My client is a 30-year-old woman from Hungary who is on maternity leave. She came to Canada originally to visit family and met her now-husband. They decided to get married and return to Canada, receiving her permanent residency in 2006. Since having a baby, she wants to find a job with more stable hours and benefits to balance work and family. Over two counseling sessions, we explored her dream of owning a cafe someday and identified online courses to improve her English and career prospects, such as office jobs at the local hospital. The counseling process helped provide clarity and direction for her next steps while allowing her to balance career goals with family responsibilities.

1. Life-Role Analysis
Summary (slide 1)
My clientisa30 yearoldwoman,originally fromHungary,onmaternity leave, referredtome bya
mutual friend.She came toCanada to visitfamilyin2004 and duringherstay she meta boyand they
spentall summertogether. Fallingheadoverheelsforone another, theydecidedthathe wouldgoto
Hungary withherand meetherfamily.Althoughhe couldn’tspeakawordof Hungarianand she spoke
verylittle English,theirconnectionwas huge andtheyfell inlove. While inHungary theydecidedthey
were goingtoget marriedandcome back to Canada.She finallyreceivedherpermanentresidency
status2006, but theyboth decidedtoendthe relationshipand myclientmovedbacktoHungary.They
bothfelttheywere tooyoungwhentheymetandneededtogrow on theirownfor a while.After
realizingtheycouldnot live apart,she finallymovedbackto Canada in2009. Since beingback,her
Englishskillshave increasedsignificantly whichhasallowedhertofindwork.She has workedprimarily
inthe restaurantindustry,startingfrombeingahostess,thenaserverand thenwasoffereda
managementposition.
Assessment of the counselling Process (slide 2)
Session 1
Afterthe initial greeting andexplainingmycompetenciesand the confidentiality of the session,I asked
herwhat she was interested inspeakingwithme about - she toldme she wantsto finda differentjob.
My clientlovesworkinginthe restaurantindustry;she lovesthe people,the diversityandmore
importantlythe money,butshe justhada babyand she is strugglingtofindsomethingshe wantstodo
next,outside of serving.Myclientwasveryclearaboutwantinga jobwithmore stable hours,preferably
Monday to Friday;she wantssomethingwithbenefitsinapositionwhereshe canbe aroundpeople and
‘help’. Iwantedtoexplore in more depthwhatmotivatedthisgoal.I thoughtitwouldbe a funway to
start understanding thisbyaskinghertoparticipate inthe dream exercise;thisexercise sofarismy
favorite waystolistentoclientstell astory. Afterafew momentsof discomfortshe startedtorelax and
startedsharingherdream of where she wouldbe andwhatshe wouldbe doingif all barrierswere
removed.Duringthisexercise Ifoundoutthatpart of herdreamis to owna small cafe. I couldsee from
herbody language she wasfeelingmuchmore comfortable andwas hopefullyaresultof my attending
behaviourandempathyskills.
I wantedtoexplore herdreaminmore detail soI beganengagingherinconversationbyaskingopen-
endedquestions,thisallowedforme todirectwhere Iwantedthe conversationtogo withallowingmy
clienttoelaborate.Afterlisteningandutilizingthe basic listeningsequence Ifoundoutmyclientis
lookingforoffice workspecificallyinahospital, it’sclose towhere she livesandhasa friendwhoworks
there that saysitsgood moneyandoffersbenefits.She likesthe ideaof beingable tohelppeople but
wouldn’tbe able to handle beinganurse.She wantsstable hourssoshe can be withher familyinthe
eveningsand weekendsand hopestosave enoughmoneysowhenthe childrenare grownupshe can
investinopeningasmall cafe. Ifeltthatthe sessionwentreallywell butwantedtoknow more about
herand the thingsthat reallymake herhappyand proud.I endedthe session withasummaryof what

