This keynote highlights the need to honor your authentic self within your career. The pace of living today and the pressure to cope within an increasingly complex career context make it easy to disconnect your true self from what you do (a soul-spirit disconnect). These disconnections can have disastrous effects on a person’s life. It doesn’t have to be this way, however. There are strategies for increasing your soul-spirit connection in your life. Increasing your soul-spirit connection empowers you to live a life well-lived- the life you were meant to live. This presentation can be applied to your own career and integrated into your work with any client group.

Learning Objectives, attendees will:

• have the opportunity to examine their own career context and apply the concepts discussed in this presentation to their own lives
• learn strategies for helping their clients make authentic choices in their career planning
• learn about important shifts in career intervention that can shape the nature of their career practice
• learn about Hope-Action Theory as a tool for helping clients make authentic career choices

This workshop focuses on two crucial elements in career development: hope and authenticity. Both elements are often ignored in career intervention.  Using Hope-Action Theory (Niles, Amundson, & Yoon, 2010), I will highlight the importance of creating, integrating, and sustaining hope in career development. Hope is the fuel that drives active engagement in career planning.  Hope-Action Theory also facilitates authenticity in career development. Making authentic career development choices, choices that honor our authentic selves, is a constant struggle for most of us. Yet, the lack of authenticity in our choices represents a major source of career dissatisfaction and is often the root of many mental health issues that people suffer.  Hope and authenticity represent essential ingredients for creating a meaningful career and life. 

Learning objectives, attendees will:

• learn how to apply Hope-Action Theory in career counseling and coaching
• be exposed to career interventions that they can use to guide their own career development as well as their work as career practitioners
• learn a framework that they can use to guide their clients in navigating career challenges across the lifespan
• learn how to use the Hope-Action Inventory in career intervention