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Abstract

Developmental counseling is a collaborative and catalytic relationship formed between a professional counselor, who is trained in both counseling and human development, and a client, who is currently experiencing or is expected to experience problems that impede progress toward mastering personally and/or culturally valued functions for the purpose of co-constructing new meanings of current actions and/ or new possibilities for future actions.

Outline

Introduction
The Developmental Viewpoint
Collaborative Relationships
Guiding Principles for Developmental Counseling Processes
Appraisal in Developmental Counseling
Developmental Counseling Interventions for Resolving Current Developmental Problems
Developmental Counseling Interventions for Preventing or Reducing Developmental Problems

1. Introduction

Most people experience problems while growing up, that is, problems that impede their progress toward mastering personally and/or culturally valued functions. Most contemporary cultures value successful functioning as a friend, a learner, a producer/worker, a spouse or partner, and a citizen. Furthermore, the specific cultural group with which a person identifies—not necessarily the dominant culture—sets a ‘‘timetable’’ for growing up that specifies the period in life during which the person’s attentions to these functions should begin, peak, and diminish. Problems arise when people perceive a ‘‘gap’’ between their current experiences and the experiences desired by themselves, by important others in their lives, and/or by cultural standards. People may experience developmental problems such as making and keeping friends, finding and sustaining meaningful work, achieving intimacy, and defining and implementing a sense of unique personal identity.

Described in another way, a person’s development is problematic when his or her activity is not organized effectively to perform major life functions that the person’s culture considers to be fundamental to the human condition. Although most cultures seem to agree on some essential human functions, they differ on others. For example, achieving a sense of personal identity is more prominent in cultures that emphasize individualism and autonomy than in those that emphasize community and belonging. Cultures also differ in their prescribed cultural pathways to achieving competence. For example, some cultures promote pathways of personal independence, whereas others promote pathways of social interdependence.

Over the past 50 years or so, several writers have advocated an approach to counseling that addresses developmental problems. The aggregate scholarship on developmental counseling remains somewhat informal and eclectic. Perhaps the most systematic treatment has been developmental counseling and therapy (DCT) advanced by Ivey and colleagues. Given such wide-ranging ideas and practices, this research-paper represents a composite definition amalgamated from many sources. Developmental counseling represents a broad counseling approach designed to help a wide range of people who are experiencing problems of growing up across the life span. Because few counselors can master all of the skills and knowledge necessary to serve all people with developmental problems, developmental counselors usually specialize in working with clients from a particular age group (e.g., counselors for children), address a particular cultural function (e.g., career counselors), or identify with a particular subculture (e.g., counselors for women).

The delivery of developmental counseling can be distinguished from other counseling approaches. Most notably, developmental counselors work with people to activate their movement toward developmental change rather than to remediate pathology. Developmental counselor–client contacts usually are for a limited number of meetings and may be intermittent over longer periods of time, similar to the relationships that many adults maintain with their dentists or accountants.

Developmental counselors serve as catalysts, rather than as the sole providers or vehicles, for clients to change and mobilize every helping resource in their environment—sometimes called activating a network of resources—so as to stimulate and support developmental changes. Client growth is expected to occur both outside and within the counseling relationship.

Developmental maturation or growing up is given meaning both from the perspective of the person who is experiencing it and from the perspective of external observers. If the person who is experiencing developmental problems seeks the help of an expert ‘‘external observer’’ called a professional counselor, that collaboration is called developmental counseling. Sometimes, developmental counselors will work with groups of people who are about to experience common developmental problems in an effort to prevent more serious problems. Professional counselors provide, among other initiatives, a fresh perspective on developmental problems experienced by clients, a perspective that is informed by knowledge of human development and cultural standards. Although developmental counselors employ many of the same ideas and techniques as do counselors with other theoretical preferences, the former are most clearly set apart by subscribing to a developmental viewpoint.

2. The Developmental Viewpoint

Development generally refers to changes in patterns of overt and covert activity as people grow up or mature in their capacity to perform several culturally valued life functions. Individual development involves multiple changes as the person strives to master many life functions simultaneously. When such changes are judged as movement toward cultural ideals of maturity or healthiness, there is general agreement that the person made developmental changes. Developmental change is progressive and incremental, usually involving movement away from simple, dependent, self-centered activity patterns that are typical of younger members of a society and movement toward complex, independent, society-centered activity patterns that are typical of mature members of a society. The metaphor for developmental change is usually a spiral rather than an inclined plane, thereby representing back-and-forth movement that is predominantly forward. By contrast, development is not construed as change in traits (e.g., becoming less introverted or more intelligent), as change in states (e.g., becoming less anxious or more expressive), or as change in specific isolated behaviors (e.g., eliminating socially disruptive behaviors, increasing frequency of approaching peers).

