The Self-Directed Search and MBTI - Essay Example

Self Assessment and Treatment Plan Discussion of the Results of Self-Directed Search and MBTI Part One This section shows realization of the importance of time management in my work combined with my education. Questions about who I admire in life show that I like independence, intelligence, responsibility and strong will. It means I would like to be my own person, with my skills admired and satisfaction in my work. I look at life in a positive way. My favorite saying is “Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live” by Jonny Depp. My favorite movie is “A Beautiful Mind”. These communicate a lot about who I am. Looking at life in a positive way means I do not judge people much. I take what comes positively and try to find the good out of different situations. I consider this very important in my career as a mental health counselor and in life. My favorite movie speaks a lot about the kind of person I am. It shows I admire strong willed people. I do not consider disability as inability. I am open-minded and believe in determination. My favorite saying confirms my positive way of viewing things and life. By giving out love, you do not lose anything; you gain more. I also realized that human beings have the potential to transform and this depends on a person’s will. People should live their lives by being open minded and ready to accept changes that make them enjoy life. Part Two Part two of the assessment confirmed just the kind of a person I am. I found a connection between my favorite movie and my favorite person. In my movie, there was a brilliant mathematician who struggled with mental illness. He overcame his illness irrespective of his hallucinations. I think I admired his strong will, his intelligence, and his ability to deal with the illness alone. These are the same qualities I admire in my father. It means I would like to be like them. I realized the need for understanding patients and their families. I also realized that I am an empathetic person and a good listener. Empathy is a good quality in the health care industry. Good listening skills are also important. It forms part of treatment of a patient. Patient satisfaction comes from various areas, one of which is knowledge that all his problems have been listened to and understood. I also found out that I like investigative, social and artistic work settings. This provided a lot of support for my career choice of studying mental health counseling. I also believe that this career will give me the chance to help people. Part three This section made me realize that any work needs appropriate skills and abilities to handle the challenges and the requirements. I also came to a conclusion that continuous development, learning and improvement, are very important for successful performance in any area of work. Maricel SDS results show that I am a social, investigative and conventional person. Social is well-matched with Artistic and Enterprising. Investigative is well matched with Realistic and Artistic. Conventional is well matched with Enterprising and Realistic. All these confirm my characteristics. I like to work in an orderly manner, like to explore and understand things, and like helping people with their challenges. I also know that determining factors in career choice are personal interest, acquired skills, and initial aptitude. From this Assessment, I confirm that I am on the right career path. The MBTI results show a combination of Introversion 25, Intuition 3, Feeling 3 and Judging 21. This places me under INFJs. Based on the description of INFJ characteristics in the work place, the profile fits my career goals and expectations. 2. Conceptualization Using Career Theories The Theory of Work Adjustment This theory views career development and choice as continual process of accommodation and adjustment. In this process, the person interested in a certain career looks for work environments and organizations that go with his or her requirements. The environment in turn looks for a person with capabilities to meet the requirements of the organization. Satisfaction and satisfactoriness are achieved if both the organization and the individual are satisfied with each other’s provisions. To the individual, the most central requirements expected from the organization are needs, which could be physical or psychological, and are considered values. To the organization, the most central requirements are the skills and abilities considered necessary to the organization (Athanasou & van Esbroeck, 2008). This theory perfectly explains the results of my assessment. Career development and choice is a continual process. At the time of assessment, I am a full time worker as a registrar at Miami Children’s Hospital and a student at Nova University. My career focus is on mental health counseling. According to the theory, I should be looking for an organization with my needs. My characteristics, personality and preferences according to my assessment, have brought a lot of confidence in my choice for my career in mental health counseling. I chose a career with my needs. I chose an organization, with my needs. The organization, in turn looks for individuals with skills required for its operations. Currently, I am studying mental health counseling and hope to work with mental health institutions that need my skills. During my assessment, I also realized that choosing a professional career involves consideration of an individual’s skills and abilities that resemble those needed for efficient work in a certain area. At the end of this assessment, I found myself satisfied with my career choice. It means I found the right organization that meets my needs. Holland’s Theory of Vocational Personalities in Work Environment According to this theory, one’s occupational interest is expressed by one’s personality. Occupational interest can be expressed as Investigative (I), Conventional (C), Realistic (R), Social (S), Artistic (A), and Enterprising (E). One’s career interest can, therefore, be summarized using three letter codes, for example, RIA or SIC (Athanasou & van Esbroeck, 2008). According to my assessment by use of Maricel SDS, results showed that I