Post 4

             I was thinking about what we discussed during our last class, and I began to question Super’s Life-Career Rainbow (Brown 2012, page 46). I think his approach was pretty spot on as to how most people carry out their life and careers. Actually, since he made it in the 1970’s/80’s, it is quite impressive to me because it still relates to today. At the same time, the reason I questioned it was because I feel that his rainbow is basically the way that we have to live our life. Yes, I know that this is the point of it! But, it is not a choice to live our life and career in this way. We are more or less forced into it in order to live a comfortable life.

            Then I started thinking more about it, and I wondered what his model would look like in the future (say 50 years from now). Would people spend more or less time in certain stages? Would careers change more frequently due to the economy or job opportunities? Would student time increase due to the high demand for education and training? Would the decline ages increase because people can’t retire comfortably?

            Reading Savickas’ article was appealing to me. I can see the why indecision vs decision should focus on the subjective as opposed to the objective. After all, it is the person (client) who cannot decide! It is their thoughts, their life, and their choices that have led them to where they are at (decided or undecided).

            I really liked the way he related figuring out a client’s life themes to literature. As a teacher, I completely get it! I teach my kids about the different genres, characters, settings, conflicts, etc… that authors create for their audiences. A constructivist counselor would work as one of my students. Just as my students learn from stories, the counselor learns from their client by listening and analyzing their client’s story. In this way, the client is the story teller, and the counselor is the listener. At the same time, a constructivist counselor is searching for life themes that their client may not know (Savickas 1995, page 366). I feel that the counselor helps the client “hear” what they are saying. To be honest, if I had someone listening to my story and interpreting for me, I am sure I would find out so much more about myself than I already know!

            I personally like this approach. It is more client-centered. This approach does not have a one-size fits all mentality. I feel that it accounts for the uniqueness of individual’s and their prior experiences.  

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.

Savickas, M.L. (1995). Constructivist counseling for career indecision. The Career Development Quarterly, 43(4). 363-373.