Family of Origin and Career Counseling

Abstract

Robert Chope is a professor of counseling at San Francisco State University, where he coordinates the Career Counseling Program. He is also the founder of the Career and Personal Development Institute in San Francisco, a practice that he has had for more than 25 years. Dr. Chope received his PhD from the University of Minnesota, Department of Psychology, where his dissertation advisor was David P. Campbell of the Strong-Campbell and Campbell Interest and Skills Inventory fame. His undergraduate work was at Harvard University, where he was heavily influenced and mentored by B. F. Skinner.

Dr. Chope is a licensed psychologist and a licensed marriage and family therapist. He is the author of Dancing Naked: Breaking Through the Emotional Limits That Keep You From the Job You Want and Shared Confinement: Healing Options for You and the Agoraphobic in Your Life, both published by New Harbinger Publications, and Family Matters: The Influence of the Family in Career Decision Making by Pro-Ed. He has been heard on more than 100 radio and television shows around the country and is regularly featured in newspapers and online journals. Recently, he was the subject of interviews on eWeek, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and Cosmopolitan Magazine. In the San Francisco Bay Area, he has been on NPR, KQED Forum, KUSF Forum, and KCBS Sunday Morning radio stations and KPIX, KRON, KTVU, and UPN 44 television stations. He is a fellow of the National Career Development Association (NCDA), a winner of the Robert Swan Lifetime Achievement in Career Counseling Award, and a winner of the 2004 NCDA outstanding career practitioner of the year award.

An interview with Robert Chope, PhD, concerning his contributions in career counseling revealed many opportunities to integrate career and family counseling. The interview explored the evolution of career counseling and the inclusion of family systems perspectives. Case examples were provided.