MENTAL HEALTH or CAREER COUNSELING: A Forced Choice? No Need

In 2011, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) ended the US shuttle program and approximately 3500 workers found their jobs gone. These workers used their personal and career adaptability to find new employment, move households, and re-establish support systems. The relationship between mental health and career counseling is not new. Betz and Corning (1993) argued that the division between career and personal counseling is in conflict with the overall philosophical position of the counseling profession. The purpose of this article is to emphasize the importance of conceptualizing career counseling as a process for mental health and optimal human functioning. A definition of optimal human functioning is offered as a framework for supporting individual human strengths. Then, by reviewing emerging literature that highlights relationships between career adaptability and markers of positive mental health, the authors advance the perspective that career counseling affects the whole person. Finally, they describe ways of incorporating the various dimensions and aspects of optimal human functioning and career adaptability into the practice of career counseling.