We have seen through living through the pandemic that more and more individuals and organizations are acknowledging the importance of mental health and the need to invest in it.

The World Health Organization defines mental health as “… a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.”

At PeerSpectives, as Career Development Practitioners (CDPs), Louann and I have seen how our Strength-based ­­­­­Meaningful Career Coaching program has helped people find more joy and purpose in their careers.

We are now seeing that the coaching program is also a key to improving mental health.

This connection is highlighted in our feature article from the Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling (CERIC) Cannexus2021 conference.

Shellie Deloyer, a presenter at the conference referred to in the article, shared the importance for Career Development Practitioners to “attend to the stories that clients are telling us and, more importantly, themselves. Most of the stories that impair career and life goals are unconscious and limiting beliefs. These limiting beliefs are often on a replay loop, playing over and over, and are typically historical in nature.”

Deloyer goes on to assert “that we can and should help clients create new stories that are healthy, that help them deal with their emotions and assist them to build resilience.”

And that is the connection we have found. In our sessions, our clients realize their own abilities by reflecting on past successes and recognizing the connection to their natural strengths. They cope with the everyday stresses of life by developing a resilient, Strengths-based mindset.

As they reflect and look for patterns of success, they see how their contributions are unique and meaningful. They take action to reframe, create new stories and re-craft their career experience. The result? Participants feel clearer and more confident about their lives.

If you know of someone that could use a boost or needs an opportunity to reframe their stories, consider sharing our services with them – our aim is to help people enjoy both career health and mental health.

PeerSpectively yours,

 
Louann and Stephanie

All PeerSpectives Matter 

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Career interventions are mental health interventions. Here’s why.

by Kathy Offet-Gartner and Natasha Caverly, Careerwise by CERIC

Part 1 of our three-part blog series on ‘Career and mental health: Addressing the false dichotomy:” introduced readers to our viewpoint that effective career-life development is a mental health and wellness intervention.