1. Abstract Career confusion, self-awareness, and career identity are the most potent factors influencing a student’s (a) ability to choose and maintain a college major, (b) level of academic- and career-related anxiety, and (c) decision to remain in or drop out of college. Moreover, the current job market gives preference to job-seekers who demonstrate a high level of self-awareness and mastery of transferrable skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving, and interpersonal communication. This program is designed as a guide for college and career-counseling professionals to facilitate a structured therapeutic environment, wherein students will increase their level of self- awareness, develop a career identity, and reduce the negative effects of academic- and career-related anxiety. The model proposes 12 structured two- hour sessions that incorporate both original and modified expressive activities as well as open and guided session processing from an Existential Narrative Therapy (ENT) prospective. Pre- and post-test assessments are discussed. Purpose The purpose of this program is to present a semi- structured guide for facilitators wishing to provide effective group career counseling. The philosophies, models, and techniques presented in this manual were chosen based on their appropriateness and interaction in relation to one another. For the group members, the purpose is three-fold: (a) to reduce the negative effects of and/or redirect career-related anxiety experienced by students, (b) to develop students’ individual career identities and increase individual self-awareness/self-efficacy, and (c) to decrease career confusion, empower students to be academically successful, and prepare students for school-to-career transition. Assessment An assortment of instruments – both qualitative and quantitative – to assess program effectiveness are recommended. Although each instrument functions independently, facilitators may choose to consider the relationship between the results of each instrument to inform their overall assessment of group members. Used in the manual are: 1) Multiple Intelligencies Developmental Assessment Scale 2) ORS/SRS 3) Career Styles Inventory For more information about this project, contact Michael Gray at mgray@astate.edumgray@astate.edu For more information about our research program, contact Dr. Patrick Peck at plpeck@astate.eduplpeck@astate.edu Shades and Shadows: An Existential/Narrative Approach that Incorporates Shadow Cards, Johari Window, and Play. Michael Gray Arkansas State University Assessment An assortment of instruments – both qualitative and quantitative – to assess program effectiveness are recommended. Although each instrument functions independently, facilitators may choose to consider the relationship between the results of each instrument to inform their overall assessment of group members. Used in the manual are: 1)Multiple Intelligences 2)Developmental Assessment Scale 2) ORS/SRS 3) Career Styles Inventory Future Research ACTIVITYOVERVIEWRATIONALE Once Upon a Superhero (30-45 minutes)  Participants construct a unique superhero and write a brief fictional story depicting the superhero in action.  Use whatever materials you have available.  Participants share and discuss their work with the group. Counseling, especially career counseling, should avoid being boring or routine. This is a fun – and possible humorous – activity that will encourage creativity and set the tone for the second part of the session. Discussion of “Heroes” and “Role-Models” responses to the Career Styles Interview  Members will present and discuss their responses to the “Heroes” and “Role- Models” portion of the CSI.  Facilitator guided process questions: SUGGESTED QUESTIONS: What motivated you to choose this superhero/role-model? What characteristics of this person do you admire? What similarities and differences do you see between yourself and this person? If you woke up tomorrow and you had all the characteristics of this person, what would be different? (What are your thoughts about the difficulty or ease of choosing a superhero or role- model?) Open and guided processing of activities will help group members to conceptualize the activity as an insight-promoting event. It is important that members continue to develop this sort of thinking, so that they will become progressively more self- aware and skilled at introspection throughout each session, as well as from one session to the next. Moreover, these discussions give facilitators the opportunity to act as narrative editors to help crystalize member narratives and model narrative thinking and self-awareness. This portion of the CSI is intended to highlight several interrelated aspects of the individual (Taber, Hartung, Briddick, Briddick, & Rehfuss, 2011):  Problem-solving skills  Common themes may indicate ongoing personal struggles  Hero/Role-model attributes highlight desired personal attributes  Ability to connect personally with an activity or task  Etc. OBJECTIVEBEHAVIORAL OUTCOME To deepen and enrich member narratives and increase self- and other-awareness Members will demonstrate progressively more effective  descriptive/qualitative thinking skills  ability to generate and express personal meaning within narratives To begin to construct accurate and functional member narratives Members will demonstrate progressively more effective  introspective analytical/critical thinking skills  ability to establish fidelity and probability within narratives Key Therapeutic FactorsUniversality; Imparting Information; Development of Socializing Techniques; Imitative Behaviors; Interpersonal Learning; Group Cohesiveness