Counseling Theory and Practice Resources

The OCPD has intentionally articulated approaches to counseling; specifically, the career counseling staff practices solution focused, person-centered, and cognitive behavioral approaches. Below are a list of resources. Before engaging in counseling, we recommend obtaining appropriate education, training, and supervision experience pursuant to the American Counseling Association and National Career Development Association’s Code of Ethics.

Career Development Field - Overview of Theories:

Career counseling is a sub-field of counseling with some general counseling theories that cross over and others that are specific to career development. As new theories are emerging to meet the demands of ever changing professions and environments, the list below is by no means comprehensive but does offer a solid foundation upon which to start building an understanding of the career development field.

Books

• Brown, S. D., & Lent, R. W. (2013). Career Development and Counseling: Putting Theory and Research to Work (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
• Brown, D. (2016). Career information, career counseling, and career development (11th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
• Figler, H. & Bolles, R.N. (2007). The career counselor’s handbook (2nd ed.). Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press. Chapters 11-19 (pages 106-178) focus on career counselors’ tools.
• Swanson, J. L., & Fouad, N. A. (2010). Career theory and practice: Learning through case studies (2nd. ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

OCPD’s Counseling Theory Approaches:

Solution Focused Brief Therapy:

Books:

• ​Gladding, T. (2013). Counseling: A comprehensive profession (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. (This publication provides an overview of the counseling field. For more information on solution focused counseling, see Chapter 10 (pages 223-225); Murdock, N. L. (2009).
• Theories of counseling and psychotherapy: A case approach (2d ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. (This publication provides an overview of counseling theories. For information on solution focused counseling, see chapter 14 (pages 460-489).)

Articles:

• Burwell, R., & Chen, C. (2006). Applying the principles and techniques of solution-focused therapy to career counselling. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 19(2), 189-203. Looby, M.A. (2014); Solution-focused career counseling. NCDA Career Convergence. Retrieved from: http://associationdatabase.com/aws/NCDA/pt/sd/news_article/89853/_PARENT/layout_details_cc/true

Online Resources: Psychology Tools has online resources related to solution focused therapy
Professional Association: Solution Focused Brief Therapy Association
Additional Training: Solution Focused Brief Therapy

Person-Centered Counseling

Books:

• Cain, D. J. (2010). Person-centered psychotherapies. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; Gladding, T. (2013).
• Counseling: A comprehensive profession (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. (This publication provides an overview of the counseling field. For information on person-centered counseling, see Chapter 9 (pages 192-195); Murdock, N. L. (2009).
• Theories of counseling and psychotherapy: A case approach (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. (This publication provides an overview of counseling theories. For information on solution focused counseling, see chapter 5 (pages 147-178).)

Articles:

• Crisp, R. (2010). A person-centred perspective to counselling in educational and vocational agencies. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 20(1), 22-30; Stubbs, J.P. & Bozarth, J. D. (1993). Career assessment and the person-centered approach. Journal of Career Assessment, 1(4), 341-354.

Online Resources: Psychology Tools has online resources related to person-centered counseling
Professional Association: The Association for the Development of the Person Centered Approach
Additional Training: Person-Centered Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based model of collaborative solution-focused therapy. The goal of CBT is to help people change unproductive thinking, behavior and emotional patterns so that they can more confidently move forward in their lives and thus create opportunity for themselves.

Techniques can include: identifying and exploring negative thought, emotional and behavioral patterns, assigning homework, behavior or exposure experiments so a person can practice learning new skills and solving problems in different ways. For more information regarding CBT and its applications in counseling, please see a list of resources below.

Books:

• Beck, J. S., & Beck, A. T. (2011). Cognitive behavior therapy: Basics and beyond. New York: The Guilford Press.
• Lent, R.W., Brown, S.D., Hackett, G. (2002). Social cognitive career theory. In D. Brown & Associates (Eds.), Career choice and development (4th ed., pp. 255-311). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Peterson, G.W., Sampson, J.P., Jr., Lenz, J.G., & Reardon, R.C. (2002). A cognitive information processing approach to career problem solving and decision making. In D. Brown & Associates (Eds.), Career choice and development (4th ed., pp. 312-369). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Sheward, Steve, and Rhena Branch. Motivational Career Counselling and Coaching: Cognitive and Behavioural Approaches. London: SAGE, 2012.

Articles:

• Betz, N. E. (2006). Career Self-Efficacy Theory: Back to the Future. Journal of Career Assessment, 14(1), 3-11. http://doi:10.1177/1069072705281347
• Lent, R. W., & Brown, S. D. (2006). Integrating person and situation perspectives on work satisfaction: A social-cognitive view. Journal of Vocational Behavior,69(2), 236-247. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2006.02.006
• Lustig, D. C., & Strauser, D. R. (2002). The Relationship Between Sense of Coherence and Career Thoughts. The Career Development Quarterly, 51(1), 2-11. http://doi:10.1002/j.2161-0045.2002.tb00587.x

Online resources: Psychology Tools has online resources related to CBT. Handbook of Brief Cognitive Behavior. Brief CBT powerpoint for health professionals (slides 1-18 of the powerpoint are the most applicable)
Professional Associations: Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. Academy of Cognitive Therapy
Additional Training: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Counseling Field - Overview of Theories:

Many counselors, advisors and coaches find that they use multiple theories and approaches depending on a client's needs and context. If you're looking for a general overview of theories and counseling in different contexts, the resources below can help build your knowledge on the counseling profession, counseling in different settings with different populations and multicultural issues in counseling.

Books:

• Burke, M. G., Sauerheber, J. D., Hughey, A. W., & Laves, K. (2016). Helping skills for working with college students: Applying counseling theory to student affairs practice. New York, NY: Routledge.
• Corey, G. (2013). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
• Gladding, T. (2013). Counseling: A comprehensive profession (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. (Chapter 15, pages 310-334 provides information about career counseling over the lifespan.)
• Neukrug, E. (2016). The world of the counselor: An introduction to the counseling profession. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning
• Sue, D. W., & Sue, D. (2016). Counseling the Culturally Diverse: Theory and Practice, 7th Edition. John Wiley & Sons.

Online Resources: Psychology Tools - Comprehensive list of approaches with brief explanations, exercises/handouts for therapists and references
Professional Associations: American Counseling Association
Additional Training: Directory of accredited counseling programs