A CONCEPTUAL-FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING AN ACTIVITY-BASED APPROACH TO CAREER COUNSELING

The present paper develops a conceptual framework for an activity-base d approach to career counselling. The main objective of this approach is to combine clients' practical activity, such as visits to education al institutions, work practices etc., with their psychological process es leading to occupational choice. Some basic ideas that are relevant to developing an activity-based approach to counselling in postmodern work life and some recent changes in work life itself and in the indiv iduals' relation to work are discussed. These include plasticity, whic h emphasizes the individuals' capability and activeness in shaping bot h their working environment and themselves; the nonnormative nature of the developmental tasks that postmodern work life sets for the indivi dual; the openness and nonlinear nature of the counselling process and the implications of this on the role of the counsellor; and the usefu lness of conceptualizing the counselling process as a metaphorical rea lity. Also, some preliminary findings from a research project aimed at developing a counselling process model which is congruent with activi ty-based approach are presented. The implications of these findings on the framework are also discussed.