Career Counseling and Coaching in Woodmere, New York.

Finding or changing a career requires understanding your own values, skills and goals, and what the job market is like. Here are some questions that should be answered: are you suited to entrepreneurship or is steadiness a priority? Do you follow managers easily at a job or do you need to be given leadership responsibility and trust? What kind of skills do you have, what kind of income do you need. Above all, what will motivate you so you feel that you are using your full potential? A lifetime of both working for others, and running a consulting business for 30 years, means I can help you navigate the important and greatly varied world of work, finding meaning and earning income each day.

Do you feel like lack of social confidence, anxiety, and poor social skills are keeping you back at work? Or maybe you are just starting your career and selecting jobs that won't require talking much to others or socializing, because you just feel so anxious even thinking about that. Do you dread group work, social events, speaking out in meetings, parties and networking? I have good news for you! Social confidence is a learned skill, one you can learn just like any other. You just need the right information, some support and feedback and the drive to try some new things. The rewards are potentially very large, especially at work. Level up your career and your life!

I help clients clarify their needs rather than needs sculpted through years of compliance with a partner or spouse. The client who is confused or feels lost is asked to slow down the thinking process to get more in touch with the feeling process. This intergrates emotions and feelings and can further guide my client into a path she can be excited about. Now hope comes alive.

I don't do formal career counseling, but enjoy counseling entrepreneurs, business men and women, and performing artists. We would help you develop better assertiveness skills, clarify direction, improve motivation, encourage and guide you in negotiating higher salaries and rates, and cope with job/career crisis and change. I have worked with many people who lost their jobs in the current economic downturn. I also have a specialty working with performing artists to help them find satisfying jobs that allow them to pursue their art, and work with them on stage fright, creative blocks, and balancing relationship/work.

Earning a living is a major part of our lives; ideally it should be fulfilling as well as providing for material needs. If you are unhappy in your work life, there are many approaches and choices that can radically improve it. Sometimes it is a matter of altering attitude and motivation so that you exude energy not resignation. Transitioning to a new position of responsibility can call for flexibility in modifying work habits, and handling interpersonal relationships. Making a career change is more possible than most of us realize, I began my professional training as a therapist in my late 50's after working in technology for 35 years. I can help you sort out how to move forward.

Career counseling from a mental health lens looks different than working with a career coach. My focus isn't on the technical side of job searching. It's on helping you figure out why you feel stuck, burned out, or disconnected from your work. Using CBT and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), we'll examine the beliefs and fears getting in your way, clarify what actually matters to you, and build a path forward that aligns with who you are. ACT is especially useful here because it helps you stop fighting your thoughts and start moving toward the career you actually want.

Various internal conflict underlie career problems. Often counselors give advice to those who come to them for career counseling, but I stay away from advice. Giving clients advice only keeps them dependent on you. Instead, I focus on the underlying conflicts that are related to low self-esteem, fear of competing or an inability to assert themselves. Often women have their own kind of conflicts about being a woman in a man's world, and internal resentments hold them back. My approach is to focus on the conflicts of each client and help them resolve them and cope more effectively. The approach has proven over the years to be quite successful.

It’s not a goal to be the best. It’s not a strategy to be the best. It’s not a desire to be the best that's important t’s an understanding of what you can be the best at. Would you like to find out? This is a 12 week program where we develop what career you want and what you need to do to get there. It is goal oriented where you will be coached in gaining clarity and taking action.

As a psychotherapist, I can help you make decisions about your career life. The difference between a career coach and a psychotherapist is that I will help you understand the underlying emotional needs you have and in what ways they are driving your career path in one direction or another. To make a change in career is to acknowledge that there might be conflicting needs for personal stability, adventure, and financial security. Two fundamental questions I will help you answer is "Why do I want to change careers?" and "Why now?"

Clients plagued by perfectionism, or self-esteem related difficulties can develop insight, increase self-esteem, learn communication skills, and heal from past painful life experiences to learn more about themselves and what career they may see themselves in. Individuals can learn emotion regulation and interpersonal skills to assist in building confidence.

If you are afraid of failure, stuck in a job, or unwilling to do what it takes to land your dream job then REBT can help you to overcome your career related problems. REBT shows you how to change so that you can take a calculated risk and leave a job which is not for you. REBT can help you develop the discipline needed to stick with your pursuit of your dream job. All people want to be successful but sometimes they are unwilling to do what it takes to be successful. REBT shows you how to develop the internal strength and tenacity required for a successful career.

Are you in the right field? Do you want to discover what your strengths are? Perhaps you should be going back to school or looking to upgrade your skills on your current job to move ahead. When working with clients, I often find that they don't know what their true value is in the market. They don't know what they are naturally good at doing or how to make changes, or even what else is out there. I can steer you in the right direction and help you attain your employment goals. Sometimes, what you need is confidence, assertive communication improvement, an understanding of what your body language is signaling. I can role play interviews with you and assist with resume building.

Choosing a career is one of the biggest decisions we make in our lives. The world is wide open. There are many possibilities, sometimes causing more overwhelm than expected. Im here to help you navigate the process of exploring possibilities, while creating a reasonable, individualized plan of action to help you get clarity and move forward with the next right step in your path of confidently choosing a meaningful career you can succeed in.