Vocational Treatment Plan: Jennifer’s Case

Jennifer’s Employment History and Job Skills

When Jennifer completed her high school diploma, she was employed as a bank teller. Through the position mentioned above, she acquired customer care skills and accounting knowledge through balancing deposits, withdrawal procedures, and other money transitions like loans and mortgages. After the first employment, Jennifer stayed for about six years without working and then managed to get an opportunity with an online distribution firm, her current employer. She has been working for this company for three years and responsible for monitoring the inventory and ensuring that data is up to date and secure. Jennifer has acquired a wide range of organizing, monitoring, and maintaining information expertise in the present position.

Jennifer’s Current Employment Situation

Presently, Jennifer is experiencing stress at her workplace; she is anxious and not fulfilled with her work. She has had job-related problems with two of her colleges, frequently works overtime to earn an extra coin to support her family. She makes $11 per hour and feels that this is not enough because of the financial responsibilities. The woman is not happy with her current working environment and conditions, so she has been thinking of looking for another job.

Career Counseling Theory: Jennifer’s Interrelationships

Jennifer’s circumstances can be appropriately described by the circumscription and compromise theory. The approach argues that four developmental processes guide individuals to jobs that match their abilities. There are several stages involved in this theory, including cognitive growth, age-related progression in intellectual capability, self-creation, self-directed improvement, circumscription, progressive exclusion of one’s least favorable employment choices, and compromise (Jena & Nayak, 2020). Other phases include dealing with challenges to achieve desired career goals (Jena & Nayak, 2020). The model states that individuals look for a compromise when they do not have the desired positions’ required skills. However, a person can increase the accessibility of anticipated opportunities through training, education persistence, and optimism to raise competitiveness.

Jennifer is facing difficulties in her career path because, at her age, the woman has not properly navigated the four stages of the career development process as per the above-discussed theory. At 33 years of age, she has not yet acquired a college degree, meaning she has no competitive intellectual capability in the job market. Secondly, she spent many years at home, and therefore she had time for self-directed work advancement.

Therefore, because of the above two reasons, Jennifer does not have many employment opportunities because the woman lacks the much-needed exposure. The latter is why she finds it challenging to get another employment opportunity and does not even know where to start. Failure to navigate the three stages has left her with no chance but to compromise, which is the last stage of the approach. Therefore, the mother of two now has to endure her current stressful position before deciding to quit and find a more befitting position. The above is because she knows that it will be challenging to get another job elsewhere with no proper qualifications or skills.

As illustrated above by the circumscription and compromise theory, all her issues are connected to her current state of psychological health. She is not satisfied with the work and her pay, not because her employer is underpaying her but because the money she gets is not enough to cater for her family. She also cannot get a higher position because she lacks academic qualification because she did not further her career because of motherhood. All the issues combined make her agitated, stressed and anxious, the reasons she has a misunderstanding with her colleagues. Each of her situations leads to another, and it’s a cycle she has to break through therapy.

Potential Ethical or Legal Considerations Related to the Case

Jennifer feels burdened and not fulfilled by her work because she works hard but still does not earn enough capital to support herself and her two daughters. Financial help is what the woman needs to relieve much of the stress she is facing. Hence, Jennifer should consider the legal option of asking for child support from her daughters’ father(s). The law mandates parents who do not stay with their children to pay child support (Howard et al., 2019). With the above-stated, she will be able to cover some of her daughters’ needs.

The Formal Vocational Treatment Plan

Jennifer’s primary and long-term treatment goal will be to acquire a community college degree by the age of 36 years to improve her skills and become more competitive in the job market. At that age, as per Donald Super’s Self-concept Theory of Career Development, Jennifer is still at the stabilization and consolidation level of work experience, which is 25-44 years (Faheem, 2017). However, with the existing financial strains, it will not be possible. Therefore, the treatment starts with short-term goals towards getting finances for the long-term objectives. She will, therefore, require one year of saving some funds to enrol in a part-time learning program that will last for two years.

Specific and Measurable Goals and How Jennifer will Meet Them

First, Jennifer needs to start planning on the little amount she is earning. The target here will be to minimize her expenditure and create a one-year saving plan for community college fees which is $10,300 annually for two years (Levin et al., 2017). Secondly, the treatment aim will be to equip her with coping skills for her current job situation since she cannot quit her job without a new one. The above-stated will help in reducing stress and anxiety levels. Thirdly, the therapy will encourage Jennifer to face her fears of looking for a new opportunity. She will be required to look for openings and send as many applications as possible for positions she views as suitable and those that might earn her some extra money.

How to Progress Towards Goals will be Evaluated

At the end of every month, she will be required to provide her list of expenditures and the amount that went into savings. Since Jennifer earns $11 an hour, she will be needed to save $3 of the $11 each hour. Secondly, she will be mandated to indicate how many sites she has visited per week looking for, how many jobs she has applied to, and if any, how many interviews she has attended. The treatment goals will encourage her to apply for managerial positions and other openings that pay higher than her current employer. Also, she will be required to keep a journal of her daily feelings. The latter will help in tracking her stress and anxiety levels. Cognitive restructuring will be used in making her aware of her moods and how she can cope with or, most importantly, manage them.

A Termination Plan

Firstly, termination of the treatment will only occur if Jennifer has changed her perception about looking for another job. Secondly, if she has started a locked savings account purposely for college. Thirdly, when she is coping well with a current job while persistently searching for another position. Cessation will be done with arrangements for follow-ups to ensure that the client follows through towards achieving the long-term treatment objective. The follow-up will then stop when the client can stand on her own and achieve her desired career goals.

References

Faheem, I. (2017). Career development models: Vocational and counseling implications. International Journal of Humanities & Social Science Studies (IJHSSS), 4(2), 139-148. Web.

Howard, L., Vogel, L. K., Cancian, M., & Noyes, J. L. (2019). Building connections: Using integrated administrative data to identify issues and solutions spanning the child welfare and child support systems. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 5(2), 70-85. Web.

Jena, L., & Nayak, U. (2020). Theories of career development: An analysis. Indian Journal of Natural Sciences, 10(60), 23515-23523. Web.

Levin, J. S., López-Damián, A. I., Martin, M. C., & Hoggatt, M. J. (2017). The US community college after globalization. In L. Tran & K. Dempsey (Eds.), Internationalization in Vocational Education and Training (pp. 19-40). Springer, Cham.

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