Near the end of high school, society pressures teenagers to anticipate their future by making a career choice. As we can probably all remember, this key period in life is likely to generate anxiety among young people.
In their study, Dupuis and Saussez present the results of a group counselling intervention for teenagers who reported experiencing anxiety about their career choice. The research team chose two complementary theories to analyze the impact of group interventions on participants: the cultural-historical psychology approach and the learning pathways approach.
- The cultural-historical school of psychology was developed by Lev Vygotsky and others. According to this theory, psychological development is specific to a particular historical context: the environment therefore has a major influence on development. Through their relationships with other people, individuals acquire different tools to better understand and manage day-to-day situations.
- The learning path approach is focused more on the individual’s contribution to their development. It highlights the importance of time and of the different dimensions of an individual’s life in their psychological development. This approach complements Vygotsky’s approach, which the authors argue fails to take sufficient account of the influence of personal life trajectories on learning processes.
Dupuis and Saussez based their research on the HORS-PISTE program, a group career counselling program specifically designed to reduce anxiety in high school students (grades 11 and 12). Drawing on the two theories, they paid particular attention to the social context and life course of the 19 girls participating in the study, recruited on a voluntary basis. Six 2-hour meetings were facilitated by the CDPs in groups of 6 or 7 people. The journeys of three participants were then described in detail in the article to present the results of the impact of group counselling on development and learning processes. These three journeys were selected because their learning processes start and end in very different places, highlighting the diversity of contributions that the group as a tool can make.
An analysis of the results showed that the group meetings encouraged the development of new capacities for action, capacities that were maintained three months after the end of the intervention. The group meetings also enabled participants to stop and reflect on the emotions they had experienced regarding their career choice. Moreover, the group program helped participants become aware of the social and subjective processes that affect their career choices. The two theories on which the analysis is based – the historical psychology of cultural development and the learning path approach – provide an understanding of how the group creates an environment that fosters personal development. The aim of the group intervention was to help the young people deal with their anxiety, rather than simply having to adapt to it. By working together, the girls in the study strengthened their skills through mutual support. This type of counseling may be an interesting option for CDPs working with young clients experiencing anxiety.
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