With a practical and straightforward approach, Essential Elements of Career Counseling focuses primarily on the practice of career counseling by exploring the basic methods, resources, and courses of action that can be applied in conducting career counseling every day. Perfect for use either as a main text or as a supplement to a more theory-based text, this book not only covers the basic techniques of developing career choice but also explores the emerging trends in the field, such as web-based counseling and the creation and use of virtual career centers online.

Over the years, the authors have developed career counseling programs in an array of settings around the world that varied from secondary school systems to colleges and universities to unemployment systems to immigrant transition services. Through their experiences, they have found that whatever the context, certain basic methods apply to all quality career counseling. Essential Elements of Career Counseling is a synthesis of these universal methods that leads students through evaluation, action planning, and follow-though, and that take into account the various facets of each case such as the individual, the environmental context, the socioeconomic context, and new technology.

 Special Features Include:

• An emphasis on the process of career counseling as opposed to the theory that gives the text a robust, hands-on accessibility and that makes this book ideal as a supplement in introductory career development classes.
• An emphasis of web-based counseling and other internet-related resources that keep students up-to-date with emerging trends in the field.
• End-of-Chapter Summaries that help students to synthesis and retain what they have just read and are also ideal for quick reviews of the chapter’s main points.
• A “Quick Start” chapter at the beginning of the book that outlines the main themes of the book and allows students to quickly acquaint themselves with the mainstays of the book’s processes while linking each one to corresponding chapters in the book.
• Case Studies are provided throughout the text, which add real-life examples of career counseling while illustrating concepts and practices covered in the main text. 
• An Appendix is located at the back of the book, which includes the NCDA guidelines for competency standards and ethical guidelines and which help students in the details and particulars of their counseling training.

Norman Amundson is a professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of British Columbia. A leader in the field of career development, Amundson recently received the Best Book Award from the Canadian Counseling Association for his book Active Engagement (Ergon Communications, 2003). His research focuses on counseling methods, unemployment, and changes in working life, while his numerous lectures, articles, workshops and seminars emphasis the importance of imagination, creativity, and action in the career counseling process.

What is Career Counseling?

Factors Contributing to Shifts in Career Counseling

Seven Common Career Counseling Myths

Defining Career Counseling

Career Counseling Competencies

Theory of John L. Holland

Theory of Donald E. Super

Theory of John Krumboltz

Constructivist Approaches

Chapter 3    Context and Career Planning

Internal Variables

External Variables

Creating a Mattering Climate

Building Bridges

Negotiating the Working Alliance

Coping with Client Reluctance

Chapter 5    Defining the Client's Career Concerns

Elaborating the Problem

Viewing the Problem Through a Metaphoric Lens

Changing Direction

Questioning and Storytelling

Metaphors

Structured Assessment

Limitations

Chapter 7    Exploring the Problem:  Contextual and Labor Market Options

Social Context

Educational and Work/Leisure Context

Labor Market Options (A Personal View)

Deciding Whether to Use a Technology-Based Intervention

Selecting Systems and Sites

Components of a Virtual Career Center

Local Information as a Part of the Virtual Career Center

Access to Web Counseling

Monitoring Feature

Organization of the Virtual Career Center

Sample Sites

Consolidation

Decision Making

Readiness for Action Planning

Developing the Action Plan

Advocacy and Social Action

Providing Support to Clients

Processing New Insights and Information

Action Plans That Aren't Followed Through

Handling Additional Concerns

Evaluating Client Progress During the Course of Career Counseling

Evaluating Client Progress at the End of Career Counseling

School Settings

University Settings

Community Settings

Appendix B    National Career Development Association Ethical Standards (Revised 2003)