am Social, Investigative, and Conventional (SIC). All these confirm my personality as I know and my interest. Self-concept Theory of Career Development This theory suggests that the choice and development of a career is a process in which a person develops and implements self concept. Self concept is a product of interactions among personal experiences, mental growth, environmental characteristics, physical growth and stimulation. Self concept, however, changes with time and is influenced by new experience encounters. It is also affected by developmental stages’ progresses (Athanasou & van Esbroeck, 2008). From the results of my assessment, it is clear that I am trying to develop and implement a self concept. I want to be like my father and my movie star who are intelligent, independent, full of strong will and responsible. I also have my own personal characteristics that I admire and wish to employ in my area of work. I am a positive person, social, conventional, artistic, and investigative. Factors molding myself concept are my personal experiences, my work environment, knowledge of my personality, and motivation to work in a desired environment. Social Cognitive Career Theory This theory describes three models through which career choice and development take place. The models explain how people make career and educational choices, the development of occupational and academic interest, and career and educational performance and stability. There is the interest model which states that people develop interest in activities that they anticipate positive outcomes and feel efficacious in. There is the choice model that views development of career goals as a something that results from interaction of outcome expectations, self efficacy, and interest over time. There is also performance model that considers one’s ability to achieve performance goal and levels. Ability informs outcome expectations and self efficacy (Athanasou & van Esbroeck, 2008). I feel comfortable working in the health industry, especially in the mental health sector because I believe I am a good listener. These people need a lot of understanding and good listening. I am also a social person and have other qualities needed in the area of work. This has also been my area of passion. This theory explains my interest in mental health counseling because of my anticipated positive outcomes that result from confidence in my personal characteristics. I also feel efficacious in this line of work because of my academic development. This has been my area of interest over time, and so explains my choice of career. I have always been interested in helping others and have a passion for it. I believe that with improved academic development in this area of work, my ability to perform required duties will be professional. This explains my choice of academic development. 3. Career Counseling Goals, Objectives and Interventions Based on the Theories The Theory of Work Adjustment Career counseling goal: Continue developing my mental health counseling skills Objectives: To complete my education concerning mental health counseling To find an organization where I can practice my skills and gain experience To find other qualification areas in mental health counseling and pursue further education and experience Interventions: Continue with education to completion Find a job in a mental health institution Assess my passion and interest while on the job and explore the likelihood of engaging in further education to improve professionalism. Holland’s Theory of Vocational Personalities in Work Environment Goal: maximize my potential as a social investigative person Objectives: I am a Social, Investigative, and Conventional person therefore the objectives will be; To find out other careers where social, investigative and conventional persons fit To compare my expected ability in other areas with mental health counseling ability Interventions: Find a job in a mental health institution where I can practice my skills Assess my ability in the job Evaluate other jobs in the mental health institution and the likelihood of engaging in such jobs Visit other jobs apart from mental health that require conventional, investigative and social person Assess the capability of getting involved in these jobs This will help in reinforcing satisfaction on the choice of career currently taken Self-concept Theory of Career Development Goal: Enhance my self-concept to be sure of my career path Objectives: Reassess personal experiences Improve on mental growth Find out more about the factors that drive me to mental health counseling: those that increase my passion More exposure to the area of work to see how it influences my self-concept Intervention: Improve in all areas affecting self concept development Find out similar movies with similar characteristics and concepts being communicated Confirm what you want for yourself as a person Is it still independence, intelligence, strong will and responsibility? Find out the role played by these characteristics in the choice and development of career Seek more guidance from experienced mental health counselors. Find out the challenges they go through and the level of positivity you still use to approach such situations Social Cognitive Career Theory Goal: Improve self efficacy and ability Explore other possible interests Objectives: Find out other related job areas that could be of interest Explore my second choice in career interest Find out ways of improving self efficacy and ability Interventions: Assess my outcome expectations, self efficacy and interest over time Assess the factors that contribute to my anticipation of positive outcomes and feel efficacious in the current selected career compared to the second choice career. Assess my self-efficacy in relation to the job and other related job types Assess my ability and outcome expectations in case of improved ability in this area of work Compare expected outcome of other jobs with current chosen career in case of improved professional ability Make informed decisions based on outcomes from above assessments References Athanasou, J. A. & van Esbroeck, R. (2008). International Handbook of Career Guidance. New York: Springer. Read More