Counseling Unemployed Clients
Course #66933 -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
It is inevitable that practitioners will have clients who are unemployed or will be facing imminent job loss. Job loss and unemployment are stressors with significant biopsychosocial implications. Because employment and career are so intertwined with individuals' identity, this course will explore the meanings people attach to work. In addition, the course will address the ramifications of unemployment and how individuals cope. Finally, specific strategies to aid in job searches and interventions to assist clients dealing with discouragement, depression, and anxiety will be provided.
- INTRODUCTION
- DEFINITIONS OF TERMS
- UNEMPLOYMENT TRENDS IN THE UNITED STATES
- MOTIVATIONS AND MEANINGS OF WORK
- CONSEQUENCES OF UNEMPLOYMENT
- COPING MECHANISMS AND JOB LOSS
- JOB SEARCH BEHAVIOR AND STRATEGIES
- ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN JOB SEEKING
- PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: THE ROLE OF THE HELPING PROFESSIONAL
- CONCLUSION
- Works Cited
This introductory course is designed for psychologists who work with clients who are unemployed.
The purpose of this course is to provide practitioners with the knowledge and tools necessary to effectively counsel clients who are unemployed or are facing imminent job loss.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Define unemployment, underemployment, and the work force, including the current state of employment in the United States.
- Discuss what work means to people on a psychological and social level.
- Explain the various mental health, physiologic, social, and familial consequences of losing a job and persistent job loss.
- Discuss how individuals cope with job loss and identify factors that influence coping strategies.
- Evaluate various job search strategies.
- Analyze the role of Internet technology in job searching.
- Discuss practice implications for mental health professionals who are working with unemployed clients in their practice.
Alice Yick Flanagan, PhD, MSW, received her Master’s in Social Work from Columbia University, School of Social Work. She has clinical experience in mental health in correctional settings, psychiatric hospitals, and community health centers. In 1997, she received her PhD from UCLA, School of Public Policy and Social Research. Dr. Yick Flanagan completed a year-long post-doctoral fellowship at Hunter College, School of Social Work in 1999. In that year she taught the course Research Methods and Violence Against Women to Masters degree students, as well as conducting qualitative research studies on death and dying in Chinese American families.
Previously acting as a faculty member at Capella University and Northcentral University, Dr. Yick Flanagan is currently a contributing faculty member at Walden University, School of Social Work, and a dissertation chair at Grand Canyon University, College of Doctoral Studies, working with Industrial Organizational Psychology doctoral students. She also serves as a consultant/subject matter expert for the New York City Board of Education and publishing companies for online curriculum development, developing practice MCAT questions in the area of psychology and sociology. Her research focus is on the area of culture and mental health in ethnic minority communities.
Contributing faculty, Alice Yick Flanagan, PhD, MSW, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
James Trent, PhD
The division planner has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.