Melinda M. Gibbons
University of Tennessee
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Newly married couples report work-family
balance, financial issues, and partner
employment among top overall relationship
problems
Primary issues for young couples will be
career-related
Partners often have different views about
household responsibilities
Gibbons, TCDA 2014
5/30/2014
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Family-of-origin pressures
Future career planning
Role expectations
Lack of understanding between career and
relationships
Unrealistic expectations about stress levels
in dual-career marriages
Egalitarian responsibilities for child rearing
Gibbons, TCDA 2014
5/30/2014
 60-70%
of the workforce
 Couples counselors report about 1/3 of their
caseload have issues related to work-family
balance
 Divergent career paths can be very stressful
 Dual career couples with children report the
following help with balance: flexible work
schedules, professional autonomy, supportive
supervisors, and firm work boundaries
Gibbons, TCDA 2014
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 Family
stressors vs. work stressors
 Role of childcare
 Work-family spillover
 Need for family-friendly workplace policies
 Stress at work can affect
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Self-esteem
Motivation
Work relationships
Psychological problems
Gibbons, TCDA 2014
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 Planning
for non-career futures
 Well-being after a transition
 New meaning of balance
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5/30/2014
 Deal
wit hall of the above issues plus other
issues
 Levels of outness at work
 Family leave
 Workplace homophobia
 How to introduce one’s partner
 Dealing with social events
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 Career
counseling for couples
 Combination of personal and career issues
 Focus on process
 Allows for interpersonal growth
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 Postmodern
approach to career counseling
 Focuses on unique context and meaningmaking
 Co-constructing a future narrative
Gibbons, TCDA 2014
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 Two
separate lifelines, birth to today
 Indicate important life events
 Describe to partner
 Title each event
 1-2 sentence description and feelings related
to event
 Discuss what was learned
 Acknowledge similarities and differences
 Create next chapters together
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 Clients
sort into piles related to importance
 Attend to differences and similarities
 How values affect partnership
 Relationship of values to current issues
 Consideration of potential future issues
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 Three
generations
 Careers for all family members
 Hidden messages about the world of work
 Gender and cultural differences
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Jill comes to counseling because she is unhappy
with her partner, John. Jill feels like John never
listens to her and that he is always working. Jill
explains that she has a job, too, but that John’s
job always comes first, ahead of her and their
two children. Jill is the one who has to rearrange
her schedule if their son is sick or their daughter
has an afterschool activity. She says she has tried
explaining to John that both of them have jobs
that are important, but says that John insists
that childcare is part of her role in the family,
and that his primary role is providing for the
family.
Gibbons, TCDA 2014
5/30/2014
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Brian and Lucas have been in a committed
relationship for eight years. Both come from families
that support their relationship, but Lucas works for a
conservative company where he has not shared his
sexual orientation with co-workers. Brian is out at
work and often brings Lucas with him to social
engagements with co-workers. Brian is frustrated
that Lucas will not be open about their relationship
with his co-workers and says he feels that Lucas is
hiding his true self from everyone at work. Lucas also
recently received a promotion at work, and is now
working longer hours and has an increased travel
commitment. As a result, Brian’s frustration has
grown to the point that they are seeking counseling
to help address Brian’s concerns.
Gibbons, TCDA 2014
5/30/2014
 Carl,
a salesperson, and Lisa, a nurse, have
been dating for two years, and recently
became engaged after finishing college. Two
months before their wedding, Carl tells Lisa
that he has a job offer in another state, and
that they will be moving immediately after
the wedding. Lisa, who has lived in her
hometown her entire life, seeks counseling
because she is very upset and does not know
if she can still marry Carl. She explains that
Carl does not understand why being close to
family is so important, and is upset that he
made this career decision without her.
Gibbons, TCDA 2014
5/30/2014
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