Career and lifestyle planning in vocational rehabilitation settings

It should be no surprise, then, that some clients in mental health and private practice settings need assistance with career development issues, whether or not the work domain is part of the presenting concern. In fact, clients may have career-related concerns in almost every setting in which counseling takes place (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2002). These clients, however, receive such services only insofar as the counselor’s level of knowledge, comfort, and expertise in career counseling allow. In private settings, career-related issues and career life planning rarely receive the same kind of urgency that mental health-related issues do. As a rule, most mental health counselors are not well versed in career issues or may lack enthusiasm for career counseling. Conversely, career counselors may not have the expertise needed to assist clients for whom mental health issues are primary. Nevertheless, those private practice and mental health counselors who are well versed in both mental health and career counseling can offer a full range of counseling interventions to their clients. Herr (1992) suggested that unless one. Many clients who present with career-related matters must often come to terms with issues related to their mental health; conversely, many clients who present with mental health concerns inevitably want to seek out and implement career-related goals once their mental health issues have been successfully resolved. In this chapter, therefore, we present information useful to those counselors who want to work in mental health and private practice settings. We discuss some of the mental health issues typically found in these settings and offer suggestions on how those with mental health concerns can be productively engaged in the workplace through career counseling interventions. A glossary of mental health terms is provided in Table 14.1.