2. was discussedandasked if she waswillingtothinkof 5-7 storiesthroughoutherlife andshare them
withme in ournextsession.
Session 2(slide 3)
 Whenwe metfor our secondsessionwe brieflywentoverthe lastsessionanddiscussedany
thoughts,feelingsorquestionsshe hadforme. One thingshe sharedwashow hardit feelsto
transitionfromone fieldof worktoanother,Iagreedwithherand sharedhow that isexactly
howI feltbefore Idecidedtotake thiscourse andreassuredherthat itwill geteasier. Iwasable
to fill inquite alotof informationon the LRA chart justfrom our lastsession,butwasreally
lookingforwardtohearingsome storiesinherlife thatmade hermostproud. I withdrew and
listened.Itwasa verystimulatingandfascinatingprocessforme towatch.Her bodylanguage
and the tone of hervoice changedthroughoutthe course of the storiesand I saw how happy
and excitedshe wastoshare these preciousmomentsof herlife withme.Thiswasa pointof
significance forme.Aftershe finished,Ifocusedonreflectinghow these storiesmade herfeel.I
explainedtoherthe processof the Life-Role AnalysisandsharedwhatinformationIhadsofar
askingif she had anythingelse toadd.I thenproceededtoaskthe question “inthe bestof all
worlds,whatdoyou wantto get outof life?” Herinitial comment wasaverypopularone I’m
sure;“in the bestof all worldsI wouldwinthe lottery,gettostay home withmy childrenand
pay otherpeople torunmy cafe”. Withthe use of many encouragers,showingempathyand
reflectiononherfeelingsIwasable to conclude thatshe reallywantstobe able tospendtime
withherfamily while financiallycontributing asthatgivesherthe feelingof self-worthaswell as
workingtowardssavingmoneyso she can to eventuallyopenuphercafe. We thenspentthe
lastportionof oursessioncarefullydiscussing hergoals;todevelopherEnglishlanguage skills
and investigateonline courses.We thentooksome time withherrestory.Finallywe discussed
whataction she was
goingto take to reach hergoal .
 Statements (slide 4)
“I’m tiredof justlivingtowork;I wantto start workingto live”
“I want to take an active stepinpursuingmygoal of findingworkthatwill give me eveningsand
weekendsoff”
“I am willingtotake a jobI don’tlove inorderto take care of my familyand save moneytostart the job
I do love”
“I could neverunderstandwhy somanypeople stoppursuingtheirdreamsafterbecomingparentsuntil
I gave birthto baby”
“I see nowmore than everbefore howpriorities canchange,there’snothingIwouldn’tdoformygirl”
I believethese five statementsfrommyclienttobe significant becausethroughoutoursessions, family
seemedtobe herbiggestmotivator.Icouldtell thatsince becomingamother,herurgencytotake care

