Post-Covid Career Counseling for People with Disabilities by Allison Zanolli

Ethical Implications for Career Counseling Clients with Disabilities (Outlined by the ACA Code of Ethics)

smathetcs — 2025-05-28 22:35:06 UTC

Respect for autonomy
- Support clients’ informed, self-directed career decisions without imposing counselor biases or limiting options based on disability
Non-discrimination and equity
- Prevent ableism, ensuring equal access to career resources and opportunities
Effective communication
- Provide accessible materials and accommodations (e.g., interpreters, assistive tech) to ensure clients understand and consent
Confidentiality and disclosure
- Maintain privacy; help clients weigh the risks and benefits of disclosing disability status without pressure
Advocacy and social justice:
- Address systemic barriers and promote inclusive employment practices.
Cultural competence and intersectionality
- Recognize the interplay of disability with race, gender, socioeconomic status, and other identities

caitbracy — 2025-05-28 22:35:28 UTC

Prior to the pandemic, career counseling had its own stigma toward individuals with disabilities. Career counseling often focused on placing an individual to a job rather than planning to advance one's career/goal planning.

Job placement rather than career development
Limited training/knowledge
Online counseling was not as accessible for individuals with disabilities
lack of accessibility for individuals that are hearing-impaired (virtually)
Limited outreach

(Atobatele, 2024)

caitbracy — 2025-05-28 22:37:13 UTC

Some new challenges that emerged for people with disabilities after the pandemic include a rapid rise in unemployment. Many disabled individuals were laid off during the pandemic, and rehire rates remained slow as an aftermath and still are a struggle. With this, it is also important to recognize that remote work is not always accessible for everyone. As remote jobs increased over the span of covid and offered flexibility for a lot of individuals, they also introduced new barriers. Some of these barriers include lack of captions on technology platforms, overstimulating digital interfaces and limited education to technical advances. In addition to these challenges post covid, many experienced intense burnout, isolation and anxiety especially when searching for jobs that supported diversity, equity and inclusion.

New Challenges:

Unemployment/being laid off
Technology, is it really accessible for everyone now?
DEI, who supports DEI?
Emotional strain/isolation
Some experience overstimulation with technology if remote workers
Lack of need for frontline jobs now
On the flip side, remote work has also created more employment opportunities
Discrimination/bias individuals face by employers post covid, questioning what individuals bring to their businesses
Last hired, first fired
Stigma

(Ne’eman, A., & Maestas, 2022)

Character strengths across disabilities: An international exploratory study and implications for positive psychiatry and psychology.

smathetcs — 2025-05-28 22:37:32 UTC

Key findings from Umucu et al. (2022):
- Top five character strengths in individuals with disabilities:
  - Love of learning
  - Honesty
  - Appreciation of beauty and excellence
  - Kindness
  - Fairness

Advocate

azanolli21 — 2025-05-28 22:38:23 UTC

Unemployment disturbances from Covid occur on a systemic societal level, so one of the key responses of career counselors should be working to reduce societal inequalities on multiple levels.

What does that look like?

Educate yourself on the politics of the employment situation
Challenge mainstream ideas of what the "norm" of employment looks like
Promote solidarity and activism
Advocate for socially vulnerable groups

(Drosos, 2021)

Be Trauma-Informed

azanolli21 — 2025-05-28 22:41:08 UTC

Unemployment can be related to trauma or can be traumatic in and of itself. Recognize how trauma impacts a client's work capabilities and career development.

Prioritize client safety; avoid retraumatization
Recognize and address ableism in career search for those with disabilities
Practice disability humility

(Jashinsky, 2021)

Utilize the PEPSAEE model

azanolli21 — 2025-05-28 22:43:18 UTC

Core of the framework: people need to believe their employment status can change and that their actions can lead to their desired change. (Drosos, 2021)

How can career counselors leverage these strengths in session?

smathetcs — 2025-05-28 22:45:51 UTC

Practical counseling applications:
- Align career paths with clients’ natural strengths (e.g., placing those high in love of learning in roles valuing continual growth)
- Use strength-based narratives in resume writing and interviews to highlight client capabilities
- Encourage work environments that value fairness and empathy
- Provide targeted coaching to develop areas like self-regulation and perseverance when needed
Integration with Wehman’s Supported Employment (SE) model (2023):
- SE emphasizes individualized job placement followed by ongoing support
- Counselors can tailor SE placements to roles matching clients’ character strengths
  - e.g., love of learning → workplaces offering professional development
- SE’s coaching structure supports development in weaker areas such as self-regulation and perseverance
- Incorporating strengths into job development and employer education shifts focus from disability to capability, fostering inclusion

azanolli21 — 2025-05-28 22:49:43 UTC

NEED to consider intersectionality when working with folks with disabilities
- Black adults have highest rates of unemployment out of all ethnic groups, as well as less access to health care services (Jashinsky, 2021)
Consider health care inequities, lack of proper training for health care workers on disability competency
Need to be working from a trauma-informed place to provide multicultural and socially just care
Ensure that you are treating clients with disabilities with respect and giving them autonomy; do not assume that you know what is best for them or that you know their capabilities.

azanolli21 — 2025-05-28 22:51:16 UTC

The key to pulling out of post-Covid recession and unemployment is the government investing in public services and promoting employment (Drosos, 2021).

