“But They Only Came Once!” The Single Session in Career Counselling

Abstract

Clients often come only once to a counsellor. As a practitioner, Rosemary wondered what happens next when clients only attend a single counselling session. Does career counselling work, even if there is just one session? Do people make changes? This article reports on a small study of clients from a career counselling service who came for a single session, usually with concerns about career choice or change. Results indicate that virtually all of them found the session helpful and most made short- or long-term changes as a result. Their comments provide insight into the potential value of even a single counselling session.