Career Counselling - How Can A Psychologist Help?

Career counselling can be defined as a process that helps an individual to gain an understanding of oneself and the various interests to make a firm decision about the career choice and further education plans. It helps in managing a variety of problems such as managing time, help in increasing the concentration levels, resolving various conflicts between parents and children in a family regarding what profession should a child choose.

Career counselling is required by everyone at one point in time as it helps in gaining insight and hence illuminates us regarding our career opportunities and various improvements that a person can make. There are different roles performed by the career counsellors which are mentioned below:

1. They help in making the correct assessment of aptitude, personality, interests and other aspects of an individual.
2. It helps an individual to gain access to the resources and knowledge that are possessed by career expert.
3. It helps in gaining confidence to cross the hurdles in one’s life and give a right direction with respect to different aspects of one’s life be it maintaining social relationships, personal life or any other career problem.
4. It helps in modifying the abnormal behavioural patterns, especially in the case of children. These behavioural patterns may involve the procrastination, ignorance of one’s mental and emotional health, low self-esteem etc. A career counsellor helps in correcting these behavioural patterns and makes a person indulge in more productive activities at any place.
5. It helps in connecting students to the professionals having extensive experiences in life to share.

Psychology has played a very prominent role in counselling. Other than handling emotional difficulties, counselling follows a more holistic approach in dealing with various issues. Psychology is an integrated part of the field like career counselling where more emphasis is given upon the understanding of thoughts and feelings of others. The roles like performing personality assessments require the knowledge of psychology where a person should have a detailed knowledge of different theoretical perspectives of personality and other underlying principles.

Hence, to work as a counsellor, you should have a professional educational qualification in psychiatry, psychology, or social work. The career counsellors have to be very effective in dealing with people; therefore they should be having good communication skills and should be able to establish rapport with the clients. They should be having a good connection with the education institutions such as schools, colleges, etc. The practitioners should be able to handle associations of large or small groups. They should be willing to take initiatives and work as a team. They should be flexible while dealing with different people and working on various aspects. They should have good adaptability with respect to changes that take place in the environment.

Therefore, career counselling is not just a matter of good communication but a lot more than that. It involves a variety of skills and knowledge to deal with people’s problems. Also, knowledge of psychology is very much essential for being a career counsellor.