Facilitating Change in Career Construction Counseling

A guide that teaches practitioners how to facilitate meaningful client change through the three stages of career construction counseling.
 
This practical book blends career counseling theory with theoretical approaches to the narrative construction of the self, to support clients who are adapting to new career tasks and job transitions. Chapters explore why people experience difficulty making career decisions, and how their self-narratives can impede change. The authors emphasize narrative-based interventions that help clients author their own significant and coherent career stories. By developing these stories, clients connect self-concepts to work roles, discover how work fits into their lives, and make meaning through their work.
 
The authors emphasize the importance of tailoring intervention approaches to clients’ needs. They include dialogue excerpts from real career construction counseling sessions, to give readers a moment-to-moment understanding of the counselor’s decision-making. These dialogues also include practical comments that clarify the counselor’s intentions, or describe performance errors that put therapeutic collaboration at risk.

Paulo M. Cardoso, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology, University of Évora, Portugal, where he teaches vocational psychology and career counseling in the educational psychology master's program, and in the psychology doctoral program. Dr. Cardoso has published extensively on the process and outcome of career counseling. He serves as a member of the editorial boards of several journals concerned with vocational behavior and career development. He also serves on the executive boards of the European Society for Vocational Designing and Career Counseling, and the Portuguese Society of Psychology.

Paul J. Hartung, PhD, is professor of behavioral sciences and interim co-chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED). He maintains an international reputation of excellence for his work in the areas of career development and vocational psychology, and has published numerous articles, chapters, and edited books. Dr. Hartung is a 2024-2025 University Hospitals-NEOMED Faculty Scholar and is listed in Elsevier’s 2023 World’s Top 2% of Scientists for career and single-year publication citations. Dr. Hartung also currently serves as past president, Division 16 (Counseling, 2022-26) of the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP).