Services

• For people who are struggling to find the right employment to use their true skills and follow their values—

see Career Counseling
read Good Career Advice and Articles
 
• For attorneys and their clients engaged in personal injury litigation, marital dissolution or legal cases about employment issues including wrongful termination, disabilities and discrimination—

see Vocational Evaluation and Expert Witness

Not sure you need a Vocational Evaluation? 
see Reasons for a Vocational Evaluation
 

• For psychotherapists, psychiatrists, social workers and counselors and their patients who need help in dealing with work issues—

see ADA Consulting and Career Counseling
 
• For people who are dreaming about starting a small business of their own—

see Self Employment Evaluations
 
• For people living with disabilities, including orthopedic, cancer, psychiatric, cardiac, HIV and other chronic disabilities—

see ADA Consulting and HIV and Employment
read the article on Asking for Accommodations

Vocational Evaluation and Expert Witness for Litigation
Career Counseling
Self Employment Evaluations
ADA Consulting
HIV/AIDS and Employment
Good Career Advice
    Words to Work by
    Vocational Articles
Seminars and Workshops

Vocational Evaluation and Expert Witness Services for Litigation

• San Francisco 
• Alameda
• Contra Costa
• Marin
• Napa
• San Mateo
• Santa Clara
• Sonoma 
• Solano 

• personal injury
• marital dissolution
• wrongful termination
• employment discrimination 
• age
• race
• sex, gender orientation
• disability
• long term disability

• Expert testimony
• Wage earning capacity analysis
• Pre-post injury employability assessment
• Vocational testing
• Labor market research
• Vocational plan development and analysis
• Evaluation of vocational impact of disabilities
• Self-employment evaluation

Dear Betty,
Both  Ms. H and I wish to express our gratitude for and satisfaction with your services and help in this matter.  I personally was most pleased by the level of your devotion and commitment to Ms. H as well as by the professionalism and quality of your work and advice, which was invaluable to me in attempting to process this case and serve her needs.

Dear Betty,
Thank you for all your efforts in helping me achieve settlement of C’s claim.  You unselfishly gave your time, energy and insight that enabled me to formulate a coherent plan to prove C had experienced injury at R’s hands. 

Of all the experts with whom I consulted, you gave me the best practical advice.  You helped me focus. 

I cannot begin to thank you for all of your efforts.

Best regards,
HR 
Attorney at Law

Betty,
I just wanted to let you know how I was doing and to thank you for your encouragement.  I have been in school in the program you suggested and I’m doing well. 

The work we did together was the first time I ever got to think about what I wanted to do.  You really pushed me to go for what I wanted; our talks were the best part of the divorce.  Thank you for your help and support.    DB

---

• is not working.
• states that s/he is not able to work, but both parties do not agree upon the reason.
• is unsure of a vocational goal.
• has no recent work experience.
• is working part time, but probably has the capacity to work full time.
• has a history of vocational difficulties: frequent job changes, dismissals, unused education, underemployment or extended unemployment.
• identifies a vocational goal that seems unrealistic or necessitates a prolonged preparation period.
• expresses fear of going to work.
• has a disability that may affect vocational choice or success. 
• has conducted an extended unsuccessful job search.

• The spouse's income is significantly less than in a prior earning period.
• The supporting spouse has a sudden unexplainable drop in reported earnings.
• The supported spouse refuses to go to work.

Career Counseling

• career counseling — finding the right career goal
• identifying and overcoming past career problems
• resumes — flexible, targeted, honest and effective
• interview training
• vocational testing
• integration of personal values with career choices
• labor market research
• supportive, confidential, individual attention 

 

 

3/1/01
Betty—
I never felt like I got to thank you for all your personal attention and loving support.  You made such a big difference to me. 

Your straight-forward and professional approach to resume writing and interviewing saved me weeks of frustration.  Yesterday, I was offered and accepted what will likely turn out to be a great position.  I know without a doubt that I would not have had the idea that I could do this job, or the resume to get the interview, or the confidence to pursue the job, if I had not worked with you.

Warm regards,
Edward A. T.

• job coaching to correct and avoid personnel problems 
• advocacy for employment rights
• individual interview practice for success in handling career gaps and hard-to-explain employment histories
• negotiating termination agreements

9/28/00
Betty—
You’re a great negotiator.  Thank you so much for your help yesterday.  I wouldn’t have done half as well without you.  CY

Self Employment Evaluations

• If you are thinking about self-employment and want to check out whether it is realistic to pursue it—

 
• If you are currently self-employed, but are not earning what you need—

 
• If you are thinking of a job goal that is usually involves self-employment and you want to know whether to proceed—

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ADA Consulting

• employer negotiations and advocacy for Federal, State and local employment rights 

 
• disclosure issues — what to say and when

 
• instruction about asking for ADA accommodations—

see Asking for Accommodations
 
• interview & job hunt training for people living with disabilities

 
• ADA accommodation negotiations

 
• employment discrimination—

see Where to Go for Help with Employment Discrimination

 
7-1-94 

Dear Betty, 
I want to send you heartfelt thanks for your excellent work and collaboration with me with some of my patients.  Your “hands-on” practical approach in helping them with their work problems combined with your psychological sensitivity was invaluable and sometimes resulted in progress when failure plus further emotional injury threatened.  I’m thinking of D.. as an example of someone who has made important strides: with gains in her self-confidence, social competence as well as improved job effectiveness and security. 