Developmental counselors conceptualize differences in individual clients’ activity along two dimensions: the time across the life cycle and the activities within a contemporary life structure. The life cycle traces differences in a person’s activities across time, and the life structure specifies differences in a person’s activity pattern or configuration at a particular point in time. Development usually connotes quantitative changes (e.g., frequency, intensity, duration) in age-graded normative activity that is typical, rather than unusual, for the age group. For example, the duration of friendships tends to lengthen during late childhood and adolescence. Development also refers to qualitative changes in action patterns (e.g., complexity, coherence) that serve the same broad, culturally valued life functions. For example, patterns of values expressed as reasons for moral or career choices are generally more complex and coherent during adolescence than during childhood. Developmental change is also reflected in the transformation of the organization of activity—the life structure—as well as in the activity content.

Life span simply denotes the sequence of activities across the whole of life from birth to death. In contrast, the developmental life cycle denotes changes that meet three conditions:

A sequence of changes over the life span that are undergone as people master progressively more complex life functions
Changes over time through segments of the life span, called life stages, that are characterized by distinctly different activities and expectations
Stages of change that replicate the progressive mastery experienced by preceding generations

An essential idea in development is the life stage, an age-graded segment of the life cycle that is demarcated by changes in the physical body, in social expectations, and (consequently) in the psychological activity responding to these changes. Each life stage includes a set of developmental tasks that must be mastered, or normative problems that must be solved, within an age range as expected by the culture and, therefore, must follow the culturally imposed timetable. These tasks can be carried out well or poorly. Mastery of tasks within an early stage is essential to mastering other tasks within that stage and as a precursor to mastering tasks within later stages.

Failure to resolve tasks from an earlier stage often is experienced as unfinished business and is likely to produce recurrent problems later in life, sometimes called delays in development. Developmental counselors often encounter young adult clients who are experiencing developmental problems because they did not master the tasks during childhood and adolescence.

In contrast to developmental tasks are developmental marker events that occur at various ages/stages and that require the person to make adaptations in activities and roles. Such events often result from circumstances beyond the person’s control (e.g., illness, death of a loved one, accident, job loss, military conscription, natural disaster). Other marker events are likely to be anticipated (e.g., marriage, childbirth, job changes, retirement).

Developmental life structure denotes the contemporary pattern or configuration of activities organized to fulfill culturally valued functions and to achieve age appropriate developmental tasks. Activity patterns are often distinguished as social roles (e.g., friend, student, jobholder, citizen), each of which represents aggregate responses to cultural expectations and developmental tasks. The multiple social roles that one person plays often introduce problems such as conflicting demands from two or more roles. For example, a worker may be expected to meet production goals that require time and energy usually devoted to family. As people age and developmental tasks change, the activity that is considered appropriate for the age and role also changes; therefore, life structures are reorganized into new activity patterns. For example, when high school or college graduates move to different communities, start new jobs, and start families, their activity patterns become reorganized. The transition from one life structure to another presents a person with an opportunity to address new developmental tasks and problems.

3. Collaborative Relationships

The developmental counselor and client develop a working relationship, sometimes called a working alliance, that represents a collaboration between two perspectives on the client’s experiences, the client’s internal subjective perspective, and the counselor’s external ‘‘objective’’ perspective. The collaboration recognizes that the counselor is influenced by the client and also exercises influence on the client; the client tends to talk and act in the manner in which the counselor listens and responds. Their shared goal is to accelerate movement toward achieving mastery of developmental changes (e.g., expanding action possibilities within the current structures, reorganizing structures). Coconstructing a developmental goal is often a first step in the developmental counseling process. Developmental counseling goals emphasize constructing and not repairing, working toward new client successes in mastering life functions and not recovering the functions—or, in short, promoting healthy development rather than treating psychopathology.

4. Guiding Principles For Developmental Counseling Processes

Three principles guide the counseling processes selected by developmental counselors. A paramount principle is that counselors adapt their processes to fit clients’ current developmental stages and structures. For example, developmental counselors who work with children will adapt their manner of communication as well as the content of their language to fit the children’s cognitive developmental levels. Because people under extreme stress often regress to forms of communication appropriate for earlier stages (e.g., they cry or scream like children), counselors must be careful to initiate responses that are appropriate matches regardless of clients’ chronological ages or current social standing.

