Career Counselling to Persons with Special Needs in the Context of Positive Psychology

Janez Drobnic

doi:10.18690/rei.3743

Janez Drobnic Faculty of Education, University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia

Keywords: counselling, career/vocational guidance, positive psychology, strength, weakness.

Abstract

Recently, the advantages or strengths of the individual have become important or even dominant in personal counselling. The basis for such a counselling approach can be found in positive psychology. The question is how positive psychology and its emphasis on strengths rather than weaknesses find its way into current vocational/career guidance approaches in today’s schools, especially for people with special needs. With the help of an empirical study using quantitative research methods, we sought to establish in primary and secondary schools whether they carried out counselling according to these principles. The results showed that strength-based counselling has already found its way into vocational/career guidance, but the non-directive counselling approach and the issue of individual autonomy remain in the background.

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