In this case study, the patient, Taneka, who is 17 years old require effective therapeutic intervention to be strong, grow, and transform her attitude towards personal and career development goals as demonstrated by the recognition of her abilities by her supervisor. Taneka’s family background shows that she has grown up as a responsible young person without a family but with a supportive, hardworking and caring mother. She has always helped her mother take care of her younger siblings and these issues may subconsciously affect her success and inhibit her ability to focus on a career that she can be effective at if she decides to have self-pity. Taneka seems to have discovered her talent as a people’s person and this has been reinforced recently by her boss who thinks that she is can be good and effective leader. Imperatively, based on a theoretical perspective and application, this case study seeks to help Taneka to understand her ability and knowledge to execute her duties in the most effective way. Taneka can implement strategies to help her proceed with her career and studies while still dealing with her emotional and mental struggles. Through these interventions, she would be firm and well-placed to make effective life decisions in relation to career progression.
Identification and Application of Relevant Theory & Rationale
Developed by John Krumboltz, the learning theory of career choice and counseling is the most appropriate for Taneka’s case study. Krumboltz proposed that career decisions result from countless learning experiences due to encounters with people, organizations and institutions, and events in an individual’s specific setting or environment. Career counseling is regarded as a personal and emotional kind of counseling (Miller & Moyers, 2017). As demonstrated in the Taneka’s case study, she cannot choose her career and develop her abilities without getting solutions to her emotional challenges and environment. Using this approach, a counselor must be prepared to help a client that is considering a career choice to make appropriate decisions. Imperatively, Taneka’s situation demonstrates that she requires a career counselor that will not only be supportive but also understanding of her family challenges and the doubt that she has in her self-concept. Supportive therapeutic interventions allow clients to deal with issues and personal challenges and offer clients with appreciation and acceptance of their counselor. Krumboltz posits that one’s unique learning experiences over their life span are the most influential aspects in the career choice process (Krumboltz, 1994). The theory is relevant to the situation since it will ensure that the counselor helps Taneka to understand learning opportunities through the use of an array of appropriate approaches that start in childhood and endure throughout their lifespan.
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The learning theory in career counseling is client-focused as it will enable Taneka to identify the origin of her career choices and offer her a guide to address career associated challenges. Using the approach, the counselor would start by understanding how Taneka came to the work that she is doing in respect to her self-conception and how she views the world and any component that is limiting or influencing her view (Mitchell & Krumbolt, 1996). Once the counselor establishes this, she or he can work with Taneka to identify relevant career learning experiences, model or build a skill that will assist in redirecting their perceptions.
Key Components of the Theory
Krumboltz’s career learning theory states that the main role of counselors is to help clients learn to create more satisfying lives. Accordingly, the theory proposes that most people in their current occupations found them through a series of unplanned events. In the case of Taneka, she has worked in many part-time jobs and the recent one is being a salesperson at a teen fashion store in a local mall. Taneka has realized her knack for dealing with clients and they have responded positively. Her supervisor has recognized these abilities and now wants her to participate in the company’s employee leadership training program. This has prompted her to consider post-high school educational possibilities. Further, she lacks a clear conception of what she wants to pursue as a career.
Taneka’s situation is well captured by the learning theory as this model states that four factors determine one’s career choice. These include special abilities or genetic endowments, environmental conditions and events, learning experiences, and task approach abilities. Consequently, the theory proposes that no single factor can dictate an individual’s career choice and no career is best for a certain person. The theory suggests that career choice and growth depend on an individual’s willingness and ability to expand their skills and capabilities, alter their perspectives and challenge their emotional and other problems (Mitchell & Krumbolt 1996).
The theory emphasizes the need for effective collaboration between counselor and client. The tenets of the theory include Taneka expanding her capabilities and interest with the help of the counselor to discover new activities, and preparing for a change in work task and with the assistance of the counselor learn to handle the stress of learning new skills in her career. The theory also posits that a client should be free from fear and take the responsibility for directing their career path while making tough choices and decisions. While a career counselor is critical in assisting clients to achieve the first three areas, the counselor is required to mostly provide continual advice by blending career and personal counseling to assist the client deal with career associated concerns.
Challenges & Solutions in applying the Theory
One of the challenges to the theory and its application is that it has been developed recently and lacks empirical evidence on how a counselor can have positive relationship with client to help her/him understand the challenges in career development. Further, the theory does not emphasize the need for cognitive and behavioral career counseling approaches while its happenstance does not consider other factors that may contribute to career choice and selection (Feller, Honaker & Zagzebski, 2001). In applying the theory to Taneka’s case, the theory fails to recognize chance events in her lifespan may have both positive and negative outcomes and considers most of these happenings as negative. However, unpredictable social issues, environmental conditions and chance events in one’s lifespan cannot be ignored as they are influential one a client’s life. Consequently, the possible approaches to these challenges would be a concurrent application of another theory, especially person-environment-fit model and/or trait-and-factor theory (Zunker, 2016). The combination of these theories will help the counselor to have the most effective approach in helping Taneka make the right decisions.
Conclusion
It is evident that Taneka can select a career choice that reflects her personal traits that have been shaped hugely by her environmental and social factors. These factors have a huge influence on her life and she cannot ignore her family and other social conditions as she makes the choice in career development. The learning theory in career counseling alongside other theoretical perspectives will enable the counsellor to provide the most effective guidance to Taneka.
References
Feller, R. W., Honaker, S. L., & Zagzebski, L. M. (2001). Theoretical voices directing the career
development journey: Holland, Harris-Bowlsbey, and Krumboltz. Career Development
Quarterly, Vol.49, No.3, pp.212-24
Krumboltz, J. D. (March 01, 1994). The career beliefs inventory. Journal of Counseling &
Development , 72(4), 424-28
Miller, W. R., & Moyers, T. B. (2017). Motivational interviewing and the clinical science of
Carl Rogers. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , Vol.85, No.8, pp.757-766. doi:10.1037/ccp0000179
Mitchell, L.K. & Krumbolt, J.D. (1996) Krumboltz’s Learning Theory of Career Choice and
Counseling in Brown , D., Brooks, L. & Associates (eds) (3rd edition) Career Choice and
Development San Francisco, California: Jossey Bass
Zunker, V. G. (2016). Career counseling: A holistic approach (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage
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