Postmodern career counseling interventions: A meaning-centered approach
Résumé
Given the dramatic changes in the postmodern society in particular the labor market, more and more individuals are struggling to find meaning in their lives and works (Lhotellier, Arnoux-Nicolas, & Sovet, 2018). For some of them, choosing a career path reflects an existential quest while transforming adverse circumstances may lead to a loss of purpose. Not surprisingly, the phenomenological themes of existentialism are becoming topical for contemporary career counseling practices (Bernaud, 2016; Cohen, 2003). In this context, developing meaning-centered career interventions are crucial to tackle these challenges. During the last few years, our research group has been committed to build, implement, and assess career counseling practices through an existential lens (Arnoux-Nicolas et al., 2018; Bernaud, Lhotellier, Sovet, Arnoux-Nicolas, & Pelayo, 2015; Lhotellier et al., 2018). The purpose of the workshop is to offer an interactive experiential learning to researchers and practitioners about a group-based career intervention following a meaning-centered approach. It has been designed for adults experiencing career transition and existential concerns. The framework captures best evidence-based practices in order to enhance its effectiveness. With seven sessions, beneficiaries actively participate in various discussions and individual/group exercises during and out of session. Our primary goals are to share with participants our experiences and our materials in developing innovative meaning-centered career interventions. More specifically, the fourth session focused on questioning and discovering one’s meaning of work will be presented in detail. It will include a group discussion about meaning of work and a gamified exercise for assessing work values using card sorting. Participants will be invited to join all these activities.