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Abstract: The purpose of this article is to introduce Developmental Counseling and Therapy (DCT; Ivey, Ivey, Myers, & Sweeney, 2005) as a model for understanding the career indecision of college students from a developmental perspective. The authors describe DCT as an assessment process and an approach to intervention planning that facilitates the growth of undecided college students. Counseling implications are illustrated and discussed via a case example.

When called upon to choose a major, many college students accomplish this task with relatively little difficulty and little to no guidance. Other students, however, become overwhelmed with the task and experience indecision both cognitively and emotionally (Gordon, 1995). Literature focusing on career indecision dates back over seventy years and is extensive, indicating the centrality of this issue within the career counseling and vocational psychology professions (Betz, 1992; Jurgens, 2000). Research findings give credence to the attention the issue has garnered, especially given that career indecision is associated with psychological distress and anxiety (Constantine & Flores, 2006; Rochlen, Milburn & Hill, 2004) and is negatively related to academic performance and persistence (Leppel, 2001). Contrarily, the stated presence of a career decision is positively related to coping and overall psychological well-being (Creed, Prideaux & Patton, 2005; Saunders, Peterson, Sampson, & Reardon, 2000).

Much of the research on career indecision has examined specific psychological and personality factors that are associated with indecision and that differentiate undecided students from those who have made decisions about a major (Newman, Gray & Fuqua, 1999). Within this body of literature, it is not uncommon for indecision to be referred to as a psychological problem and interventions as treatments (Kelly & Lee, 2002). More recently, scholars have begun to frame career indecision within a holistic, developmental perspective (Gordon, 1995) that is more closely aligned with the philosophical tenets of the counseling profession (Sweeney, 2001). By using this approach, indecision is framed as a normal and expected phenomenon that can be addressed from a facilitative position within the counseling process. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to introduce Developmental Counseling and Therapy (DCT; Ivey, 1993, 2000; Ivey, Ivey, Myers, & Sweeney, 2005) as a model for understanding, assessing, and addressing the career indecision of college students from a developmental perspective. A case example based on a compilation of student experiences with indecision will illustrate how this model may be applied in career counseling.

Developmental Counseling and Therapy

DCT is an integrative, metatheoretical approach to counseling that was developed to help practitioners connect the developmental theories that serve as a foundation for the counseling profession to daily counseling practice (Ivey, 1993, 2000; Ivey, Ivey, Myers et al., 2005). Differing from a developmental life-span perspective, DCT emphasizes the specific processes of growth and development, rather than outcomes that occur at different life stages. Thus, DCT can be used in conjunction with life-span, career development, and student development theories to understand developmental abilities and preferences and guide developmentally appropriate intervention.

Ivey (2000) developed DCT using a metaphorical interpretation of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Like Piaget, Ivey postulated that there are four cognitive/ emotional styles (i.e., sensorimotor/ element-al, concrete/situational, formal/ reflective, and dialectic/systemic) that individuals may develop and utilize throughout the life-span. Contrary to Piaget, however, Ivey contended that DCT cognitive/emotional styles are not hierarchical or mutually exclusive. Rather, development and functioning within all styles is necessary for optimal growth and development. Thus, all cognitive/emotional styles may be active simultaneously as individuals interact with the world and face develop-mental demands. One particular cognitive/ emotional style may be more developed and thus evoked more heavily to process experience, and individuals may rely more heavily on a specific cognitive/emotional style in a specific situation. Moreover, Ivey, Ivey, Myers et al. (2005) recognized that not all individuals are able to function in all of the cognitive/emotional styles. Further, they proposed that counselors facilitate growth by intentionally matching or mismatching interventions to cognitive/emotional style preferences and abilities. To date, DCT has been applied to a number of counseling populations and presenting concerns including children (Myers, Shoffner & Briggs, 2002), adolescents (Crespi & Generali, 1995), college students with learning disabilities (Strehorn, 1999), adults in career transition (Kenney & Law, 1991), women with eating disorders (Weinstein, 1994), and counseling supervisees (Rigazio-DiGilio, Daniels & Ivey, 1997). Authors have discussed uses of DCT with bibliotherapy (Myers, 1998), spiritual bypass (Cashwell, Myers & Shurts, 2004), and sexual identity development (Marszalek & Cashwell, 1998). Researchers have reported empirical support for the existence of the cognitive/emotional styles (Rigazio-DiGilio & Ivey, 1990), links between counselors’ cognitive/emotional style preferences and use of counseling interventions (Barrio Min-ton & Myers, 2008), and emerging evidence of a link between counselor-client cognitive/ emotional style match and perceptions of empathy (Barrio Minton, 2008). Because an understanding of these styles is essential for assessment, conceptualization, and intervention within the DCT framework, each style is discussed in depth below.

