CAREER COUNSELING AND POSSIBLE SELVES - A CASE-STUDY

Process-oriented case analyses, which are the natural next step in und erstanding career interventions, are beginning to reveal subtle proces s changes across sessions. In this case, a 37-year-old physical therap ist, who expressed dissatisfaction with her current position, particip ated in 8 sessions of individual career counseling with an experienced doctoral-level career psychologist. The Possible Selves Questionnaire (PSQ; Markus, 1987), the Symptom 90-R Checklist (Derogatis, 1983), an d the Career Decision Scale (Osipow, 1987) were administered at pretes ting, after 4 sessions, and at posttesting. Four client- and 2 counsel or-process measures were also administered following each session. Res ults revealed expected changes in traditional outcome measures, and an increase followed by a decrease in future possible selves. Anxiety an d vocational information seeking followed a sine-shaped pattern, and s leep disturbance increased at midcounseling and posttesting. Session d epth and smoothness were highest when anxiety and information seeking were lowest. These findings, which coincide with other case study resu lts, were integrated using an activation theory model of career interv ention in which moderate anxiety serves as a motivator for constructiv e behavior change.