My interest in career counselling stems from my own career difficulties.

When it came time to apply to university, I was too scared to do the things I really wanted to do—study English or become a farmer. Having zero prior interest in political science, I somehow decided that I would study poli sci and work in “international food policy” (whatever that is). After a year of suffering through courses in history, economics, etc., I took time off school. When I went back, I decided on the basis of “liking people’s stories” that I should study psychology. When it was clear that psychology was not what I thought it was, I bought into the sunk cost fallacy that I had to keep going because I was already “behind” (the unspoken expectation that undergrad should take 4 years). When I finished that, despite knowing that grad school was not the path for me, I gave into familial pressure and did a grueling COVID-turned-online masters in counselling psychology.

The silver lining from the masters was that I participated in an arts-based career exploration group offered by my school, which kind of blew my mind, but I didn’t know why, and so I ended up doing my thesis on how art can help with career decision-making.

Now I am a firm believer in the power of art/creativity for career stuff (and pretty much everything else) and that “career experiences can never be ‘distilled’ or ‘purified’ from one’s life experiences…life is career and vice versa” (Chen, 2001) — hence the term “life/career”.

I love career conversations because they inevitably lead to everything else that’s important about us and to us.

So, if you are feeling stuck, confused, dissatisfied, frustrated, scared, etc., in your career and/or life, and you have a sense that you need to try something different, we should chat!

Part of a zine I made as a participant in the arts-based career group

Chen, C. P. (2001). Career counselling as life career integration. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 53(4), 523–542. https://doi.org/10.1080/13636820100200175