Norman E. Amundson

Fifty years of the critical incident technique: 1954-2004 and beyond

It has now been 50 years since Flanagan (1954) published his classic article on the critical incident technique (CIT) - a qualitative research method that is still widely used today. This article reviews the origin and evolution of the CIT during the past 50 years, discusses CIT’s place within the qualitative research tradition, examines the robustness of the method, and offers some recommendations for using the CIT as we look forward to its next 50 years of use. The focus of this article is primarily on the use of the CIT in counselling psychology, although other disciplines are touched upon.

Career decision-making of high school students in Kenya

The aim of this study was to identify importantfactors that influence career decision‐making of highschool students in Kenya. The study indicates thatrural students tend to seek help from parents andteachers more than urban students, and that parents,more than career teachers, play a major role in thecareer decision-making of students. Findings alsoindicate that gender, self‐concept and vocationalstereotyping are among the major factors thatinfluence career decisions of high school students inKenya.

Incorporating chaos and paradox into career development

The complex, unpredictable and globalized nature of the current labor market challenges the assumptions and utility of traditional career development theories, with new approaches needed in order to help workers navigate their career experience. This article highlights the characteristics of globalization and the changing economic, cultural, political and social landscape, and their implications in the world of work. Historical career theories and limitations are detailed, as well as modern approaches that have developed in response to the identified challenges of globalization and subsequent shifts in career development needs. The chaos theory of careers is presented as a comprehensive framework with which to conceptualize career choice and development. Chaos theory embraces the complexity, change and unpredictability that modern workers face, and allows for a more open, flexible, dynamic and creative approach.

Shifting economic boundaries in Europe and North America: Implications for counseling

In Europe and in North America, the creation of new economic alliances that are ‘boundary free’ for corporations and workers in the nations involved will stimulate new needs for counseling. Planning for counseling to deal with the individual needs caused by economic boundary shifting should encompass two broad themes: (1) the likely psychological dynamics of boundary changing; and (2) the possible effects of boundary changing on the structure and choice of and planning for occupations.As economic structures change, counselors and counseling will need to address the resulting transformations of the psychological environments, the sets of behavioral expectations, the national mythologies and social metaphors in which persons negotiate their identities, find their sources of self-validation and pursue a career. The counselors will need to be prepared to deal with the stresses and anxieties that accompany such change as well as the threats to cultural identity that accompany worker migration from nations of origin. Assisting workers to deal with evolving skill requirements from new technologies, cultural transitions, retraining, underemployment, and unemployment will become increasingly important aspects of the counselors agenda.

The Emergence of More Dynamic Counselling Methods

This chapter discusses the way that career counselling is changing in response to a broader range of clients with more complex issues and the need to adopt a lifelong career guidance perspective. As part of their exploration of these changes, the authors begin by examining the underlying traditions and conventions of career counselling and then move to a description and discussion of some of the dynamic counselling methods that are emerging. The methods addressed in this chapter are metaphors, storytelling and paradoxical questioning methods. These methods all focus on different ways of changing perspective so that individuals are able to see themselves and their problems in new ways, construct new possibilities and assess the viability of a range of career options.

The Experience of Career for People Who Have Moved into Supervisory and Management Roles in a Social Service Organization

Funding cuts and organizational restructuring are among the factors that contribute to making the social service sector a stressful environment in which to work. This qualitative study explores how the values, beliefs, and motivation of supervisors and managers in the social service sector change over time and how they make meaning in their work life. Participants have specific expectations of what they need from their work environment, and they want to affect their environment through using their particular knowledge and skills. Mitigating factors that enable success include having a supportive agency, seeing that one’s work has an impact on the environment, and having a voice.

Counseling and the Role of Personality and Intelligence

It is our intent in this chapter to highlight certain issues pertaining to the areas of personality, intelligence, and environment that are currently of interest in the field of counseling. Vocational development serves as an example of a central counseling focus that illustrates concerns that apply to many counseling endeavors. In particular this discussion centers around the experiences of young individuals as they make their way into the vocational context. Recent studies have demonstrated that this transition period is a time of great flux in an individual’s life, and that a successful passage has profound implications for well-being (Amundson, Borgen, & Tench, 1993; Borgen, Amundson, & Tench, 1993; Furnham, 1985; Tiggeman & Winefield, 1984; Warr, Jackson, and Banks, 1982).

Positions on the Concept of Choice in American Psychology

All schools of psychology agree that man is capable of change but there is debate in American psychology as to whether that change takes place because of hereditary and environmental stimuli or because of personal volition. Behaviouristic and Freudian psychology view man as reactive whereas third force psychology and Christianity view man as active. Two arguments, used by both Humanists and Christians, which attempt to refute determinism are set forward. However, divergence of these positions, which manifests itself on the issue of meaning, occurs because of the further question of why man has the capacity to choose.

Helping highly anxious clients embrace chaos and career uncertainty using cognitive behavioural techniques

A primary tenet of Pryor and Bright’s Chaos Theory of Careers is that our world is full of change and unpredictability. When it comes to career development, rather than relying solely on good planning, one should accept and embrace unexpected changes and think creatively about possibilities. Although the Chaos Theory of Careers approach to counselling is logical and relevant to the real world, it may not be applied easily to clients with high levels of anxiety and low tolerance of uncertainty. The current paper explores the challenges of providing chaos career counselling to highly anxious clients. Borrowing concepts from a cognitive behavioural theory model for generalized anxiety disorder, this paper suggests several techniques from the cognitive behavioural theory literature that may facilitate chaos career counselling for anxious clients.

The Pattern Identification Exercise

Career exploration typically involves the investigation of personal factors: interests, aptitudes, values, and personal style.(Amundson, 1989). This investigation along with labor-market considerations, can require considerable time, particularly if counselors use qualitative or standardized measures to investigate each factor. Given the time limitations of most counseling situations, and the desire to be efficient and comprehensive, there is a growing need for new methods of career assessment (Amundson, in press; Eckert, 1993). One such approachthe pattern identification exercise (PIE)-has been used effectively in both individual and group career counseling (Amundson & Cochran, 1984; Amundson & Stone, 1992). PIE starts with past experiences and, through an in-depth questioning process, seeks to identify personal patterns which are of relevance in establishing career pathways.