Next week we’re off to Ottawa attending Cannexus (https://cannexus.ca), Canada’s national career development conference. We try to attend every year because it is always a rewarding use of time—a chance to learn about our field’s work, connect with friends and colleagues, and meet and learn from career development practitioners working on the front lines in Canada and around the world. This year is different because it coincides with the official launch of our book: “Strengthening mental health through effective career development: A practitioner’s guide.” Thanks to CERIC and its knowledge champions (Simon Fraser University, Wilfred Laurier University, Ryerson University and the Australian Center for Career Education), each Cannexus delegate will receive a copy of the book. For those not attending Cannexus, it will be available as a paperback or ebook via CERIC, Amazon and Chapters/Indigo (see links below). We think it will also be available from Apple Books. It will also be available as a free pdf download from CERIC. It will soon be available for distribution in Australia, too!
Our intention, along with CERIC and our sponsors, through all of this, has been centered on making a case for the role of career development as a support for positive mental health. Although we had been presenting on the topic for the past six years, preparing the book has been an opportunity to pull all of the pieces together in one document, to provide the evidence along with models and a skillset practitioners can use to include mental health and mental health awareness in their practice. Our work as career development practitioners will be the same: We’ll be focusing on career development concerns, but we’ll also be teaching our clients and other stakeholders about our role and function as a support for positive mental health.
We’re also hosting a Cannexus session (Career development and mental health: Coping becomes hoping) on Monday, January 27, from 10:10 to 11:25 a.m. in room 206. This session goes beyond the evidence base and covers the mechanisms underlying career development’s role as a support for positive mental health and wellbeing. We look forward to seeing you at the conference.
Lastly, as part of the official book launch, we hope to work with CERIC to deliver a series of workshops across Canada in 2020. We will provide more details as they become available.
Order from:
CERIC – www.ceric.ca/publications/