Sensorimotor/Elemental

The sensorimotor/elemental style is characterized as making meaning of current experiences through bodily sensation and emotion (Ivey, Ivey, Myers et al., 2005). Individuals who operate within the sensorimotor/ elemental style rely on immediate sensory experiences (e.g., what is seen, heard, and felt) and may present as highly emotive with disorganized thought processes, short attention spans, and frequent physical movements. Sensorimotor functioning, which Ivey (2000) compared to Piaget’s preoperational stage, is often characterized by illogical and magical thinking such as “I should be perfect,” and “she made me act this way.” Students are processing indecision from a sensorimotor orientation when they experience affective distress (e.g., bodily feelings of irritability, lack of concentration, inward tension, and displaced fear) related to career indecision.

Concrete/Situational

Use of the concrete/situational style involves linear and sequential processing of experiences (Ivey, Ivey, Myers et al., 2005). Individuals who utilize this cognitive style communicate in a concrete manner, and rely on specific examples to describe situations and events (e.g., “I said this, and then he said that, and then we did this.”). Others may demonstrate causal, if/then thinking (e.g., “When I got the letter that I had to pick a major soon, I just left my room and went to the store.”). Moreover, clients who are functioning in a concrete style are able to recognize and label emotions, but they have difficulty reflecting upon these emotions and may find it difficult to identify patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviors. For example, a second year student may describe her indecision and experiences that led to the indecision with an endless array of details. This student may have difficulty, however, identifying a pattern between the stories or understanding contextual factors influencing career decisions and the feelings that result from indecision.

Formal/Reflective

Use of the formal/reflective style is contingent on an ability to think abstractly and is characterized by reflective thinking and identification of patterns of thought, feeling and behavior (Ivey, Ivey, Myers et al., 2005). Some individuals who operate within the formal/reflective modality may also be able to recognize patterns within patterns. A student who processes his indecision from a formal/reflective style might say something like, “every time I think about choosing a major, I feel afraid and decide to focus my energy elsewhere.” Moreover, he may also link this fear to the pressure he feels from his parents to choose the right major.

Dialectic/Systemic

Dialectic/systemic functioning is characterized by the ability to see oneself and situations from multiple perspectives (Ivey, Ivey, Myers et al., 2005). Like formal thinking, dialectic functioning requires abstract thought; how-ever, it also requires the ability to step outside of oneself and recognize how patterns connect to greater systems (e.g., families, communities, and cultures). Individuals who function in a dialectic style understand that their situations and perspectives are influenced by their environment and are able to understand the concern from multiple perspectives. A student who processes her indecision dialectically may come to understand her indecision as being part of her overall fear of disappointing her parents given their struggle to send her to college; furthermore, she may come to understand that this indecision has affected other aspects of her college experience such as her decisions regarding who to date and who not to date.