I hope that your approach and your priorities become both prevalent and the way professional excellence is measured. 

Best wishes, 

Jerry 
Gerard Chase, MD 
Oakland, CA 

HIV/AIDS and Employment

Positive Resource Center is a San Francisco agency providing free services to people living with HIV/AIDS. The Positive Resource Center’s mission is to assist people affected by HIV/AIDS through culturally appropriate counseling, education and advocacy in making informed choices which maximize available benefits and employment opportunities. 

Betty is at PRC every Monday and offers workshops and some individual counseling. 

CONSIDERING WORK
People with HIV who are considering work need to plan in all four areas of their lives: medical, financial/legal, psychosocial and vocational. Each of these factors will influence their decisions. Read about the process individuals with HIV use while making these decisions in Considering Work for People Living with HIV/AIDS: A Client-Focused Model, by Betty Kohlenberg and Peter Goldblum, Ph.D.

MONDAYS @ TEN Vocational Workshops
Here are some of the topics addressed: 

• All About Investigating Work for People with HIV

Issues for people with HIV to think about in developing a path toward satisfying employment.  The four essential factors in considering work.
 
• All About Disclosure

What questions are employers allowed to ask?  What do you want and should you tell an employer about your health, HIV status, or life experiences, and when?  Consider disclosure issues, learn about your legal rights, and explore this topic so you can decide for yourself.
 
• All About Resumes

How to structure and write effective resumes for your job search, and find out about resources for additional assistance.
 
• All About Cover Letters & References

How to write cover letters that will get you interviews, and how to choose and utilize references to help you get job offers.
 
• All About Interviewing

The essential tools for successful interviewing, from preparation, specific answers through follow-up.
 
• All About Life On The Job 

How you can develop and maintain a happy work life: negotiating salary, benefits, accommodations, raises, promotions; managing your health care and handling problems at work.
 
• Considering Self-Employment

Issues to consider in developing a small business, and an overview of available resources.

The group counseling program offers HIV+ people career counseling support while you identify and plan training and employment goals in a series of eight weekly group sessions. 

An open and supportive setting in which you get help in: 

• Identification of barriers to employment in four inter-related areas (medical, financial/legal, psychosocial and vocational) 

 
• Interest and values testing, interpretation and counseling 

 
• Assistance in deciding on a vocational goal 

 
• Instruction on informational interviewing 

 
• Instruction on researching labor market and training information 

 
• Referrals to HIV-specific resources to overcome barriers in each of the four factors, including benefits counseling, legal assistance, support groups, housing subsidies and therapy 

 
• Referrals to other programs provided by PRC on resume writing, interviewing, legal rights, housing, debt, credit and career information 

 
• Referrals to community resources including self-employment support, computer training, colleges and the California Department of Rehabilitation 

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Vocational Articles

To read these articles, go here. 

• Where to Go for Help with Employment Discrimination
• Asking for Accommodations under the ADA
• Researching a School
• Talking about Your Disability in Interviews and on the Job: What Should You Say?
• Turning "Yes, But" into "I Don't Know" 

(Converting Barriers into Research Projects) 

• 10 Steps to Perfect Resumes and Cover Letters
• Interviewing for People with Disabilities
• Informational Intereviewing
• Structuring Your Job Hunt
• The Hand Use Budget
• Answering the Hardest Interview Questions

    "Kohlenberg has written a good guide on how to handle questions about why you left your last job... useful not only for job seekers with a medical problem... but for anyone with a gap in their resume."

Ilana DeBare
WORKWAYS
San Francisco Chronicle

    "Thank you for sharing your article.  It is one of the BEST summaries of disclosure I have read.  I think it was very "readable" from both the perspective as an HR manager and as a person with a disability."

A.R.L.

Seminars and Workshops

Interviewing

Resume writing

Choosing a job

Employment rights for people with disabilities

ADA accommodations

HIV and employment 

 

 

    "focused, fast and fun!" 

    "Betty is a marvelous instructor... extremely knowledgeable... delightful & pleasant personality"

To learn more, use the navigation buttons at the upper left or the links on this page. 
 
 

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