03/19/2024

CFP: Edited Monograph on Mental Health and Career Development

A Call for Proposal of an Edited Monograph on
Career Development and Mental Health

Global discussion of mental health and psychosocial well-being as another “pandemic” has major implications for career development across the lifespan. Therefore, the NCDA Publications Development Council (PDC) seeks a proposal for an edited monograph that outlines the unique role and function of career practitioners in the world of all human service providers. The working title is The Mental Health and Career Development Nexus: A Framework for the Role and Function of Career Practitioners.

Competitive proposals are expected to address, but are not limited to, seminal topics such as:

• Definition – How the concepts of mental health and well-being are understood, keeping in mind the continuum of severity.
• Prevalence - What are the current and projected rates (i.e., high, mid, and low) of mental-health issues for each developmental group (i.e., childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, mid-adulthood, and late-adulthood)?
• Impact – Which, if any, mental health issues precipitate achievement of career development tasks for each age group (i.e., childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, mid-adulthood, and late-adulthood)? How does each mental health issue impede achievement of career development tasks for each age group?
• Interventions - What are the prevailing evidence-based practices and practice-informed career strategies and techniques (i.e., career education, counseling, coaching, collaboration, consultation, advocacy) for each developmental group?
• NCDA Code of Ethics - What relevant professional training, supervision, and competency standards protect the consumer and the professional?
• Resources – What current and evidence-based mental health and well-being continuing education resources exist to support career practitioners?
• Global Application - What additional perspectives help assure relevance to our international and culturally diverse membership/readership?

Note, an NCDA monograph is approximately 100 pages in length, as opposed to a longer book. A monograph seeks to succinctly fill the self-guided learning resource gap between articles and multi-volume book series. The proposal should clarify the editor’s ability to assemble and support their proposed team of contributing writers. The editor will be expected to provide writing that defines the scope and mission of the monograph, as well as a content review of all contributions, in light of the vision of NCDA described above.

The Publications Development Council (PDC) will consider proposals submitted according to the "Procedures for Submitting a Product Development Proposal" and then will review and provide comments using the “PDC Review Sheet for a Product Development Proposal.” NCDA does not accept published works for resale. All PDC publication recommendations will be submitted to the NCDA Board for approval.

Proposal consideration will begin April 15, 2024.  The PDC decision will be made by September 15, 2024. The manuscript deadline will likely be fall 2025, and the monograph will aim to be published by June 2026.

Questions? Contact Melanie Reinersman, NCDA Publications Development Director, at mreinersman@ncda.org. View the NCDA Career Resource Store for NCDA monographs.