Volume_6_Issue_2_Digest

11 TPC Digest Melissa J. Fickling An Exploration of Career Counselors’ Perspectives on Advocacy Read full article and references: Fickling, M. J. (2016). An exploration of career counselors’ perspectives on advocacy. The Professional Counselor , 6, 174–188. doi : 10.15241/mf.6.2.174 All participants identified barriers to advocacy as well as the strengths of career counselors as advocates. Barriers included lack of time, lack of institutional support, lack of skill and some negative associations to advocacy work. Strengths of career counselors included the ability to create meaningful one-on- one relationships, multicultural competence and the perceived accessibility of career counseling, which makes it approachable to clients who may be reluctant to seek help elsewhere. This research adds empirical support to the notion that additional conversations and training around advocacy are wanted and needed among practicing career counselors. Participants overwhelmingly viewed advocacy as important and desired additional skills. Counselor educators, supervisors and career development leaders can model advocacy by initiating critical discussions on how best to serve clients in the work domain where inequality plays out in material ways. This will add to the social justice discourse and move the profession toward a more integrated understanding of how career counselors view the advocate role and how they can work toward making social justice a reality. Melissa J. Fickling, NCC, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Memphis. Correspondence can be addressed to Melissa J. Fickling, University of Memphis, Ball Hall 100, Memphis, TN 38152, mfckling@memphis.edu . P romoting social justice is a core value of the counseling profession, yet little is known about practitioners’ perspectives on the use of advocacy interventions. Career counselors may have a particularly unique and vivid perspective on the role of advocacy in promoting social justice, as the worker role is one that carries significant social meaning and economic consequences for clients. It appears that although career counselors value social justice and are aware of the effects of injustice on clients’ lives, they are acting primarily at the individual rather than the systemic level. Advocacy is challenging and multifaceted and is viewed as a central component of good counseling work; however, more research is needed if we are to understand how valuing social justice translates to use of advocacy interventions in career counseling practice. In this study, the researcher used Q Methodology to ask 19 career counselors about the relative importance of various advocacy behaviors in their everyday work. Participants later engaged in a semi-structured interview with the researcher to provide meaning and depth to the Q sample items. This mixed methods research design allowed for an objective analysis of participants’ subjective points of view. Results of the factor analysis revealed two perspectives. One factor, labeled Focus on Clients, emphasized the importance of empowering individual clients and teaching self-advocacy. Another factor, labeled Focus on Multiple Roles, highlighted the variety of skills and interventions career counselors use in their work. Participants on factor one (Focus on Clients), who emphasized the importance of individual clients, tended to perceive it as difficult to have conversations about social justice with their peers or supervisors. In contrast, participants on factor two (Focus on Multiple Roles) were more likely to cite a lack of knowledge or skills regarding their reasons for not engaging in more advocacy behaviors beyond the client level. Factor one participants viewed engaging at the community level as more important, whereas participants on factor two viewed conversations with colleagues and clients about social justice as more important to their work. Understanding where career counselors agree and disagree about the importance of advocacy interventions can inform training efforts and spark conversation about those facets of advocacy that may be neglected.