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“I came to Diane through the Boston Smith College Club, where she runs a program titled, ” Career Conversations.” Since graduating from college, I had worked in politics, campaigns, and or government and was living from election year to election year. I knew that the time had come for me to begin thinking about that second degree or life after politics and I felt that Diane would be able to help me.

I also came to Diane to assist me with a simultaneous plan to create a work/ life balance. Through her effective methods coupled with the Meyers-Briggs evaluation, Diane devised a plan of action in order to achieve my immediate and long term goals. In addition to in person meetings, she employed worksheets, phone conversations ( and many of these!), and thought exercises in order to get my mind centered on what was important not only in my career, but in life.

Diane also created a strategy for me to discover what my true priorities were and how to keep them at the forefront of all of my career planning. She was the all around counselor; not only did she provide career advice, but life advice.

Diane was also there for me whenever I needed her or I felt like I hit a road block. Her reassuring presence and dedication is truly a testament to her character and devotion to helping her clients. Through the work that I did with Diane, I feel that I am more organized, focused, and in a much better place to reach my goals, not only in the short term, but in the long term. “

From a former client

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“All is well with work and life. Our office moved and I have my own office! (A rare occurrence in the land of non-profit world for someone of my level) Yes, it is small – which is good as if our foundation grows they can’t stick another body in there. I like my job and the people I work with – no sneaky meanies in this office suite! The VP I report to is normal! (WOW I was wondering if that existed). I wanted to let you know all this. Would love to see  you - to catch up. Sending a big hello!”

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My experience also includes teaching, non-profit leadership, program planning and management, development, administration, and property and family management.

Affiliations: I am a member of the American Counseling Association, The American Mental Health Counselor’s Association, the Associated Career Professionals International, and is a founding member and communications chair of the Independent Career Counselors.

Publications: I am the author of “Opportunities in High-Tech for Non-Technologists and edited “Your Decision-making Strengths”, a publication designed for use with the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator.
I enjoy working with people at all stages of career development, and assisting them as they address issues that affect their personal, professional, and social lives.

Learning about the world of work begins with childhood experiences. Think about it: chores, working with others, fun, learning about expectations, rewards, are the first work experiences that we have. Talking, listening, interacting around the tasks of the home is a source of encouragement, of responsibility, of choices, of obligation, development of judgement, adjustment, and even of fun. And all of that builds self-confidence. It’s the source of our vocabulary about work. Our awareness of others, and our roles in their lives is garnered – not always smoothly – from that first work and interactions within the family. It’s lessons are hopefully replicated in other settings in school and finally in the world of work.

Talking about that set of chores, and about expectations around them, is one of the constants in parenting in early life experiences for our offspring. And why does it have to end with the earliest part of development? Why does it seem that we hand off the interaction around work to “others” at a certain point?

There are some good reasons for the handoff, but there are even better reasons for working on that intergenerational contact.

One of the reasons for thinking about the world of work through family interaction through the teen years is that it doesn’t always happen very effectively in the school setting. Counseling more often than not is relegated to reviewing college view books in the Junior or senior year.

With some outside assistance in getting the dialogue moving, the family can become a part of getting students thinking earlier about who they are, what their options are, whose expectations they are dealing with in making college choices and a variety of things that we’ve characterized elsewhere as self-knowledge.

While we don’t necessarily expect teens to have developed full-blown career paths, at least they’ll have continued the process of discovering the world of work and life where their first exposure started – in the family.