About the Webinar

This webinar is a call to action for Career Development Practitioners ready to move beyond surface-level commitments to strength-based, person-centred, and person-directed principles. In this interactive 2-hour session, we’ll challenge the traditional, problem-focused methods that often dominate employment counselling—such as needs assessments that emphasize deficits, standardized action plans that ignore individuality, and rushing clients into job search activities without fully understanding their unique context and readiness. Instead, we’ll explore practical, evidence-based strategies that truly honour clients’ autonomy, highlight their strengths, and tap into their resilience and potential. Packed with actionable tools and real-world examples, this session will equip you to turn these principles into everyday practice, creating meaningful change for your clients, your work, and your outcomes.

Why Attend?

Cut through the noise:

Discover why problem-focused approaches fall short—and how a strengths-based method grounded in research can achieve real results for marginalized job seekers.

Shift your lens:

Learn how to meet clients where they are, no matter where they are. Stop pushing action before your clients are ready and start fostering authentic engagement.

Get practical:

Explore actionable strategies that are as transformative as they are achievable. Reframe challenges, build motivation, and guide clients to uncover their own potential.

This session will provide you with the knowledge and confidence to:

Replace cookie-cutter approaches with tailored strategies,

 Build trust by focusing on what clients bring, not just what they lack,

Achieve program outcomes while ensuring every client feels seen, heard, and empowered;

Be clear on the 

Meet your speaker(s)

Jonathan Paynter

TR.S.W., AccFM (OAFM)

Jonathan Paynter is an expert with over 25 years of experience in social work and trauma-informed practices,.