Essentials of Career Focused Counseling: Integrating Theory, Practice, and Neuroscience posits that career counseling, rather than being vocational rehabilitation, career guidance, or employment counseling, is counseling related to career issues. This vital shift in understanding changes the counseling approach and frees counselors to engage from an empowered perspective with career-related presenting problems.
Through the use of vignettes, reflection questions, and case studies, students are able to explore topics such as career development theory, career and mental health, career-focused counseling in K-12, college and emerging adulthood settings, and multicultural considerations in career-focused counseling. Each section of the book incorporates neuroscience in a natural way that assists counselors in understanding clients' issues and supports the natural connections between career and counseling.
Essentials of Career-Focused Counseling successfully builds on counselor identity and how it can best be applied to the true career issues that clients bring to counseling settings. It is an ideal primary text for upper division and graduate level courses in career development and counseling.
Chad Luke holds a Ph.D. in counselor education from the University of Tennessee. Dr. Luke is an associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Psychology at Tennessee Tech University, where has taught courses in career counseling, multicultural counseling, neuroscience for counselors, counseling theories and techniques, and career development courses for undergraduates. Dr. Luke is also a licensed professional counselor and an approved clinical supervisor, whose writing has appeared in the International Journal for Education and Vocational Guidance and the Journal of Counseling and Development. He has authored more than 20 journal articles, book chapters, and books. He is a member of the American Counseling Association and the Tennessee Association for Counselor Education and Supervision.