The Guidance Room - Hilde

Hilde is 45 years old and trained as a social worker. After many years working as an environmental therapist, she is now on sick leave due to burnout. This case illustrates situations where adults face health-related limitations, reduced capacity, and uncertainty about their next steps, and shows how career guidance can support exploration, stabilisation and progress toward next steps.

About the Case

Hilde is 45 years old and trained as a social worker. After many years working as an environmental therapist, she is now on sick leave due to burnout. She feels physically and mentally exhausted and does not see a way back to her previous job. At the same time, she does not want to remain at home and still feels she “has more to give,” but struggles to identify realistic possibilities.
 
This case illustrates situations where adults face health-related limitations, reduced capacity, and uncertainty about their next steps, and shows how career guidance can support exploration, stabilisation and progress toward next steps.

Structure of the Case

The case consists of four parts:

  1. Background information about career guidance for people on sick leave in Norway.
  2. Episode 1 introduces Hilde and the situation she is navigating.
  3. Episode 2 shows selected moments from her guidance session, including expectation clarification and exploration of options.
  4. Thematic reflection questions for professional discussion.

 

Background: Career Guidance for People on Sick Leave in Norway

People on sick leave are followed by the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (Nav). They may also receive guidance at a public career centre (karrieresenter). Public career centres offer free, professional career guidance to residents of all ages. Services may include:
-          support with educational and career choices
-          information about job opportunities and labour market transitions
-          skills mapping and recognition of prior learning
-          CV and application support
-          digital services, workshops and group sessions
 
Nav provides guidance and follow-up as part of broader welfare and employment services, supporting individuals in work-related rehabilitation, qualification measures, and return-to-work processes.
 
The Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir) has a public website in Norwegian for information about education and work at Utdanning.no, and offers digital career guidance at Karriereveiledning.no, which is free and available to the entire population.
 

Purpose of the Case

This case is intended to support reflection on:

  • how practitioners meet guidance seekers who are emotionally overwhelmed or in vulnerable situations
  • how to clarify expectations and roles early in the session
  • how to support career learning when the guidance seeker struggles to see opportunities
  •  how to balance empathy, boundaries and forward movement in the conversation

 
The excerpts shown are short moments from a longer process and are not intended to demonstrate best practice.

1

Episode 1: Meet Hilde

Meet Hilde

After Watching Episode 1

Reflect together on: 

  1. What career-related challenges is Hilde experiencing?
  2. What aspects of Hilde’s situation do you recognise from your practice?
  3. How might her health and exhaustion influence her readiness for career learning?
2

Del 2: The Guidance

Step into the Guidance Session with Hilde 

The two key moments in the session focus on: 

  • Clarifying Expectations 
  • Progress and moving forward 

After watching episode 2

Reflect together on: 

  1. What elements of the guidance session with Hilde stood out to you?
  2. How did the practitioner work with expectations, structure and emotional strain?
  3. What else might have been explored in a longer process?
  4. Which competence areas do you observe in the practitioner’s approach?
3

Episode 3: Reflection

Thematic Reflection Questions

Hilde has health challenges and is open about them. How important are health-related details in your career guidance? What do you do if the individual seeking guidance doesn't share information about their health, but you understand that it may be a potential limitation? 

Feel free to use these reflection questions as a starting point for further conversations about the guidance process with Hilde. 

Career Guidance in the Face of Personal Challenges

Hilde shares openly about physical pain, exhaustion, financial concerns and emotional strain.

  • How do you create space for guidance seekers to talk about difficult life circumstances?
  • Can an entire session focus on obstacles? Under what conditions is this appropriate?
  • What if the guidance seeker is not ready to talk about anything beyond what feels overwhelming?
  • In the film, the practitioner redirects Hilde to reframe the conversation. Have you ever needed to do this?
  • How do you support people through challenging transitions while keeping the guidance process moving forward in a constructive way?

Phases in Career Guidance

The practitioner begins by clarifying expectations and the structure of the session.

  • How do you typically clarify expectations and the scope of the session?
  • What phases do you work through in a guidance conversation, and how do they support the process?
  • Are some phases more challenging than others?
  • How might home assignments or reflection tasks support Hilde’s career learning?
  • What types of career learning activities may support exploration when energy and capacity are limited?

Exploring Career Choices

Hilde mentions interest in roles such as working in a flower shop, interior design, or returning to social work in settings like crisis centres or family counselling.

  • How can practitioners support guidance seekers without having detailed knowledge of every profession?
  • What competencies are relevant across many job roles, regardless of sector?
  • How can you maintain and update your knowledge of labour market opportunities?
  • How might you approach situations where the guidance seeker considers returning to roles that contributed to burnout?
  • What considerations are relevant when discussing emotionally demanding roles such as crisis centre work?

Health and Boundaries in Guidance

Hilde’s health challenges and exhaustion strongly influence her situation.

  • What role should health-related information play in career guidance?
  • What do you do when a guidance seeker does not share relevant health limitations, but you suspect they matter?
  • Where are the boundaries for what belongs in career guidance, especially when conversations touch on emotional or personal issues?
  • How can you set respectful boundaries while ensuring the guidance seeker feels seen and acknowledged?
  • How do you navigate situations where health, capacity and career questions are closely intertwined?

 


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