Several writers in this area, especially Wolpe (1958, 1969), point out the need for establishing a good interpersonal relationship as an integral part of the treatment process. Indeed, it has been noted that an essential role for the counselor to play is that of a reinforcing agent, a role that depends upon the developing counseling relationship.
It should be understood, therefore, that the interview techniques, methods and test interpretation and uses of occupational information described below are sketched in relief against a background of the relationship which develops between counselor and client:
- Interview techniques. For the alleviation of anxiety, particularly that which is etiologically significant in aberrant career decision-making processes, Goodstein (1972) proposed three procedures which are widely used in behaviorally-oriented psychotherapy and which are applicable to career counseling: (1) desensitization, (2) inhibitory conditioning, and (3) counter-conditioning. He notes that these techniques are theoretically distinguishable, but that most "real-life attempts to eliminate or reduce anxiety would seem to involve some combination of these methods, and it is difficult to find pure procedures". The most general, and hence most potent, of them is counter-conditioning, which involves desensitization as well. For the acquisition of skills, for example, information-seeking, deliberation and decision behaviors, Goodstein recommends (1) counselor reinforcement of desired client responses, (2) social modeling and vicarious learning, and (3) discrimination learning. He discusses these techniques generally, and cites some examples, but he does not explicate them in nearly the detail provided by Krumboltz and Thoresen (1969) in their "casebook" for behavioral counseling. No attempt will be made here to review and summarize these procedures, except to note that none of them which are designed to reduce "self-defeating fears and anxiety" are also suggested by Krumboltz and Thoresen (1969) for improving "deficient decision-making skills." Again the fundamental variance between the behavioral-theoret/c and behavioral-pragmat/'c conceptualizations of career counseling is highlighted, the role of anxiety in career problems being the differentium.
- Test interpretation. Allusions to the use of tests in career counseling, much less extended discussions, by either those of a theoretical or pragmatic behavioral bent are difficult to find. The reason is, of course, that they subscribe to an S-R model of behavior, with or without intervening variables like anxiety, whereas most tests are constructed within an R-R model, with S (items) standardized across individuals (Underwood, 1957; Crites, 1961). In other words, test scores measure individual differences in behavior, but they seldom reflect individual-environment interactions, which are of primary concern to the behavioral career counselor. Consequently, traditional tests (aptitude, interest, personality) are typically eschewed and objective indices of behavior in situ are gathered, although some effort is being expended to assess S-R situations with paper-and-pencil instruments (Goldfried and D'Zurilla, 1969). Krumboltz and Baker (1973) do allow that "Objective empirical data can be useful to counselor and client in their study of outcome probabilities" as part of "examining the consequences of alternatives" (see "Process" above). In addition, they present a counselor-client dialogue, in which the counselor reports entrance test scores as expectancy data much as a client-centered career counselor would, viz., as simple statistical predictions. But they otherwise ignore tests, although they conclude from Thomdike's (1935) early study that interests "are assumed to be learned; they are acquired by experience". They reason further that "If interests are learned, then it should be possible to alter, shape, promote, or diminish them by means of experimental intervention", and they cite studies by Krumboltz, Sheppard, Jones, Johnson and Baker (1967) and by Krumboltz, Baker and Johnson (1968) which they interpret as confirmatory of this hypothesis.
- Occupational information. Some of the most creative and imaginative contributions which have been made by behavioral career counselors are in the area of occupational information. Krumboltz and his associates (Krumboltz and Bergland, 1969; Bergland and Krumboltz, 1969; Hamilton and Krumboltz, 1969; Krumboltz and Sheppard, 1969) have systematically devised a set of problem-solving career kits which simulate selected activities from 20 different occupations, including accountant, electronics technician, police officer, X-ray technologist, etc. The specifications for these kits were as follows:
(1) the problem should be realistic and representative of the type of problems faced by members of the occupation; (2) 95 per cent of the target population (high school students) should have no difficulty in reading the problem; (3) the problem should be considered intrinsically interesting by the majority of the target population; (4) at least 75 per cent of the target population should be able to read the material and solve the problem successfully within 50 minutes; (5) the problem should be completely self-contained and self-administered (Krumboltz and Sheppard, 1969).
Evidence from try-outs and evaluations by experts indicates that the kits largely fulfill these criteria. Results are also available from several studies (Krumboltz, Sheppard, Jones, Johnson and Baker, 1967; Krumboltz, Baker and Johnson, 1968) which establish that the kits are useful in stimulating further career exploration and decision making. Career counselors can use them with the expectation that clients will learn at least as much, if not considerably more, about different careers than they will from printed occupational information.
Comment. Krumboltz (1966b) has heralded the behavioral approach as no less than a "revolution in counseling," and the temptation to agree unreservedly would be great, were it not that several disquieting issues are yet to be resolved. Foremost among these concerns the role of anxiety in the etiology of problems in career decision making. If a counselor follows the current formulation of behavioral-pragmatic career counseling, he/she would take the client's presenting problem of "no choice" for example, at face value and most likely agree to work toward the goal of "deciding upon a career," using reinforcement and modeling and simulation in the process. For insufficient prior learning experiences, this would probably be effective career counseling, but for the client with pervasive indecisiveness the outcome would be problematical. How many of these clients have career counselors expended their best information-giving and decision-making efforts on, only to have them terminate counseling with the epitaph "Well, I still don't really know what I want to do." It is not long before the mounting frustration of the counselor prompts him/her to wonder whether there is some competing response tendency which inhibits the client from making a career decision, given the relevant information about self and work or not. The behavioral-theoretic point of view would posit that it is the anxiety associated with decision making, occasioned by punishing past experiences, which prevents the indecisive client from declaring a career choice. Once this anxiety has been sufficiently reduced, information-seeking and decisional responses can be learned, or made if they were already in the client's behavioral repertoire, and the instrumental phase of career counseling can proceed. A resolution of this issue, both theoretically and pragmatically, appears critical, if a coherent system of behavioral career counseling is to be formulated.
