I have been a career development practitioner, manager and trainer for over 25 years, most recently focusing on learning and development for careers practitioners in Careers Wales. In 2018, Liane Hambly (also an extremely experienced trainer of career coaches) and I brought together all of our ideas into an innovative book which has proved to be very popular with both trainee and experienced careers professionals.
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“Creative Career Coaching: Theory into Practice” is based on fundamental principles of coaching and guidance, and develops these ideas by showing how practitioners can harness imagination, visualisation, intuition and critical thinking.
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We considered how to use creative approaches to work with “harder to reach” groups, who are often neglected in the coaching literature. We also drew on neuropsychology to look how the brain works and how we can use this knowledge to make our coaching more effective. We offer a model for practice that can be adapted to suit any client or situation. We also work through how to motivate clients, how clients can be helped to develop their decision making skills, how to help clients get in touch with their values and drivers, how to work imaginatively with careers information, how to help clients develop the confidence to sell themselves and how to help clients become more resilient in a volatile world.
For more Career Coaching information feel free to look at my blog.
Reviews
"This book is truly ground-breaking in linking brain science theory to innovative career guidance practice. The content is well researched and highly practical. Case studies provide rich insights for trainers and practitioners to reflect on 'the art of the possible'. There is sound evidence on what works well and in what circumstances. Most importantly, the authors inspire the reader to continuously improve practice working creatively with both young people and adults."
- Dr Deirdre Hughes, OBE; Director, DMH & Associates Ltd, UK
"This is an ambitious text that strives, successfully, to emphasise the importance of theory to career practice by integrating broad theoretical understandings of relevant material derived from various academic disciplines (like neuropsychology and economics) with counselling skills (for example, micro, foundation skills, as well as goal setting and action planning) and models that are frameworks for practice (specifically, process models, guiding the interview structure, compared with content models, which provide detailed maps for exploration). All this is integrated with specialist knowledge for use selectively with clients, depending on their presenting needs (e.g. motivation, decision making skills, resilience). Having scanned the horizon regarding the impact of globalisation on the developed labour markets of the world, it significantly also picks up a major influence of globalisation, that is, the potential impact of digitalisation on practice. It tackles the pivotal importance of labour market information to efficacious practice, with all its subtleties. Nor does it shirk engagement with challenging issues relating to marginalised populations (e.g. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans). Unusually and importantly for a text of this type, a chapter is included on the professional responsibility of the practitioner to take care of themselves, guarding against stress and trauma by engaging routinely with processes like their own continuing professional development, supervision, and similar.
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Overall, this text provides a contemporary and informed overview and approach to issues pertinent to current practice, by two highly qualified and experienced trainee educators. Both novice and proficient practitioners will find this text stimulating, challenging, existing and satisfying. The authors are to be commended for grappling so effectively with such a daunting task."
- Professor Jenny Bimrose, Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick, UK
Creative Career Coaching Training
Ciara delivered a 2 day session at the University of South Wales to the Employability team where she unpicked the concept of career coaching with new and experienced practitioners. As well as using an array of methods to address different learning styles, she took a number of staff on their own personal journey and engaged the team from start to finish. Testament to the great impact of Ciara’s training is the fact my team have incorporated elements into their own individual and group practice, as well as prompt me to ensure that coaching techniques and practice is discussed and reflected on at our regular team meetings. Some have even asked for further enhancement in this field to be something they want to build into their own professional development. That is what I call making a difference, thank you Ciara!”
Lloyd Williams, USW, Employability Development Manager