Facilitating capabilities through reflection: from welfare to appreciative well‐being

Abstract

During the laboratories of the Reflect‐OR project, the guidance counseling practitioners told some stories of success regarding their professional practice. From these stories a leitmotif emerges. In many cases the success is not solving the difficulty of a person (especially finding a new job, entering into a program of training etc.) but it is about facilitating a reframing process. Also, this success isn’t the result of direct action but of giving the clients the opportunity and the experience necessary to understand their sustainable and real exigencies and to act appropriately. In this article I link the evidence of the changes in the professional practice of the guidance practitioners with the emergence of the concept of capability in a debate about justice and welfare. The guidance practitioners that were the protagonists of our laboratories in the Reflect‐OR project became skilled in a very difficult tightrope walk. Born as professionals inside the welfare state institutions, they were shifting to a more counseling oriented mission. This is a radical change in the meaning and culture of their service, their profession and their relationship with clients, institutions and colleagues. The Reflect‐OR project, with its participative appreciative action and reflection (PAAR) approach, has not only been able to detect such a shift, but it has also been able to give positive suggestions to increase the quality of the service and of the professional life.

Keywords:

• capabilities
• welfare
• guidance counseling
• unexpected outcomes
• PAAR approach