A conceptual framework for developing an activity-based approach to career counselling

The present paper develops a conceptual framework for an activity-based approach to career counselling. The main objective of this approach is to combine clients' practical activity, such as visits to educational institutions, work practices etc., with their psychological processes leading to occupational choice. Some basic ideas that are relevant to developing an activity-based approach to counselling in postmodern work life and some recent changes in work life itself and in the individuals' relation to work are discussed. These include plasticity, which emphasizes the individuals' capability and activeness in shaping both their working environment and themselves; the nonnormative nature of the developmental tasks that postmodern work life sets for the individual; the openness and nonlinear nature of the counselling process and the implications of this on the role of the counsellor; and the usefulness of conceptualizing the counselling process as a metaphorical reality. Also, some preliminary findings from a research project aimed at developing a counselling process model which is congruent with activity-based approach are presented. The implications of these findings on the framework are also discussed.