Career Counseling Theory and Relationship Strategies
Case of Alex
Alex, 44, is a biracial male, married with two children (ages 2 and 4). His mother is Caucasian and his father is African American. His mother stayed at home to raise him and his three siblings. His father, the first African American to earn his doctorate degree in Linguistics, was a professor at a small-town college and made a modest income.
He is well educated with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. He values work but also enjoys spending time with his wife and children. He grew up traveling and hopes to be able to continue that lifestyle.
He has a history of working in construction, building small log cabins, churches, and eventually private vacation homes. He also gained a great deal of experience working as a project manager for city construction. This included the management of multi-million dollar bonded projects such as building new schools and fire stations. He has had experience working for himself, successfully, as well as working with government agencies.
Being dissatisfied with the city he lived in, he and his family moved to another state, thinking he would be able to quickly find work. However, the slow economy has affected the building industry and he has only found limited work for the past two years. He has been working on various small remodeling projects but has not made enough connections to establish himself as well as he was in Massachusetts, his home state. Going back does not seem to be an option due to the costs of moving, and the economy is just as slow in his home town. Plus, he and the rest of the family were not happy living there as they were dissatisfied with the public school system.
The stress has been absorbed by him and his family. His wife believes he will find a good job but is not sure what direction to point him in. She has a stable job as a manager at a national grocery chain, and they have limited family support in there new state, North Carolina. She suggested he see a career counselor as she has insurance through her employer.
Paper Instructions
He is responsible and articulate. He enjoys autonomy and has a good sense of humor and looks forward to gaining some career counseling.Argue for one relevant theory to be applied to the above mentioned scenario. Note: Appropriate career counseling theories include but are not limited to Holland, Super, Krumboltz, Gottfredson, Social Cognitive Theory, Work Adjustment, and Person-Environment-Correspondence.
Provide a rationale as to why you have selected this career theory.
Include a synopsis of the key components from this framework.
Be sure to examine research findings that support your inclusion of this theory (minimum of one citation).
Differentiate and then synthesize strategies for establishing and maintaining an effective relationship with the client.
Explain the need and importance of the relationship.
Address the basic and advanced counseling skills that would be appropriate to meet this expectation. You must include:
Core communication skills.
Rapport with clients, coworkers, and supervisors.
Central competencies needed to establish positive rapport.