3. Individual work with young people, accompanying them on their career path

CHAPTER 3 Individual work with young people, accompanying them on their career path

Author Gintarė Joteikaitė

Working openly with young people while focusing primarily on those with fewer opportunities, is very important in our society as thus we can enable those who face greater challenges. When working with young people who visit an open youth centre, we inevitably discuss topics that are related in one way or another to career, self-realization, financial well-being. Usually a young person comes to the youth centre to relax, stay in a safe environment, communicate with likeminded people and a youth worker. The youth centre in this case is like a social shelter where the young person can feel accepted the way he/she is, as in the everyday environment he/she may feel rejected for a variety of reasons: lack of social skills, physical and/or psychological violence, financial situation, special needs and/or psychological problems. Thus, in some cases, a youth centre can become an alternative world for a young person, where he/she can rest from the socalled “cruel reality”. The aim of the youth worker is to create conditions for a young person to transfer the state of security and self-realization experienced in the youth centre into his/her daily life.

What can prevent young people from successfully realizing themselves in society and pursuing their career path? There are two types of barriers (external and internal circumstances) that arise in everyday life:

Financial situation EXTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCES

There are financial difficulties in the family that prevent young people from fulfilling their desires, acquiring the things they want, and this puts them in a depressing psychological state. In this case, the youth worker should find ways to make the young person who experiences financial difficulties to feel that he/she may have same opportunities as the others, for example, to help to choose international exchange, volunteering, internship programs for young people, to implement projects that would provide an opportunity to travel, to get to know things and to experience.

Social pressure and the rhythm of life

As mentioned in previous chapters, the modern young person is under tremendous social pressure from all the environment that surrounds him/her: a young person is required to demonstrate high efficiency, a to have a good knowledge of technology as well as the ability to perform many different functions simultaneously. This is required by parents, teachers, friends, reality observed in virtual space. All of this causes exhaustion, symptoms of apathy, frustration and helplessness. A youth worker can alleviate the results of all mentioned consequences by creating the relaxing and non-binding atmosphere young people need in order to relax. It is also important to reflect on everything as well as recognition of the achievements and the ability to enjoy the results achieved. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen young people’s time and internal energy management skills.

Commitments

A young person who is studying at school or university, or has a permanent job may feel a heavy burden of obligations that hinders him/her from doing what he/she really enjoys as well as from realizing himself/herself in areas that really matter. Sometimes this can lead to feelings of helplessness and despair and willingness to bow to fate, whereas sometimes it can encourage to take drastic measures such as quitting studies or leave the job one doesn’t like. A person has the right to make any decision, but it is important for the youth worker to help him/her to weigh all the pros and cons and to ensure that the young person, after choosing any solution, remains safe and has thought of several future action plans or possible variations in the course of the situation.

Violence

It is important for a youth worker to pay attention to whether the young person experiences physical and/ or psychological violence in the immediate environment – at home, school, university, work or other everyday environment. When one becomes aware that violence is being experienced, it is important to work both with the young person himself/herself and with those around him/her to ensure the safe daily life of the young person.

INTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCES

Large circle of areas of interest, but not having opportunities to try them out

This is usually the case for the 14-18 age group, who, due to a lack of practical experience, tend to create visions of certain activities, have several different areas of interest to which they would like to relate their lives, but remain passive and take no actions to become acquainted with them. In this case, the most effective tool a youth worker can offer is to help with organizing traineeships, during which a young person tries out all the areas that interest him and decides whether they are really as appealing to him/her as they seem at first sight.

Having a specific goal, a dream, but not having enough courage to take actions

Mostly typical for young people aged 14-18 and 19-24, as they do not have the specific social or professional skills needed to achieve their goals. The best thing a youth worker can do in this case is to organize activities that strengthen specific competencies and skills, as well as experiential activities which help to apply all that in practice.

Established internal attitudes about oneself and the environment

The elder a young person is, the stronger are his/her internal attitudes and beliefs which he or she consciously and unconsciously relies on in his/her everyday life. These attitudes are formed after experiencing certain positive or, conversely, traumatic experiences and by drawing conclusions about oneself and the world based on these experiences. These experiences can be both positive, which contribute to a young person’s self-confidence, and negative, which hinder the young person from taking certain actions which could contribute to successful selfrealization. The mission of a youth worker is, based on the real facts of everyday behaviour, to help the young person to consciously contemplate the internal attitudes he/she has and to understand which of them affects him/her positively and which of them have the negative effect.

SUCCESSFUL METHODS OF WORKING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE INDIVIDUALLY

Individual work sessions or consultations with young people are one of the most effective tools when achieving long-term continuous impact in a young person’s life. They can be implemented in different forms, depending on the needs of a particular young person, using different methods. Here are some of them:

INFORMAL CONVERSATION

No specific methods are used during this conversation, the results of the conversation are not recorded either. The youth worker can share his/her own experiences and personal opinion on the topics discussed. The young person is not obliged to take any actions, but can be stimulated, encouraged or supported to start doing smth.

PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELLING

During this counselling major psychological challenges and emotional difficulties are analysed. Psychological counselling, which requires an appropriate communication ethic, has clear time limits and is only possible with a specialist qualified as a psychologist.

COACHING

It is a process, the main goal of which is to help a young person to get to know himself/herself, his/her actions, thinking style and aspirations better. During this process people strive to perceive the learning process going on at the time and seek to find concrete solutions for the future. There are many coaching methods that can be adapted to specific relevant situations and topics.

SELF-MONITORING AND EMOTION-FOCUSED THERAPY

During the therapy, emotions are consciously observed, people try to understand the feeling and sensation itself that is being experienced and they also seek answers to what can be deduced from these feelings and sensations about the person and his/her current situation. Finally, the person tries to decide what to do with the emotion he/ she is experiencing and where to direct it while striving to break free from mind-shaped interpretations about the sources of that feeling.

ANALYSIS OF INTERNAL ATTITUDES

During these sessions, it is analysed what are the main internal attitudes that lead to recurring decisions that people tend to make in everyday life, the formed attitude on one issue or another. Decisions are then made on how to consciously adjust the limiting beliefs which interfere with living a full life.

ART THERAPY

During such a therapy, the chosen topic relevant to the client is explored with the help of artistic means that express the predominant feeling, emotion, thoughts or visions. The work of art is then reflected and analysed.

NON-VIOLENT COMMUNICATION

This method is perfect for resolving an internal or external conflict that a young person is dealing with. Internal needs and strategies for meeting them, which are applied in everyday life and in a specific situation that has provoked internal or external conflict, are examined. Finally, one starts looking for possible solutions that can be applied in order to resolve the situation.

MENTORING AS A PROCESS TO ACCOMPANY A YOUNG PERSON WHEN HE/SHE IS FOLLOWING THE PATH OF SELF-REALIZATION

Mentoring is an ongoing process of cooperation, implemented through conscious mutual consensus, which is based on a pre-established plan that meets the personal growth and development needs of a particular young person. A mentor is a serving leader who helps a young person to reveal his/her potential according to the course and pace of the learning process he/she has chosen. It is a supportive connection between a more experienced person who shares the accumulated experience and a person has less experience, but seeks to expand and deepen it. The mentoring process consists of three main components: participation in the learning process and being next to the person while this process is ongoing, desired effect, and constant reflection on the actions that are being taken. Individual work sessions or counselling can be seen as a one-off action, as one of the tools when working with young people, whereas mentoring is already a continuous process that obligates both parties to a long-term relationship. A youth worker can implement the mentoring process independently, helping the young person to successfully meet personal challenges and take more decisive career steps. However, we cannot rule out the possibility of discovering a mentor in a specific field and accompanying the mentoring process between the young person and an expert in a certain field. In any case, the mentoring process has clear stages which are characterized by peculiarities of the experience and connection that are experienced during those stages:

ACQUAINTANCE, SETTING THE GOALS

goalsAt this stage, the experience gained on both sides and the young person’s personal goals and aspirations during the mentoring process are reviewed. During the first meeting, it may often not be possible to effectively set all the goals and formulate a structured action plan, so the mentor should leave creative space for the young person and ask to formulate a clearer plan for future action.

1. Separation of stages of achieving goals

Usually, already during the second mentoring meeting, clear goals and actions are set, time limits are set as well as specific tasks that will be addressed are discussed. It is important to review all possible risks, strengths and weaknesses, fears and expectations, the possibility of lack of motivation and other aspects that could affect the learning process.

2. Accompanying and intermediate reflections

Regular meetings are extremely important in order to reflect on the current process of learning and the process of achieving the set goals, as well as to celebrate achievements and to get rid of tensions and feelings of guilt and shame due to failed decisions and actions. It is essential for the mentor to understand any emotions a young person may experience and to help him/her at all stages, by always emphasizing the positive outcome of the learning process.

3. Farewell, or the beginning of a new mentoring phase

At the end of the learning process provided for the first meetings, it is important for the young person to review the whole process and to absorb the lessons learned and perceptions made. If the agreed end time of the mentoring process is delayed, it will impair the learning process. Therefore, if necessary, it is better to finally complete the previous cycle of mentoring and then start a new one.

It is also important to know that a correct formal distance must always be maintained between the mentor and the young person. The mentoring process, precisely because of its continuity, can often mean the formation of a close friendship, the transition from a formal to an informal relationship. However, it is important for the youth worker to adhere to work ethic and and do not switch to informal communication (informal friendship) until the mentoring process is completed. Otherwise, learning can become completely ineffective or even do harm to the young person.