A second year undergraduate psychology student at the International Medical University (IMU), Muhammad Irfan Farhan bin Rosli (fondly known as Irfan) had the opportunity to shadow his lecturer, Dr Joshua Ng (in the photo above) and Dr Joshua’s graduate research assistant, Bryan Tee in a career counselling innovation project at the International Counselling Convention (ICC) 2022, for a total of 86 hours as part of the elective component of the programme.
Dr Joshua Ng, Irfan and Bryan Tee with their innovation project booth at ICC 2022.
At the convention, Irfan (second from left in the photo above) presented the innovative career counselling process of ‘Dice and Life’ to two juries and many other participants during ICC 2022. It’s a breakthrough for Irfan, as he journeyed through his comfort zone (i.e., learning with Dr Joshua and Bryan Tee), to his learning zone (i.e., prepping for the ICC 2022 trip), and finally his courage zone (i.e., presenting the project to the two juries).
Irfan’s innovative project ‘Dice and Life’ is a metaphor that in life, there are different choices that we need to make when it comes to career pathways. Using three dices (total 18 dimensions of career element, e.g., values, strengths, status perception, ingroup validation, societal stereotypes), the practitioner can engage with the client in a creative manner (i.e., rolling the three dices) when exploring different elements in one’s career pathway. Different combinations of the 18 dimensions could prompt the client to think at different angles, which result in more insights about the self and one’s preference of career choices.
After experiencing ‘Dice and Life’, Irfan shared that: “The 216 combinations of ‘Dice and Life’ intrigue me to further think and talk more about myself and different parts of my life.”
Irfan’s main contribution to this project is to translate the project into Malay language. The end outcome is that ‘Dice and Life’ is presented in three languages – English, Malay and Mandarin, with the aim to cater to the diverse communities in Malaysia.
This career counselling innovation project ‘Dice and Life’ was awarded Silver Medal in the i-Counnovas 3.0 International Counselling Innovation Showcase & Competition.
Irfan recounts his experience at the convention, “In reflection, I believe that a major strength that I showcased during this trip is using my knowledge and understanding to fulfill my role as a team member during the innovation project showcase, especially to the juries and participants. I personally value the growth in my time management skills. Prior to this, I could never imagine myself having the energy and motivation to be abe to have a balance with the conference tasks, exploration time, relaxation time, and assignments throughout the trip. Now I understand that given enough motivation and positive pressure, I can excel in this area. This gave me the confidence that I never had before, knowing that I can work well under pressure.”
| About International Counselling Convention (ICC) 2022 |
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| International Counselling Convention (ICC) 2022 (ICC 2022) was held between 1 to 4 Nov, at Riverside Majestic Hotel, Kuching. The aim of ICC 2022 is to promote education, practice, professional helping service and visibility of the important needs of counselling and psychology in developing community and nation to the optimum wellbeing.
A total of around 500 participants from Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, United States, and Malaysians, all of whim are in the field of psychology, education and counselling, attended this event which was organised by Persatuan Kaunseling Malaysia Antarabangsa (PERKAMA) International and International Association for Counseling (IAC) in collaboration with the Sarawak State Government and University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS).
With the theme ‘Standing Alone Together: Managing the Paradox’, different post-pandemic issues (e.g., online counselling services, managing stress through sand-tray therapy, supervision in counselling) are being addressed during ICC 2022. |
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