| Abstract: | In Europe and in North America, the creation of new economic alliances that are  boundary free for corporations and workers in the nations involved will stimulate new needs for counseling. Planning for counseling to deal with the individual needs caused by economic boundary shifting should encompass two broad themes: (1) the likely psychological dynamics of boundary changing; and (2) the possible effects of boundary changing on the structure and choice of and planning for occupations.As economic structures change, counselors and counseling will need to address the resulting transformations of the psychological environments, the sets of behavioral expectations, the national mythologies and social metaphors in which persons negotiate their identities, find their sources of self-validation and pursue a career. The counselors will need to be prepared to deal with the stresses and anxieties that accompany such change as well as the threats to cultural identity that accompany worker migration from nations of origin. Assisting workers to deal with evolving skill requirements from new technologies, cultural transitions, retraining, underemployment, and unemployment will become increasingly important aspects of the counselor's agenda.The Pennsylvania State University and The University of British Columbia |
