Allen and Workman

impossible to determine additional SML usage during the library's remaining hours, the amount of rearranging and reshelving of books that must be done daily and the number of pamphlets taken suggest that the SML is serving a considerable population in addition to those who can be counted.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Future directions for the SML include developing an improved system for updating and maintaining quality control of vertical file materials; improving referral from counselors, physicians, academic advisors, deans, and other campus professionals to specific topic-oriented SML materials; and broadening the paraprofessional staff of the Lab by integrating paraprofessional "Health Advocates" from the Health Service Health Education Department. Other possible directions may include merging the library's Career Resource Center with the SML and giving the SML a more "wellness" focus by integrating programs of the University's Division of Campus Recreation.

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REFERENCES

Allen, D.R., & Sipich, J.F. (1987). Developing a self-help brochure series: Costs and benefits. Journal of Counseling and Development, 65,

257-258.

American Psychological Association Task Force on Self-Help Therapies. (1978). Task force report on self-help therapies. Unpublished manuscript. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Craighead, L.W., McNamara, K., & Horan, J.J. (1984). Perspectives on self-help and bibliotherapy: You are what you read. In S.D. Brown & R.W. Lent (Eds.), Handbook of counseling psychology (pp. 878-929). New York: Wiley.

Wagman, M. (1980). PLATO DCS: An interactive computer system for personal counseling. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 27 (1), 16-30. Yamauchi, K.T. (1987). Self-help audiocassette tapes: Adjunct to psychological counseling. Journal of Counseling and Development, 65, 448-450.

Deborah R. Allen is currently a clinical psychologist in private practice in Urbana, Illinois, and the former director of the Counseling Center, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Gail Workman is the health educator at the Counseling Center, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Correspondence regarding this article should be sent to Deborah R. Allen, 202 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801.

JOURNAL OF COUNSELING & DEVELOPMENT SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1989 VOL. 68

Career Transition for Actors:

A Program Description

RONDA J. ORMONT

This article provides an overview of the distinctive problems actors pose from a counseling standpoint and the manner in which a recently established program addresses these needs. The author describes how performers are assisted in securing dignified interim work, changing their careers, and renewing their sense of purpose in life.

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ecause of steadily decreasing employment in the U.S. theater, many professional actors need to be better equipped to manage their careers (Lowell, 1986). Mature actors (ages 50-65, or over) urgently need additional sources of income as a result of dwindling theatrical, film, and television roles in their age category (Stern, 1986). Younger actors, not having reached their professional goals, are also investigating work in various other fields. Thus, professional actors in general must become exposed to the process of career exploration, as well as be made aware of suitable positions available to them in the labor market.

The Actors' Career Transition Program (ACTP) has been established through funds made available by Actors' Equity Association (AEA), the union for professional theatrical actors, Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), and private donors to enable performers to explore career goals and gain access to meaningful work experiences while remaining in the acting profession, preparing for second careers, or both. A review of the literature revealed both no systematic study of actors' career transition problems and the ACTP to be the only such careerplanning service in the country. Accordingly, the author's experience in dealing with these problems, combined with the positive results described below, constitutes the basis for this article. The purpose of this article is to describe the specific career issues of actors and the counseling services developed to handle these concerns.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROGRAM

The ACTP has been developed by its director, who holds a doctorate in counselor education and has more than 15 years of career counseling experience, with input from a special AEA committee concerned with employment opportunities for actors. This committee now primarily raises and allocates program funds.

agement, events and party planning, travel, and free-lance writing (many of the speakers are former actors). One hundred seventy-five individuals (54% female and 46% male) have already been served by the program. The ACTP is available without charge to all union members (AEA, SAG, and AFTRA).

An evaluative quarterly report and yearly summary submitted by the director are sent to all donating bodies. These documents describe (anonymously) each actor's condition upon entering ACTP (e.g., needed to explore interim work alternatives, requested word processing training, wanted to change career); action taken (e.g., received individual counseling, attended word processing class, applied for per diem teaching license); and results (e.g., continues in the ACTP, part-time word processing at $15 per hour, substitute teaching at $75 per day, will apply for permanent teaching license). The report on the results of the first year stated that 541 of ACTP participants secured meaningful full-time, part-time, or interim work assignments, 28% engaged in an educational or retraining program, 11% will continue in ACTP until personal goals are met, and 7% were unmotivated to continue at this tine and can return at a later date.

In addition to the director, who devotes 20 hours per week to her counseling and program-planning duties, the ACTP employs an office administrator to handle appointments, correspondence, reception, and so forth. The program is housed in space provided by AEA in New York City. Long-range plans include establishing offices in AEA's Chicago and Los Angeles locations.

DIGNIFIED INTERIM WORK

Unlike professions in areas such as athletics or dance, in which people have finite age limits to confront by approximately age 35 (Fimrite, 1988; Pickman, 1987), acting is approached as a life-long career. Many middle-aged performers want to remain in show business despite a possible decrease in acting opportunities. Although these individuals may find sufficient satisfaction in somewhat sporadic work assignments in their chosen field, they still need additional income but lack the stamina for former interim jobs such as waiting on tables or driving taxicabs. Moreover, those who have gained experience as temporary office workers find their skills may now be obsolete because of technological advances in office equipment, such as word processors.

The ACTP has been serving clients for one-and-a-half years. Approximately 15 actors are seen each week in private sessions lasting 45 minutes. The individual counseling process lasts from 3 to 10 sessions. Workshops in resume writing, interview techniques, and job search strategies are conducted for those who are "job ready." In addition, seminars in career alternatives for actors are held to introduce performers to fields such as public relations, teaching English as a second language, arts manJOURNAL OF COUNSELING & DEVELOPMENT SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1989 VOL. 68

As a result of the need for such new work skills, additional education or retraining became a major priority for the ACTP to address. To this end, the program sponsored a variety of training classes in word processing, teaching English as a second language, free-lance writing, and desktop publishing to many appropriate candidates. Furthermore, a job bank has

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