Society’s increasing prioritization of the overall well-being of the workforce elevated the importance of career development in supporting positive mental health. While more research is needed to understand this dynamic, the connection is undeniable. Here are resources to help career professionals better understand how their work protects and enhances mental health.
A Study of Clinical Change in Individual Career Counseling (Career Development Quarterly) [Report]
This study of more than 100 university students suggests that individual career counselling may indirectly help clients with their mental health concerns.
Dr. Kris Magnusson on Connecting Career Development and Mental Health in Schools (Research in Focus) [Podcast episode]
Dr. Kris Magnusson, Professor and former Dean of the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University, reflects on the connections between career development and mental health. Magnusson is working toward understanding the relationship between the outcomes of effective career development practices and the determinants of adolescent mental health.
How career development is also a mental health practice (CareerWise) [Article]
This article explores the distinction between mental health and mental illness, and how having this understanding will help career practitioners see that their work is also mental health practice.
Integrating Career and Mental Health Assessment and Treatment (Career Convergence Web Magazine) [Article]
A case study on interconnecting career and mental health services to provide an integrated response for a student in need.
Mental Health Wellness: Essential to Success in Career Development (Career Professionals of Canada) [Article]
This reflection focuses on the mental health of career practitioners and the importance of taking care of their own well-being.
Strengthening Mental Health Through Effective Career Development A Practitioner’s Guide (CERIC) [Book]
This book – written Dave Redekopp (Life-Role Development Group) and Michael Huston (Mount Royal University) – makes the case that career development practice is a mental health intervention and provides skills and strategies to support career development practitioners in their work. It explores how practitioners do far more than help people prepare for, enter and navigate career pathways – they change people’s lives in ways that improve mental health and overall well-being. It is available for free download as a PDF, and for purchase in print and ebook forms.
In a related free webinar on “How Your Career Development Practice Promotes Client Mental Health,” the authors review some of the mechanisms underlying career development’s role in mental health and describe ways that career professionals can effectively achieve positive mental health outcomes in their practice.
The impact of career guidance on the mental well-being of young people (Career Development Institute) [Briefing paper]
A UK paper by Dr. Pete Robertson that explores the value of career guidance for youth and offers recommendations on applying it as a public health intervention to benefit the whole population.
Additional resources
- A conversation with Dr. Kris Magnusson on working with – and around – emotions in career helping (CERIC) [Webinar]
- What The Future of Work Means For Our Mental Health (Forbes) [Article]
- Why Many People Are Turning Toward Robots And AI To Help Support Their Mental Health And Careers (Forbes) [Article]
