ILP: Connecting 4 Critical Life Tasks to our Modern World

Geike, T., Yan, C.M., & Becerra, J.P. (2022). ILP: Connect 4 Critical Life Tasks to the Modern World. European Branch of the American Counseling Association Conference (EB-ACA). Athens, Greece. https://sites.google.com/view/connecting4

Individuals who seek career counseling rarely come in to strictly get career advice (Tang et al., 2021). Although career counseling is traditionally separated from mental health counseling, research showed that the two are intertwined (Pace & Quinn, 2000). Dr. Sunny Hansen created her career theory, Integrative Life Planning (ILP), to better support a wider range of clients by addressing each client’s intersectionalities (Hansen, 1997). ILP views individuals from a macro lens to understand the relationship between career development and mental health (Tang et al., 2021). With ILP, counselors have a framework to incorporate other important areas of a person's life into sessions (Hansen, 1997).

Viewing one’s career as more than just work, we can better appreciate and address the effects of our world’s changing cultures and technology (Pace & Quinn, 2000). Although ILP was originally created for adult clients, counselors can integrate Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) to expand its scope to younger populations. Further, ACT is effective in increasing psychological flexibility for students ranging from preschool to college (Brahim et al., 2021; Fang & Ding, 2020; Karimi & Aghaei, 2018; Kiuru et al., 2021). Lastly, ACT can also enhance counselors' cultural awareness and sensitivity while lowering resistance and experiential avoidance (Lubin, 2012).