In weaving the story, the counsellor concluded that the client’s life project evolves around
independence and self-revelation, but these are features to display only in a closely united
group or team of people, where science is the main tool to problem solving. His role in
such a team would be to offer moral support through his sense of humour, remain
rational, and use mechanisms. The client made it through the college thanks to a group of
friends. From the discussion it became apparent that the reason he hesitates to practice
medicine is that he has hard times accepting an external authority, and that he cannot
handle prolonged years of study. He wanted to be part of a team that should solve
problems employing science and appreciate individual contributions of its members.
The client decided to further explore three occupations in the realm of human medicine
(anaesthesiologist, optometrist, and pharmacist), which meet his core requirements: allow
him to be part of a team, and use scientific means.
In order to deal with the client’s tendency of relying on others (mates and mother) in
decision-related matters, the counsellor drew a line between the role models identified
earlier and the client’s effort to be independent, backed by his acknowledged interest in
becoming a pilot. It was even suggested that the young man should take flying lessons on
a small aircraft, as a hobby.
Method assessment
Advantages:
- narration is a possibility to go back in the past and salvage values and
convictions occasioned by events in one’s history. On the basis of
accumulated life experience it becomes thus possible to transfer significance
from the stories of others, from different ages and contexts to one’s current
situation. Understanding the cultural, professional, social mechanisms that
determined certain experiences prepare qualitatively the leap to a superior
plan, that of action. Work is a complex activity offering multiple personal and
professional development opportunities; career counselling uses narration as
an instrument to cultivate diversity and put to use chances in a possible
future; - stories are not remembering, but reconstructions of the past, so that the events
once lived support current choices and favour future evolutions; - once rationally and affectively engaged in narration, the clients clarify their
options and exercise their decision-making skills, to an extent to which they
are prepared. This is a subjective practice for autonomy and maturity, but also
with the feeling that no experience (of one’s self or borrowed) is foreign to
man;