1st Edition

Career Counseling Over the Internet An Emerging Model for Trusting and Responding To Online Clients

By Patricia Mulcah Boer Copyright 2001
    214 Pages
    by Routledge

    214 Pages
    by Routledge

    This is one of the first books on the subject of counseling clients via e-mail. The author has taken the area of counseling practice and systematically reviewed relevant counseling theory, counseling ethics, and counseling skills in relation to Web counseling. The objective is to provide a practical text and guide for career counselors in online service. This book will be of interest to professionals in the field of career counseling, to graduate students of counseling, and to human resource management and outplacement professionals.

    The book begins by articulating issues in the debate on Internet counseling, giving particular attention to counselor concerns about ethical issues and the client-counselor relationship. Next, it details the 11 necessary competencies and skills for counseling professionals in general, translating these for use online, including the role of assessment, various electronic interventions, and the pros and cons of career counseling via the Web. Specific guidelines are offered for career counselors to implement online. The book concludes with suggestions for continuing research, as well as recommendations for counselor supervision, preparation, and training models as the field makes a paradigm shift. Framed into 10 chapters, 35 question and answer examples are interspersed to bring to life the actual experiences, themes, issues, and questions presented by a global clientele regarding their career development. Each chapter closes with discussion questions for practitioners to consider themselves or discuss with students in classroom and practice settings.

    Contents: Introduction. Part I: Reflections on Practice. Articulating Issues in the Debate. Defining the Online Career Counseling Process. Safeguarding the Client--Counselor Relationship. Part II: Translating Reflections Into Practice. Serving International Clients and Diverse Populations. Coaching/Consulting for Performance Improvement. Understanding the Use of Assessment Online. Providing Appropriate Information and Referral. Part III: Preparing for a Paradigm Shift. Embracing Technology. Encouraging Qualitative Research. Emerging Practice Models. Appendices: Web sites. Databases.

    Biography

    Patricia Mulcah Boer

    "...this book provides a practical text and guide on emerging career counseling practices via the Net."
    Business Horizons

    "Dr. Boer does not only present a framework for Internet based counseling but also demonstrates the proposed framework's utility and effectiveness, using actual cases from her own counseling experience. The book succeeds to both challenge the misconception that online career counseling is just answering e-mail messages and to demonstrate that specific skills are required for providing quality service."
    Itmar Gati, Ph.D.
    The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

    "The topic of career counseling is very timely. Many chapters are relevant to the concerns of career professionals--the reference to the skills needed to handle career counseling online, the online resources available to assist clients in gathering information about a topic of career concern, and the discussion of ethical issues related to the use of this new communication tool."
    Roseann Sorenson
    Career Planning and Placement, Fordham University