Career Counseling: Research, Assessment, and Intervention

Catalog description

This course is designed to acquaint students with the knowledge of career counseling theories, assessments, and methods based in psychological research, acquaint students with the use of empirically-supported career assessment instruments, increase knowledge to work with clients of different ages, races, ethnicities, socioeconomic classes, and genders, and discuss current issues, trends, and ethics in the field of career assessment and counseling. Students will learn about commonly used psychological theories that are applied to career assessment, including trait-oriented theories, social learning and cognitive theories, developmental theories, person-in-environment theories, career counseling-specific models, and integrative theories. Students will learn the process of assessing clients' vocational and professional interests through the use of both formal assessment instruments and interviews. Assessment techniques will include structured interviews, standardized assessment, psychological inventories, self-assessment, computerized assessment, case conceptualization, and report writing. Developmental considerations, as well as issues of cultural sensitivity and gender will be discussed. Approaches to integrating this information into career advising and/or psychotherapy will be explored. By the end of the course, students will demonstrate an understanding of the major theories of career development; be able to explain the structure of occupations, and individual and societal issues in career development, including multicultural and gender issues; summarize the relationships among personality, occupational choices, and occupational success; identify the major sources of career and educational information available through the Internet, computer-based guidance systems, and printed materials; administer and interpret printed and computer-based assessments of career interests, beliefs, and values; integrate career development theory and assessment results with empirically-supported career counseling interventions; and describe the professional process of career assessment and advising, as integrated into psychological services.