Career Counseling With Clients Who Have a Severe Mental Illness

Abstract

Individuals who are diagnosed with a serious mental illness encounter a variety of barriers that can impede their career development. In this article, the career barriers of clients who have a severe mental illness are reviewed, and a developmental approach to career counseling with this population is described. A case example is provided to illustrate the complex process of developmental career counseling with people who are seriously impaired by a psychiatric illness.

Beyond the Self: External Influences in the Career Development Process

“…For perhaps most clients, external influences are constraining, are out of the individual's control, and can significantly alter a given career path. Several counseling approaches have been proposed for working with client populations that disproportionately experience such constraints Caporoso & Kiselica, 2004;Hershenson, 2005;Pope, 2003;Tang, 2003). For many lower-to middle-class working Americans, for example, external factors related to life circumstances and family needs are likely the primary form of motivation, and thus traditional career theories may be insufficient in explaining career choice behavior.…”

career concerns of unemployed u.s. war veterans: suggestions from a cognitive information processing approach

“…Individuals who are diagnosed with mental illness encounter difficulties obtaining jobs because of the stigma associated with such a diagnosis . The unemployment rate among individuals who have been diagnosed with a mental illness is 85% (Caporoso & Kiselica, 2004) . Therefore, the combination of mental illness, criminal histories, and homelessness presents multiple significant barriers to one's employment .…”

An In‐House Prevocational Training Program for Newly Discharged Psychiatric Inpatients: Exploring Its Employment Outcomes and the Predictive Factors

“…Vocational counselling professionals, such as occupational therapists or rehabilitation counsellors, help clients develop an individualized employment plan, locate job opportunities, conduct periodical assessments to monitor the clients' motivational and emotional problems, as well as monitor the potential impact of medications on the clients' cognitive and physical functioning, seek out community resources and social networks and help the client to retain work‐related skills and behaviours (e.g. ADL, social and communication skills, stress management, self‐advocacy) (Caporoso and Kiselica, ). For example, although the sheltered workplace in Taiwan can generally accommodate the special needs of clients with mental disorders, because of the shortage of staff and heavy caseloads, comprehensive and individualized monitoring and intervention plans are usually not available (Lin et al, ).…”