Assessment and Intervention Planning

Counselors who work within the DCT perspective must identify a client’s cognitive/ affective style preference prior to selecting developmentally appropriate interventions (Ivey, Ivey, Myers, et al., 2005). The Standard Cognitive/Emotional Development Interview (SCDI; Ivey, Ivey, & Rigazio-DiGilio, 2005) was developed to assess a client’s cognitive/ emotional style preferences and blocks for one specific issue. The SCDI utilizes a sequence of specific questions oriented toward each developmental level. In essence, a counselor assesses sensorimotor functioning by asking a client to visualize herself in a specific situation and to relay what it is she hears, sees, and feels in her body. Concrete functioning is assessed by asking a client to provide specific, linear examples of a time during which the concern was present. Further, clients are asked to demonstrate formal thinking by noting patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors present in the examples provided earlier in the interview. Finally, the interviewer assesses dialectic functioning by inquiring about the source and meaning of the rules or patterns identified during the interview. Standardized interview questions can be adapted to the context of the counseling situation, and with practice, the sequence becomes more fluid and less clinical in style. Experienced clinicians can prompt clients to share their issues informally and can assess developmental levels by listening to how clients describe their issues (Ivey, Ivey, & Rigazio-DiGilio, 2005). This latter method seems more likely in the context of career counseling and thus will be illustrated in the case example.

Each of the hundreds of proposed counseling theories and techniques is more or less consistent with each of the four DCT styles, and counselors use their assessment of the client’s cognitive/emotional style needs and preferences to select appropriate counseling interventions (Ivey, Ivey, Myers, et al., 2005). Ivey and colleagues suggest use of Gestalt therapy, guided imagery, and relaxation and mindfulness techniques to promote or match sensorimotor/elemental development; more concrete approaches such as Reality therapy, behavioral techniques, narratives, and solution-focused counseling match the concrete cognitive/situational style. Adlerian, Person-centered, Cognitive, and Existential therapies are well-matched to the abstract, pattern-oriented thinking characteristics of the formal/reflective style, and Multicultural Counseling and Therapy, family systems approaches, and Feminist theories facilitate dialectic/systemic development.

Counselors may choose to facilitate horizontal development by matching interventions to clients’ preferred cognitive/emotional styles (Ivey, Ivey, Myers et al., 2005), or they may facilitate vertical development (i.e. development of functioning in non-preferred styles) by intentionally mismatching interventions to preferences. For example, a counselor may engage a concrete client in a contracting process grounded in Reality Therapy. The same counselor may also use a more humanistic approach to challenge the client to identify patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to career decision-making. In order to illustrate both the process and utility of DCT for assessing and addressing career indecision, we next provide a case illustration of a DCT intervention.

Case Illustration

Trudy, a 20-year-old sophomore, was approaching the end of her second year at a large public university when she sought counseling at the university career center for assistance choosing a major. During the first session, the counselor engaged in rapport-building conversation while attempting to facilitate broad exploration of Trudy’s rea-sons for coming to career counseling. Trudy stated that she was an English major with long-held aspirations of going to law school. Trudy appeared fidgety and preoccupied as she explained that she was having doubts about law school and that she wanted to explore other majors since she believed English would be useless as for anything outside of a pre-law degree. During this con-versation, several seemingly important issues arose. First, Trudy stated that her career indecision was the source of a lot of stress. Second, Trudy’s mother and father were attorneys. Thus, she was reasonably familiar with the occupational path she needed to take to become a lawyer, and she was well-aware of her parents’ excitement regarding her intention of going to law school.

Trudy’s presenting issue lent itself to a variety of career interventions that would be helpful and appropriate in helping her explore possible majors. Thus, the counselor began shaping the experience to focus on the presenting issue: exploring possible majors. The counselor administered an interest inventory as one such intervention intended to help Trudy gain self-knowledge and a structured introduction to possible occupational areas. The counselor also gave Trudy a life values inventory as a take home assignment.

At the beginning of the second session Trudy again appeared sad, preoccupied, and uneasy, and she reported that she failed to complete her homework assignment. She did, however, begin talking about her desire to find a major that was meaningful to her, yet perhaps as respectable as law. Thus, the ancillary issues Trudy presented during the first session began to inform the counselor of the possible benefit of conducting a developmental assessment interview. As the session with Trudy continued, the counselor focused on a specific issue to begin the informal develop-mental assessment interview (Ivey, Ivey, & Rigazio-DiGilio, 2005).

