Career Counselling the Whole Person – Empathy, Strength, Creativity and Co-Construction of Career-Focused Solutions

Sunday, January 26 | 9:00 am - 12:00 pm ET | Add to your registration for $165

It is common for career development professionals (CDPs) to serve as front-line counselling professionals when individuals enter a new transitional stage. Individuals seeking meaningful work are provided with job search support and motivational talks. Do we know why some clients languish with their action plans while others flourish? Do we know that 80% of clients’ job search success comes from the client-counsellor alliance? In this workshop, we will explore various aspects of conducting effective career-focused counselling sessions. This interactive session aims to demonstrate how to apply career development theories to assess the client as a whole person and treat clients’ presenting issues with proven counselling modalities. Furthermore, the workshop will help CDPs discover how the clients’ career well-being issues can hinder their job search journey. By pinpointing the life activities that yield the best results, clients can refocus their strengths, skills and knowledge on crucial tasks to enhance their mental health. 

Through attending this workshop, participants will:

Effectively employ use of self to maintain professional boundaries and to enhance CDPs/clients well-being

Learn how select and apply career development theories to explore the clients’ career needs

Utilize appropriate strength-based counselling modalities to address the clients as whole persons in life transition

Identify client’s presenting issues and complex job search needs

Explore unconscious bias which may be triggered by the clients’ job search requirements

Themes

  • Mental Health & Well-being: Supporting mental health and well-being for clients and/or CDPs
  • Identifying appropriate supports for clients
  • Self-care and resilience

Presenter

Sonny Wong (MEd Counselling/Psychology) is a Registered Psychotherapist who specializes in career-focused positive psychotherapy. He is also a Certified Clinical Supervisor for CDPs, helping them develop healthy career identities and well-being. Currently, he works as a Professional Counsellor at Toronto Metropolitan University. With 25 years of experience, he has held various roles including teaching faculty, researcher, writer and trainer. Sonny has received numerous national awards, including the Leadership Award and the Counsellor of the Year Award at Toronto Metropolitan University as well as the Jason Kelly Leadership Award for excellence in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy from the University of Toronto.