Humanism, Existentialism and Career Guidance....

Initally I couldn't understand what the point of the lectures on humanism and existentialism were and what they had to do with career guidance, although they were interesting and I enjoyed the discussion that they provoked! However, after going away and considering it I realised that this lecture has everything to do with career guidance.

From what I have understood, I think that the aim of the lecture was to take us right back to the beginning, so to speak, and force us to consider questions and issues relating to how we view human beings (the people that we are trying to guide and provide counselling to). For me, I suppose it comes right down to whether we believe what the Bible says about God's creation of and purpose for humankind, this seems to be the crux of the matter and the pivot on which the whole debate of humanism and existentialism is revolving. It could be argued that whether you believe God has created humans or not will reflect how you view people and your world view in general.

After re-reading some of the slides on humanist psychology I do agree with some of the precepts, for example each human has a nature and a potential within that they can actualise and an acorn if provided with appropriate nurturing can grow in positive ways, we see examples of this all the time when we look at the different outcomes of good and 'bad' parenting, of course there are always exceptions. Finally, I agree with the statement that humans develop in a positive and constructive manner, if a climate of respect and trust is established.

If we agree with the views of existentialism, however, that our clients are searching for meaning in a meaningless world and the counsellor holds that view too - then I think it would be very difficult to help and 'advise' the client on their career path, when really everything is meaningless....we could be forgiven for asking, what is the point?