ABSTRACT
A wide array of professionals work with individuals who are seeking to find more satisfying, stable, and meaningful employment. This includes, but is not limited to, psychologists, career counselors, social workers, and case managers. However, as Brewster and Molina (2021) eloquently point out in their critique of vocational psychology, the training professionals receive to do this work is almost always client versus system centered. How can we help individual clients find personalized solutions to their individual concerns? Although this model certainly benefits clients, it has a key shortcoming—orienting trainees to working to make a change at the client versus systems level, thus limiting future professionals’ knowledge, self-efficacy, and motivation to make a system-level change. If we truly want a world where all have access to decent work, it will require this exact type of change to occur. In the current essay, I discuss my own experience as a member of a counseling psychology training program and discuss ways training can be improved for career professionals.
Systemic and Policy Perspectives on Work
