I have been providing career counseling for 20 plus years. Those who come to me often have been elsewhere and often have been highly disappointed. The reason: they worked with therapists – who, however skilled they may have been at addressing psychological issues related to careers, were not skilled at helping their career goals.
If a social worker or a psychologist claims they can help you get a job or figure out your career, you should drill down about their practical knowledge of the work world.
I hedge here. I am a big fan of therapists. Most are good hearted people and mean well. Most are not purposefully overselling their skills. They simply have confused the job of career counseling – help their clients figure out a career path and guide them to effectively get a job or move forward practically – with the job of a psychologist, “make them feel better while doing so.”
So, for example, if you have anxiety while searching for a job, in very broad strokes, there are two types of counselors who should be considered:
(1) your anxiety is so debilitating that you can’t search for a job – a psychologist will be most helpful here
(2) your anxiety is of the expected variety when searching for a job and, if you had help getting a job or finding a career, your anxiety would lower – that’s the job of Career Counseling Connecticut.