Counselor: Trudy, you have mentioned that lately there have been events that have given you reason to doubt your future career plans. Can you describe a recent time when you were reflecting about your career choice?

Trudy: (Trudy began to mention that she had just learned that her cousin had been denied admittance to several law schools). Well, I was in my kitchen with my mom last Saturday; I was doing some homework for my math class. I’ve never been that great at math and pre-calculus is really hard for me; my mom always helps me when I am home. Anyway, we were talking about stuff, and she told me that my cousin had been denied admission, and that she was very upset about it.

Counselor: Can you remember exactly what you were feeling during that moment?

Trudy: Very scared. I was shocked because I thought my cousin was so smart and would have no trouble getting into law school. My mom said she couldn’t understand what had happened, and she said that it was terrible news. I kind of panicked, thinking that I’ll never get into law school because my grades are not good. I haven’t been taking school very seriously. (Tears began to swell up in Trudy’s eyes, as she started to fidget).

Counselor: It seems like you’re still experiencing that feeling.

Trudy: My stomach feels like it’s in knots all the time. (Trudy put her hand on her stomach and rubbed it). It’s always on my mind.

Counselor: (Attempting to transition to a concrete style) When you were sitting there in the kitchen, thinking about your cousin and your own situations and feeling those panicky feelings, what did you do?

Trudy: I was upset for my cousin, but mostly I was scared about not getting in to law school myself. I just sat there questioning everything about my future. I was getting more and more scared about it. What am I going to do? What will happen to me if I don’t go to law school? What will my parents think? I’m not even sure it’s what I want to do. I just keep thinking about this stuff, and I just got more and more overwhelmed.

Counselor: These feelings seem to consume you when you think of this. In fact, it seems like you’re feeling it right now.

Trudy: I am. I can’t stop feeling, I don’t know, lost I guess.

Trudy’s emotional reactions were present throughout the session and seemed to be consuming her thought processes. At this point, Trudy was exhibiting a strong sensorimotor orientation. Trudy was able to give some details about her experience; however, because she was experiencing her situation from such a strong sensorimotor orientation, she was not able to clearly focus on specific details. Her concrete description of the event was vague even after prompting, which is indicative of someone with a sensorimotor orientation (Ivey, Ivey, Myers, et al., 2005).

Counselor: Ok, let me review to make sure I’m with you so far. You were sitting in the kitchen doing your math homework and your mom was cooking dinner. She tells you that your cousin was denied admittance to law school. You were shocked about your cousin and you were scared that you might not get into law school either. You were feeling a lot of fear about your own future, and your stomach tied up in knots.

Trudy: That’s right.

Counselor: (Attempting to assess extent to which Trudy utilizes a concrete style) What specifically do you think triggered this fearful feeling?

Trudy: I just feel like I’m failing and that if I don’t go to law school, what will I do? I mean, I’ll really let my parents down.

Counselor: Can you think of another time when you were feeling this way—a time other than this confusion about your career?

Trudy: Well, (long pause) I remember when I wanted to quit gymnastics, I felt like I was really letting my parents down, cause they really wanted me to continue into college, but, I don’t know, I just didn’t want to keep doing it.

Counselor: Can you describe this situation specifically?

Trudy described this instance much the same way as she described her current situation: with emotional responses and vague details of the examples.

Counselor: (Attempting to transition to the formal/reflective style) Do you notice any similarities in these situations?

Trudy: Well, yeah, both times I felt like my parents would be mad at me and really disappointed. I felt really, I don’t know, afraid of what they would say.

Counselor: Afraid?

Trudy: Well, yeah, I didn’t want to let my parents down. I feel a lot of pressure.

Counselor: So in both situations you feel like you are letting your parents down, and you have a lot of pressure on you.

Counselor: Any other similarities?

Trudy: Just feeling really stuck I guess.

Counselor: You are describing a lot of anxiety, Trudy, and I wonder what you’re saying to yourself in your mind during these periods in your life when these feelings take over.

