The Problem Of The Question In Vocational Guidance

This article aims to address a problem that usually arises within the consultation for Vocational Guidance Adolescents with opportunities for choices, with basic (and not so basic) needs satisfied, people who consider themselves to belong to more “privileged” sectors and who decide to consult (or are taken to consult) with a vocational counselor but with a blocked question.

This question can be presented in the form of demotivation or ignorance, waiting for a response from the counseling psychologist, or quite the opposite. With a very clear conscious choice, but obviously at an unconscious level something makes noise and motivates consultation.

What interventions would be appropriate in these situations to be able to initially open space for questioning and doubt, and then set in motion a search work on the part of the consultant assisted by the counselor?

Working from the initial question in Vocational Guidance

Seeing the problem from this perspective, we speak of a “psycho-educational, preventive and community approach focused on the development of the subject and on the learning and appropriation of the tools that allow them to develop the symbolic capacities necessary to better face transitions.” (Aisenson, 2007, p.78)

Approaching the problem from this perspective puts the consultant in a holistic way (their psyche, their context, their way of responding to conflicts) at the center of study; therefore, It is essential to investigate the transitions that the person themselves have made and what resources they have acquired to go through them

Could the subjects exemplified in this work be considered to be in transition? Do they perceive it as such? I understand transition according to Schlossberg’s definition as an “event or non-event (that) results in a change in assumptions about oneself and the world and therefore requires a change in one’s behavior and relationships.” “. (Schlossberg, 1981, p.7)

It is from this inquiry that space can be opened for the question to arise from the consultant’s side, given that If there is no uncertainty or questioning, it cannot be said that there is a perception that there is a transition Something is going to stop being what it was to be something different. It is by opening questions towards the idea that they are in a moment of change that we could make room for the doubt that sets the search in motion.

Promoting the emergence of an interest

By thinking about some possible interventions, one could investigate and highlight the representations that these people have about the work and student future, about their environment and about themselves The objective of interventions is to generate something new, a doubt, an interest, but that knowledge must come from the subject.

Some possible interventions to carry out could be to investigate the affect that accompanies the transition, if there is anxiety, excitement, apathy. The person who occupies the role of the counseling psychologist can channel these emotions into activities that are positive for the consultant (“what do you imagine doing in your role as…?”, “in what field do you imagine yourself working?”, “what do you think the exams might be like?”… questions that can lead to imagine the role of the student).

On the environmental side, you can find out if it acts as an economic and psychological support or as an obstacle It is not only about the cohabiting family, but also about the network of friends. If you share your enthusiasm or disenthusiasm about the future and the possibilities that open up with it. If there are mandates to fulfill and work on the representations that circulate in the family and group of friends about professions.

Finally, in relation to the characteristics of the individual, psychosocial competence, how the individual relates to factors that come from outside, as well as the study of previous experiences in other transitions, is essential. These teenagers have traveled in their lives and have adapted more or less successfully. Establishing which strategies have worked for them and which ones have not would be relevant for a guiding project.