Work is an integral part of our lives and well-being. We begin our career journey in chosen career paths, excited about work, with specific aspirations about our career growth. Each of us navigates our life course with our unique experiences, both professional and personal. On entering the mid-life-career stage (usually between 35 – 45 yrs.), some experience a midlife career dilemma.  For some, this phenomenon can occur anytime between the late ’30s and 65 years.

Mid-career dilemmas happen for varied reasons;

• For some, it’s because of a lack of clarity in their career direction, organizational challenges in attaining promotions to senior roles.
• Personal inadequacies related to skills and competencies too can become roadblocks in career progression.
• Difficulties in securing significant roles within their organization or outside aligned with their interests, experience, and expectations.
• For others, the mismatch may be due to a change in orientations towards work or the emergence of new priorities in life that demand attention.

In India, women, the primary caregivers, handle most domestic responsibilities, prompting many to drop out of the workforce or seek manageable work-life options.

Many mid-career employees who experience one or more of these confusing thoughts tend to be indecisive in moving forward in their careers and lives, adding to their frustrations. Counseling has proved beneficial in addressing such issues affecting individuals’ mental health and emotional well-being across various life stages.

Mid-career professionals who have been part of the workspace for quite some time have a fair understanding of their strengths, expertise, and improvement areas. Still, they are unable to arrive at appropriate choices when faced with a career plateau. Hence a counseling intervention focussing more on one’s work experiences becomes necessary.

Career Design Counselling deploys the latest career counseling approach of Life Design Counseling that addresses career dilemmas comprehensively. As clients reflect on their career life journeys guided by a counselor, their perspective about their dilemma begins to change, opening up new solution possibilities. The counselor here helps clients tackle some of their work-related beliefs or opinions that had restricted their thought process related to their future. The counselor also provides an assessment that addresses clients’ career dilemmas. The client is encouraged to set attainable career goals and is supported in implementing them in their lives. Career Design Counseling typically constitutes a minimum of two sessions of one and a half hours each and a follow-up connect session of similar duration after one month.

For more information regarding Career Design Counseling sessions please email : counsellinglifedesign@gmail.com