Fear, Hopelessness and VR
The best article we have read on the Individual Plan for Employment was written by Timothy Hamre. He gives four reasons that clients in VR might have no goals.
- They have no idea what they want to do.
- They are scared.
- They are not capable.
- They just don't want to comply. As Hamre says, they are 'obstinate'
1. They have no idea what they want to do.
If your whole life, you could not believe anything good would ever happen to you, if, as many people we know, you have always been poor, been physically or sexually abused, had alcoholic, inconsistent parents, failed in school, never had a job, and then someone comes up to you and says, "What do you want to do?" It is a hard question to answer. You've never had the luxury of thinking about the future when your life has been spent just trying to get through the day.
WHAT TO DO: Hamre suggests a great solution. Include figuring out what they want to do as a goal on the IPE. Discuss the person's strengths and weaknesses as part of your vocational counseling. Have them read books from the library or search the Internet on different jobs. Have a list of people who would be willing to discuss their job on the phone or in person, letting the person know what it is they do all day.
Next page, fear and hopelessness (continued)