Professional Future Workshops

Why?

Balancing professional work with the values learned in certain academic degrees can be intense, confusing, and frustrating. The current job market rarely offers positions that integrate socio-ecological justice, cultural development, economic transformation, and financial security simultaneously.
Therefore, people committed to transformative change and culture equivalently need transformative approaches to their professional planning. Staying connected to motivation, agency, and creativity is essential when navigating career decisions in this field.

What?

These group coaching sessions are for students in the fields of critical studies, environmental studies, sociology, arts and culture, design, degrowth, or any other field which does not directly lead to a fixed job market.
It empowers students to approach their professional future with clarity, motivation, and realistic strategy - while staying aligned with their values. The sessions are designed for students at any stage - whether they are exploring career options or already established in their profession.
The participants are invited to explore their own resources and ideas, and to find empowerment in themselves as a basis for any future decisionmaking. The aim is not to give suggestions on possible careers.
While the sessions build on each other, students are welcome to join either or both. Both sessions should occur within one month.

How?

Session 1: Inner Parts Work
Exploring the different internal parts that emerge when thinking about career and work. Getting to know approaches to identify conflicting or suppressed voices, with the aim to bring them into balance, and build an effective "inner team" for decision-making and action.

Session 2: Circle of Influence and Working with Barriers
Exploring the personal circle of influence, identifying possibilities and resources, reflecting on realistic goals and learning how to work with barriers.

Facilitation Style

Sessions are interactive and experiential. Each begins with a group check-in and an introduction of the relevant frameworks and interventions, explaining their theoretical basis and practical application. These interventions are invitations to explore what feels right for the participants - no obligations. They may prove valuable now or later, so students are encourage you to experiment with them.

Participants get options to engage through paired conversation or individual reflection. We'll reconvene for group reflections multiple times to check in on process, and share insights and challenges.

References

• Brach, T. (2019). Radical compassion: Learning to love yourself and your world with the practice of RAIN. Viking.

• Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change. Simon & Schuster.

• Ogden, P., Minton, K., & Pain, C. (2006). Trauma and the body: A sensorimotor approach to psychotherapy. W. W. Norton & Company.

• Schulz von Thun, F. (2007). Das innere Team in Aktion: Praktische Arbeit mit dem Modell [The inner team in action: Practical work with the model]. Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag.

• Schmidt, G. (2024). Einführung in die hypnosystemische Therapie und Beratung [Introduction to hypnosystemic therapy and counseling] (11th ed.). Carl-Auer.

• Schwartz, R. C. (2001). Introduction to the internal family systems model. Trailheads Publications.

• Siegel, D. J. (1999). The developing mind: How relationships and the brain interact to shape who we are. Guilford Press.