Trudy: I don’t know. I guess I’m just telling myself that I’m letting people down, and I should just try harder.

At this point, Trudy was able to identify similarities between two situations in terms of her thoughts and feelings. Moreover, she is able to reflect upon herself easily and engage in causal reasoning indicative of a formal/reflective style; however, she was not able to recognize that the pressure that she perceives her parents place on her results in feelings of being stuck.

Counselor: (Attempting to transition to the dialectic/systematic style) Trudy, you’ve identified a pattern here where you feel very anxious about important decisions you make in your life regarding your future, and in which you feel your parents hold expectations for you. Is there one thing you’ve said that stands out for you?

Trudy: I don’t know; I guess that I always feel overwhelmed and don’t want to let my parents down.

Counselor: How might your parents describe this situation?

Trudy: (Long pause) I’m not really sure what they would say.

Upon further discussion, Trudy only mildly recognizes that her feelings of anxiety result from her perceptions of her parents’ expectations of her and the pressure she experiences from these perceptions. Although she can clearly see that these perceptions relate to her feelings of anxiety, she is not adept at fully recognizing others’ viewpoints in this situation. Moreover, she is not quite able to recognize the influence that these perceptions, and the feelings that result from them, have on her ability to engage in career exploration.

In this case illustration, the counselor assessed the specific modes of cognitive/emotional functioning Trudy was utilizing within this situation. Trudy was experiencing and processing her situation affectively as physical feelings of anxiety and fear. She had difficulty focusing or communicating many specifics of her situation; however, she was able to formulate patterns between her past and present experiences and the resulting thoughts and feelings associated with these experiences. Moreover, she found difficulty in perceiving her situation from multiple perspectives. In summary, Trudy was operating primarily in the sensorimotor/elemental and formal/reflective modalities, and seemed to lack strong concrete/situational and dialectic/ systemic functioning within this specific situation.

Armed with an understanding of Trudy’s developmental perceptions, the counselor can choose career counseling strategies that can address Trudy’s issues more effectively. Trudy’s difficulty functioning within the concrete style could hinder her ability to focus on early career exploration interventions such as completing interest and values inventories or engaging in occupational research. Thus, the counselor might decide to include interventions that match her sensorimotor functioning such as stress management and relaxation techniques. As Trudy develops the ability to manage her sensorimotor response, the counselor may begin integrating interventions that call for her to develop functioning within her non-prefer-red cognitive/emotional styles. For example Trudy could engage in role plays designed to help her explore her parents’ perceptions and to practice responding in alternative ways to her parents’ actual expectations. In so doing, Trudy could practice cause/effect thinking and perspective-taking and thus expand her development vertically within the concrete and dialectic modalities. In turn, Trudy may be more able to engage in more traditional exploration if she chooses.

Conclusions

With roots in a positivistic approach to problem solving, career counseling is often a practice that focuses on cognitive and concrete operations. The DCT process allows career clients the opportunity to process their career concerns from a more developmental, cognitive and emotional perspective. This developmental understanding of career indecision allows counselors to promote overall growth and development and is essential because college students are typically fully engaged in the exploration and development of various dimensions of themselves (i.e., Chickering & Reiser, 1993; Kohlberg, 1981; Perry, 1981; Super, 1990). Additionally, a key component of career counseling is enhancement of the student’s competence in this self-exploration process (Blustein, 1992). The DCT assessment and intervention process enhances self-exploration skills through ex-amination of assumptions and consequences of behaviors that may go unnoticed by students (Ivey, Ivey, Myers et al., 2005).

The previous case illustration demonstrates how DCT can be used as an effective assessment and self-exploration strategy for career counseling. For career counselors it is important that developmental assessments are fairly brief and informal, as typical career clients may not readily understand the connection between their career issues and other developmental processes. DCT offers an informal and, with practice, seamless assessment strategy. The case illustration also highlights how the DCT assessment process becomes an effective intervention in its own right. Furthermore, by applying DCT, counselors can select specific interventions that may best help their clients make informed career choices while also encouraging clients’ cognitive/emotional development.