Career Counseling and Personal Counseling

How intertwined are career and personal counseling?

Some counselors and researchers have argued that these types of counseling should be completely separate and the required training and agencies should be separate.

However, others believe differently.  John Krumboltz, a researcher and professor at Stanford University, argues that career and personal counseling are related, and it is important for counselors to recognize this.

While some clients present issues that can be strictly related to the career or personal realm, many issues are related to both.  Without recognizing that problems can influence both the career and personal realm, there is the potential for a client to not receive the best quality of counseling. 

One of the main points of discussion within the article is that problems related to careers often have an emotional aspect, which has an effect on an individual’s personal life as well.  Krumboltz discusses that the emotional effects of career problems can have an impact comparable to stressful personal events.

Many counselors today recognize that an individual’s life cannot be separated neatly into a career and a personal life, and this is beneficial to both parties.  The counselors are able to better understand the client, and the client is able to express the entire picture and receive better counseling.

Within the process of counseling, the intake session* is often a time counselors ask questions pertaining to an individual’s personal life.  These questions are asked to get a better understanding of the whole situation.

While personal and career counseling are titled differently, it is important to recognize that career decisions and problems have an impact on an individual’s personal life and vice versa. 

*Intake session – The first session of counseling in which a large amount of background information is gathered in addition to information relevant to the current issue(s).

Krumboltz, J. D. (1993). Integrating career and personal counseling. The Career Development      Quarterly, 42(2), 143-148.