Research

We mainly conduct research on impact factors of work-related counseling.

The need for consulting in organizations is increasing. Determinants of the rising need for consulting of individuals, teams and organizations as a whole are: the immensely growing complexity of organizations, the need for sustainable management and ways to more agility, digitalization and finally globalization with its accompanying requirements, opportunities but also crises. At the same time, the boundaries between life-world and work-world related consulting are becoming more and more fluid ("life coaching"). Companies, public administration, health care and the psychosocial sector require support in the areas of team development, supervision, organizational consulting and coaching. This involves consulting services for executives who want to increase the efficiency of their work, but also finding answers to questions of work-life balance and coping the many contradictions, dilemmas and diversity in the postmodern working world. Getting self-reflection and action orientation through consulting is seen as the basis for maintaining organizational functioning, restoring performance or stimulating growth. Against the backdrop of a rising shortage of skilled workers and an increasingly diverse workforce (demographic change, cultural background, gender), consulting is also becoming more and more important as an individually tailored instrument for developing and retaining employees. The professional standards and methodological validation of many consulting services are still inadequate. At the Department of Theory and Methodology of Counseling, we conduct systematic counseling research on counseling in order to elevate the discourse on conseling beyond the level of practical guidebooks, texts from practice for practice, and case descriptions. The research and concept development is realized in cooperation with companies and experts from the consulting practice.