Developing Career Capital in Adult Education Pathways

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a Framework

for Assessing & Facilitating Holistic Care

By Olivia Barajas and Lorena Marquez | May3, 2023

Hello, this is Lorena and Olivia from Fullerton College. We work with a diverse student population at the Fullerton College Counseling Center. As counselors, we assist the general student population, including adult learners and students pursuing career education pathways. In our work with students, we have observed that sometimes students may need to learn the various topics they can discuss with a counselor in addition to academic and career guidance. As counselors, we know that addressing the student’s holistic needs is important to better support their overall success. Therefore, we have created an intake form to invite students into a conversation that could lead to deeper self-awareness, connections to resources, and supportive communities of care that will promote their self-efficacy.

Pilot Practice:

We know that there are many things impacting students’ experiences and success in college that they may not always bring up in a counseling session. As counselors, we ask a variety of questions to better understand a student’s experience and assess their needs. But even then, there could be things that we don’t have the opportunity to address during the appointment for a variety of reasons. To help facilitate more of these candid conversations that are important to the overall success of the student, we have created an intake form that uses Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as the framework to give students a way to bring up these topics.

How To:

Using a template of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs pyramid, we created questions and topics within each of the five tiers relating to common challenges students may face. We printed this handout for in-person appointments and displayed it on our desktops for remote appointments, and we shared with students that in addition to assisting them in their academic and career success, we were also interested in supporting their overall well-being. As students saw the pyramid, they brought up topics from the various tiers relevant to their needs. The counselors were then able to connect them to additional support services and resources, and have meaningful conversations to promote care and belonging, a hallmark of creating a student-centered and welcoming culture.

Relevant Resources:

The counselors utilized Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs pyramid to develop the intake form.

Source: https://yourfreetemplates.com/maslows-hierarchy-needs-template/

Insights Gained:

Overall, students responded positively to being shown the intake form. Some students took the form with them, while others took a picture. Some students expressed not needing additional support beyond what they wanted to discuss in their appointment but still appreciated the opportunity to discuss other topics.

It was easier to share the intake form with students during in-person appointments because it was printed and presented to students at the beginning of the counseling session. In addition, students could take a copy as a reference for topics that could be addressed in future appointments. Counselors will explore how to better utilize the intake form with remote appointments.

Contact:

Stephanie Feger

Program Director

Coast District

[email protected]