3. of herself andfollowherdreamshas changedtofocusing100% on doingwhatis rightfor herfamily.She
believesthatputtingherdreamof opening acafe on holdisthe obviousthingtodo. She understands
that runningherownbusinesswouldtake herawayfromherfamilyandsince time goes bysofast she
wantsto be around,from sharingdinnerwiththemtoreadingbedtime storiesandtuckingtheminat
night.Anotherstrongmotivatorforheristhe importance forherto contribute financially; thisiswhy
she istryingto finda job that can bothaccommodate herdesire tobe withher familyand the
imperative tobe financiallycontributing.
Areas that were addressed in session one (slide 5)
-Areaswe addressedinsessionone were;mycompetenciesandthe confidentiality of ourdiscussions.
-She agreedto dothe dreamexercise withme andfromthatI wasable to see that there wasmore to
herdesire of wantingtoget a stable job
- her biggestgoal anddreamwas to openupa cafe at some point.
-We discussedthatthisdreamisstill attainable andwhatthose possibilitieslookedlike
-I askedherif she was willingtodosome homework; Iproposedthatshe thinkof 5-7 stories thatmake
herproud
- I wasable to draw outstrengthsbylisteningtoherdream, usingmyattendingbehaviourandempathy
skillsandbyutilizingthe basiclisteningsequence;askingopen&closedendedquestions,encouraging,
paraphrasingandsummarizing. Ifoundwiththisexercise usingreflectionof feelingsalotreally helped
withherconfidence level
Areas that were addressed in session two (slide 6)
-at the beginningdidabrief overview of the lastsession,
- I alsoencouragedhertoask any questionsorshare anycommentsor feelingsshe had. Inthissession
she expressed thatshe wasfeelingsadthatherdream of opening acafe feltlike itwasbecomingless
and lessof a reality. Thiswasa developmentfromourlastsessionwheremyclientdiscussedfeelings
relatedtohersituation.
-Afterwardsshe startedtoreadme her stories
- itwas amazinghowmuch I learnedaboutherfromjustlisteningandobserving .
-I thenwentonto describe whatthe life role analysisisandsharedwhatinformationIhadcollected
abouther fromour lastsession.We discussedwhatherideaof the perfectworld wouldbe andI
continued touse the basiclisteningsequenceIalsosharedwithherthat I wasin the same perdictament
at the beginningof thisyearsoI couldrelate to how she was feeling,thiswasanexample of self-
disclosure.

4. -Subsequently we were able toreachhergoalsand defined the actionstepsneededtohelpherreach
them. We wentthroughthe goals,restoryand actionstages.
Future Client options (slide 7)
My clienthasagreedto investigate waysshe canimprove herEnglish - she isgoingtoinvestigate online
coursesand community-basedsupportresources thatcanhelpherbothimprove herskillsandhave a
certificationthatoutlinesherlevel of achievement,thiswillhelpalleviatethe concernsof employers
overcommunication abilities.
Client and counselling Barriers (slide 8)
 Some Barriersmy clientisencounteringare Englishbeinghersecondlanguage –a solutionwe
have discussedisforherto look intosome coursesto helpbuildherEnglishspeakingskills.Lack
of education–in orderfor myclienttomake a careertransitionshe will have tofurtherher
educationbytakingsome online courses. She does notknow the Canadianequivalencyof the
course she took inHungary – we discussedinordertoproceedwithfurthering hereducationit
wouldbe beneficial forhertofindoutthe equivalencysoshe doesn’twaste time ormoneyon
coursesshe may notbe requiredtotake.
 BarriersI foundfromour counsellingsessions,because she hasanewborn,schedulingtimeto
meetwashard to setin stone.She cancelledfourtimesoutof the 2 timeswe met.Beinga
motherof 3, I couldrelate tono sleepandsickkidsbutit washard for me to manage other
prioritiesbasedoncancellations.Icouldsee how thiscouldbe a challenge asa careercounselor
interms of schedulingappointments.My solutionforthis asa counsellorwouldbe tobe more
flexible andtomake sure I take intoaccount that there will be cancellations,havingalternative
workwiththe understandingthatthismayhappenwouldcause lessfrustration.Anotherbarrier
ismy lack of experience asa counsellor –I dofindmy skillshave beenincreasingoverthe
durationof thiscourse but I believewithacontinuationof practice mycomfortlevel will
inevitablyincreasewhichwouldin turn,allow forsmothertransitionsfromone topictothe next
and less urgencytotry to solve the issue.
Conclusion (slide 9)
Althoughmyclient wantstoopena small cafe inthe future,she is happy,fornow,to take an
online course thatwill enhance heroffice skills.Thisshouldenable herto applyforworkin
the local hospital.Ithoroughlyenjoyedengaging withmyclientthroughoutthe LRA process andI found

5. that followingprocessguidelines keptthe sessionfocusedon careerexploration.Thishelpedinstill
confidence inthe processfrommyclient’sperspective.Atthe endof the session,myclientexpressed
that she feltmotivatedand hada clearsense of direction.
Thank you