratingly dated. Though it was written in 2010, it tries desperately to explain how every theory applies to women and 'culturally diverse populations.' That's great. But do we really need it? Shouldn't all theories affect all populations in the same way? The results you see may be different, but by segmenting them out in this way, it forcefully draws attention to women and so-called culturally diverse populations in some kind of attempt to raise awareness or something. Anyways, I didn't think it was necessary, especially in every single chapter.

Reading this textbook felt like listening to Perd Hapley speak. Everything was said in a roundabout manner, and nothing was ever direct and to the point.

I learned more from discussing these theories in class than I did from reading this book.

[Stephen Plank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book for counseling certification last three years ago and found it to be the best in its field for reading though the US seems to focus too much on this area, solution-focused (short term) therapy and behavior/cognitive approaches. Australia is where things are happening now especially in web and narrative therapy.

[Kasi Beorchia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must say that textbooks aren't always the most exciting reads, but I found that this book explains and covers career development theories in an easy-to-understand and in-depth manner. I had a better understanding of the theories after reading almost all of this book.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This vocational counseling textbook is downright useful. It includes many pertinent theories in the field, case studies and counseling dialogue examples.

[Stacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good overview of the field of career counseling, but it could be much better and have more about ethical application of the theories.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dry reading but comprehensive information.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was for my final masters course. I didn't get through the whole book. It was a good overview of various theories

[Gurujobsalert]

Awesome sir
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[Abdulkarim · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books

[Ali Öztürk]

a