IconiCards in A University Psychology Class II with David Van Nuys

I want to share another use of the IconiCards in a university environment.  I previously posted a note here about using them in my Myth, Drean, & Symbol class to help students explore their relationship to their own Introversion and Extraversion.

Today, I was an invited guest in a University class on Careers in Psychology.  I had been invited to discuss non-traditional careers, careers outside of psychology per se for those with a degree in it. 

To kick things off, I spread the IconiCards face up, in several concentric circles.  I invited students to walk around the circle and allow two cards to choose them– one representing their hopes/feelings in an ideal career and the other signifying their worst fears/feelings in relation to their work future.  They were asked to return to their seats with their two cards and list 5 adjectives for each card and to write an “I” statement for each of the ten adjectives and each “I” statement should include one of the adjectives (e.g. “I’m afraid of getting locked into a BORING job”).

In a flash of inspiration, I also suggested that they could use their cell phones to take a picture of their cards for further reflection after class.  A number of them took advantage of this suggestion.

I then had students share their cards and what they had written in pairs.  After that, I did a debrief in the large group.  Cards representing their best career aspirations included:  God, Leader, Storyteller, Artist, Cheerleader, and Mediator.  On the other hand, their career fears were captured in such cards as: Slave Driver, Victim, Beggar, and Robot.  And, of course, they shared a number of evocative adjectives and sentences for each of these.

From there, I was able to segue into telling them about the how the IconiCards came to be developed and about Sharon and Glenn Livingston as two psychologists who are plying their skills and psychological expertise in domains outside of the traditional roles of therapist, professor, or academic researcher. And, of course, I went on to talk about my own very diverse career, as well, including my Shrink Rap Radio and Wise Counsel podcasts.

David Van Nuys, Ph.D.
www.e-FocusGroups.com