This is obviously not happening right now, and in fact the opposite is happening in many cases. Need to ask yourself (and client) how this is impacting your clients, both their mental health and their employment prospects.

caitbracy — 2025-05-28 22:53:23 UTC

TIP!

smathetcs — 2025-05-28 22:53:24 UTC

The importance of competence and continuing education cannot be understated. Counselors should make an effort to continuously update their knowledge, awareness of ethical and multicultural issues, and skills to provide ethical, effective support tailored to clients with disabilities.

TIP!

azanolli21 — 2025-05-28 22:53:47 UTC

Research and understand the legal rights of your clients. Ex: Bureau of Legal Statistics, ADA

Personal Reflection (Allison)

azanolli21 — 2025-05-28 22:56:08 UTC

I’m struck by how much this article (Drosos, 2021) focused on the systemic elements of career counseling in the wake of the pandemic. I realize how important it is to be a system-level advocate for more services and programming to support those most impacted by the lack of employment opportunities post-Covid. I also have a hard time conceptualizing how that high-level systemic advocacy shows up in the counseling room with an individual. Systems-level work takes a long time; clients need help now. Wondering how those two things coincide.

smathetcs — 2025-05-28 22:57:19 UTC

Personal Reflection (Caitlin)

caitbracy — 2025-05-28 22:59:55 UTC

As I explored how career counseling affects disabled individuals, I began to understand the deep complexities that have emerged since COVID. While remote work has opened doors that were once closed, the pandemic also stripped away jobs and stability for many, exposing long-standing gaps in our systems. This has pushed me to reflect on the important role of advocacy in my future work as a therapist. How can we truly create meaningful space and support for this community within structures that were never built to include them?

caitbracy — 2025-05-28 23:05:50 UTC

caitbracy — 2025-05-28 23:06:31 UTC

smathetcs — 2025-05-28 23:06:31 UTC

smathetcs — 2025-05-28 23:09:27 UTC

“Disability only becomes a tragedy when society fails to provide the things we need to lead our lives—job opportunities, or barrier-free buildings, for example.”
– Judith Heumann

smathetcs — 2025-05-28 23:11:03 UTC

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.”
– Nido Qubein

caitbracy — 2025-05-28 23:11:22 UTC

caitbracy — 2025-05-28 23:11:39 UTC

caitbracy — 2025-05-28 23:13:51 UTC

smathetcs — 2025-05-28 23:14:44 UTC

Atobatele, F. A. (2024). The Impact of Career Counseling on Individuals with Disabilities: A Review. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Growth Evaluation , 01, 1531–1535. https://www.allmultidisciplinaryjournal.com/uploads/archives/20250325145020_MGE-2025-2-118.1.pdf
Drosos, N., Theodoroulakis, M., Antoniou, A.-S. and Rajter, I.C. (2021), Career Services in the Post-COVID-19 Era: A Paradigm for Career Counseling Unemployed Individuals. Journal of Employment Counseling, 58: 36-48. https://doi.org/10.1002/joec.12156
Jashinsky, T. L., King, C. L., Kwiat, N. M., Henry, B. L., & Lockett‐Glover, A. (2021). Disability and COVID‐19: Impact on Workers, Intersectionality With Race, and Inclusion Strategies. The Career Development Quarterly, 69(4), 313–325. https://doi.org/10.1002/cdq.12276
Ne’eman, A., & Maestas, N. (2022). How Has COVID-19 Impacted Disability Employment? Disability and Health Journal, 16(2), 101429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2022.101429
Umucu, E., Lee, B., Genova, H. M., Chopik, W. J., Sung, C., Yasuoka, M., & Niemiec, R. M. (2022). Character strengths across disabilities: An international exploratory study and implications for positive psychiatry and psychology. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.863977
Wehman, P. (2023). Supported employment and customized employment: How effective are these interventions and what has been their impact on the field? Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 58(3), 237–247. https://doi.org/10.3233/jvr-230022

smathetcs — 2025-05-28 23:16:11 UTC

“My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit as well as physically.”
- Stephen Hawking

smathetcs — 2025-05-28 23:18:37 UTC

“Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.”
– Helen Keller

TIP!

azanolli21 — 2025-05-28 23:23:51 UTC

Practice disability humility. Recognize that learning about and understanding disability will be a lifelong process.

Personal Reflection (Caitlin)

caitbracy — 2025-06-01 22:11:02 UTC

Researching post-COVID career counseling for people with disabilities made me realize how quickly some of the progress around accessibility, like remote work, was taken away once it was no longer seen as necessary. I was surprised by how many people had to fight to keep accommodations that clearly worked for them during the pandemic. It showed me how important it is for counselors to be aware of these challenges and advocate for long-term, inclusive support.

Creating Inclusive Career Pathways: A Guide for Counselors

caitbracy — 2025-06-01 22:56:28 UTC

COVID-19 & Career Challenges for People with Disabilities

caitbracy — 2025-06-02 00:04:06 UTC

Supported Employment (SE)

smathetcs — 2025-06-02 03:59:25 UTC

Personal Reflection

smathetcs — 2025-06-02 18:12:52 UTC

Throughout the research process, I was struck by how effective a strength-based approach was when working with clients with disabilities. I didn't necessarily find it surprising, especially because people with disabilities are so frequently framed through the lens of their disability and the activities or abilities they have lost because of it. I found the Supported Employment model to be especially effective and helpful for this population in its ability to view its participants/clients through a strength-based lens to provide tailored and long-lasting support.