Attending to clients’ psychological needs during career construction counseling

Abstract

Attending to clients’ psychological needs during career counseling merits more attention in career theory and practice. We describe how the elaboration of clients’ needs during career construction counseling supports clients’ problem formulation. After reviewing the literature on the psychology of needs, we present and illustrate an intervention strategy with a case example. Counseling vignettes from the initial counseling task of problem formulation illustrate how to facilitate clients’ narrative symbolization of their emotional experiences and associated needs. We explain how this strategy contributes to deepening clients’ understanding of their problems and facilitates both the rewriting of a career narrative and the construction of new career plans. Analysis of the possibilities and limits of this practice merits attention in career counseling process research.