Application: Career Counseling for Clients with Addictive Behaviors

Adjusting assessments and methodologies according to a client’s need is fundamental to the career counseling process. As you prepare for this assignment, consider the various scenarios—an individual’s level of career development and drug addiction stage—that can alter the counseling dynamic.

To prepare for this assignment:

• Review this week’s Learning Resources. Focus on the case example of John, on p. 525.
• Think about how this case example illustrates how an individual may simultaneously be in different stages of change with regard to 1) career development and 2) dealing with drug addiction. Consider the challenges for the counselor and client.
• Develop a case of your own to use for this assignment. Consider the client you developed for the Week 3 Application Assignment.

The assignment: (1 – 2 pages)

• Use the template in the Week 10 Resources section of the class to demonstrate, in client/counselor dialogue form, the transtheoretical model of change (TTM), illustrating how you might counsel a client (NOT “John” from the text) who is in two different stages of change: one stage of change for career development (e.g., Precontemplation) and a different stage of change for dealing with drug addiction (e.g., Action).
• Apply the four principles of Motivational Interviewing in your scenario, noting how you are demonstrating them in your dialogue.
• Explain how the scenario you create effectively addresses some of the challenges of working with clients who are in different stages of change for career development and substance abuse.