Professor Dr. Norman Amundson

Dr. Norman Amundson is a professor in Counselling Psychology / Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, Canada and also a founding partner of Ergon Communications. He has given numerous workshops and seminars and also has been a keynote speaker at many national and international conferences (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Hungary, France, London, New Zealand, Australia, Poland, the United States, and China). In his writings, Dr. Amundson emphasizes the importance of creativity, imagination and action as career counselling strategies. Dr. Amundson’s publications include: Active Engagement (Winner of the Best Book Award by the Canadian Counselling Association); The Essential Elements of Career Counseling (just released); The Physics of Living; and several career workbooks including Career Pathways, Guiding Circles; and Career Scope. Dr. Amundson also has an extensive research background. He is currently working with Dr. William Borgen on a large government funded research project with a focus on the emerging challenges of working life.

Adjusting Career Counselling Methods to Fit with a Changing Labor Market

This presentation will address how counselling methods need to change to fit with new labor market realities. These changes include a critical analysis of existing counselling structures, the development of new strategies, and the use of a more holistic approach. As part of this presentation there will be a focus on both "probability" and "possibility" thinking.

 

NEW ZEALAND

Dr. Dale Furbish

Dr. Dale Furbish is Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for the Graduate Diploma in Career Development at the Auckland University of Technology, Auckland New Zealand. He has been a career practitioner for over 25 years and has held a number of staff and managerial appointments at higher education institutions. He is the Past President of the Career Practitioners Association of New Zealand and is a frequent presenter at conferences in New Zealand and overseas.

 

Career Counselling in a Modern Global Context: New Realities and Challenges

The presentation will review some of the contemporary reconceptualisations of a career and suggest some counselling approaches that address these developments.

 

GERMANY

Professor Dr. rer. pol. Hans-Juergen Weissbach

"Prof. Dr. Weissbach is a sociologist and has run privat reaerch and
training enterprises before entering the academic service. He is teaching innovation management at the Department of Economy and Law at Fachhochschule Frankfurt (University of Applied Sciences - www.fh-frankfurt.de). At the same time he is responsible for the entrepreneurship training of the University which has been introduced by him in 1998. As the director of the Institute of Enterpreneurship of the University (www.ife-frankfurt.de), he is focused on training and coaching of start-ups. In addition, he has established adult training courses for job promotors (career facilitators) at the University in cooperation with the IUK Institute in Germany. These courses are corresponding to recent changes in German labor market policy and job placement activities."
University of Applied Sciences
Dept. of Economy and Law
Director of Institute of Entrepreneurship
Projects: www.routeA66.de : support of academic start-ups
www.job-promotor.de : Training of Job Facilitators
www.progres-net.de : Training of Change Managers
www.wiper.de : Research: Knowledge Management in innovative SME
www.codes-up.de : Research: Competence Development of Start-ups

Making use of profiling tools in job coaching processes - Some Experiences from Germany

During the last few years, profiling tools have been introduced in job coaching and career counseling in Germany. We could gather some experience with these tools from which we have learned that we have to make use of these tools in a flexible and non-schematic way. An important function of these tools is to make the coachees aware of their strengths and weaknesses, of existing opportunities and threats.

 

 

 

USA

Associate Professor Dr. Andreea Szilagyi (Romania,currently USA)

Dr. Szilagyi is presently on a year long appointment as the NBCC International Counsellor-in-Residence. As such, she is presently engaged in study related to the state of counselor training and certification in the United States.

Dr. Szilagyi, an Associate Professor at Polytechnic University of Bucharest is focused on the practice of career counseling, particularly with persons from Eastern Europe. She is also at the forefront of research investigating counselor education pedagogy in Romania, the role of large scale professional contracts on the development of the profession, and certification across nations. Dr. Szilagyi has presented at international conferences including the International Association for Counseling (IAC) conference in Mumbai, India; the joint International Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance (IAEVG) and National Career Development Association (NCDA) conference in San Francisco, USA; the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) in Park City, USA; and the Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (SACES) in Athens, USA. She has authored numerous journal articles and scholarly texts as well.

The Status of Counseling Profession in Romania

The author explores the dimensions of the counseling profession in Romania. Is counseling a distinct profession among the other helping professions? Are the counselors well prepared and ready to face the realities of a changing society? What is the status of the Romanian counselor? Educational programs for counselors, employment opportunities, professional associations, development possibilities are analyzed – in an effort to project possible ways for enhancing the profession in a country conditioned by European and global constraints.