Such counselor adaptation is sometimes called the ‘‘problem of the match’’ in developmental counseling or instruction. The principle was probably derived from education (rather than from psychology or medicine), where the phrase ‘‘developmentally appropriate practice’’ is frequently invoked to describe instructor selection of learning climates and pedagogical methods that match the students’ cognitive developmental level. Some counselors are very specific in matching cognitive developmental structures (e.g., assessing for client Piagetian stages), whereas others match on the broad dimension of conceptual complexity. Developmental counselors believe that their effectiveness is linked to their ability to adapt counseling processes to match their clients’ developmental levels. A second principle guiding developmental counseling processes is that counselors’ stances toward their clients cycle between support and challenge. Counselors begin by supporting their clients’ full expression of problem-filled stories. Then, counselors challenge—without confronting—their clients to move toward actions that promote developmental growth. Later, counselors support their clients’ efforts to think or act in new ways that will contribute to growth. Some developmental counselors attempt to challenge their clients at ‘‘one-half step’’ beyond the clients’ current positions on a theoretical developmental continuum. The rationale is, in part, to present the next steps in solving the developmental problem as a way in which to encourage client changes.

Third, most developmental counselors adhere to a principle captured by the following phrase: ‘‘the symbiotic nature of appraisal and intervention.’’ The principle holds that both processes are ongoing within the counseling process and that each contributes to and profits from the other. For example, appraisal data are the material for counselor or client interpretive interventions, and client responses to interpretations become data integrated into client portraits constructed from appraisal data.

5. Appraisal In Developmental Counseling

Appraisal in developmental counseling is the conjoint collecting and synthesizing of data about the client’s life structure and life cycle. The data are used to construct a descriptive portrait of the client’s development and current problems. The assumption is that current developmental problems are best understood when the person’s contemporary activity patterns and the sequence of past events are fully examined. Appraisal of a client’s life structure involves identifying patterns or configurations of contemporary roles, relationships, and/or activities. For example, adult clients are usually asked to describe the work, family, and community roles that they play, whereas young clients are often asked to describe their family roles and family compositions, sometimes in the form of a family tree. Specifically, the client and counselor review the life structure for incidents of both the support and stressors.

Life cycle appraisal involves describing the sequence of events that the client deems to be critical in his or her development. In addition, the developmental counselor inquires about how the client has experienced developmental tasks within past and current life stages. Life cycle appraisal processes may involve, for example, a life history questionnaire or a life review interview. The client’s history is assumed to affect current experiencing.

Therefore, developmental counseling appraisal techniques emphasize the person’s assets and coping strategies as well his or her limitations and barriers.

When making an appraisal, the developmental counselor gives careful attention to the context or surroundings of the client’s activity. This attention often yields important observations about person–environment interactions that are critical to understanding the client’s development. Questions about social and physical surroundings are frequently included in early discussions with the client. Parents, teachers, and/or friends may also be consulted for independent observations of the client’s surroundings. Attention is paid to the hierarchical organization of social systems, especially the differential exercise of authority and power, and to the horizontal structure for opportunities for peer relationships. Specifically, the contextual barriers to action and opportunities for actions are identified.

6. Developmental Counseling Interventions For Resolving Current Developmental Problems

Interventions are counselor-initiated events that literally ‘‘go between’’ events sequenced along the life span, that is, between the client’s current problem-saturated activity and his or her future growth or movement toward resolving problems and addressing new developmental tasks. Developmental interventions usually focus on the client’s cognitions or behaviors and use techniques similar to other counseling approaches such as interpretations, teaching, and role-playing.

The developmental counselor frequently constructs interpretations and invites the client to construct interpretations that stimulate new client insights. These interpretations emphasize explanations derived inductively from descriptions rather than derived deductively from classification systems. The developmental counselor may also teach the client a new action sequence that is derived from the counselor’s knowledge about the action sequences, called developmental pathways, which are common to people who have mastered a developmental task. Role-playing is another example of how the counselor teaches the client a new pattern of activity. The counselor demonstrates the activity, and the client imitates it, practices it, rehearses it, and finally implements it under real-life conditions. The developmental counselor also encourages the client to engage in self-directed activities (e.g., self-help books, computer-assisted programs) or to take advantage of learning opportunities outside the counseling sessions.

7. Developmental Counseling Interventions For Preventing Or Reducing Developmental Problems

The developmental counselor often engages in interventions to prevent people’s problems either from becoming acute or from expanding to interfere with more life functions. Primary prevention occurs when the counselor engages in educating groups of people who are addressing a common developmental task. For example, the counselor may instruct groups of people who are preparing for retirement or, in developmental terms, are preparing to cope with the task of assigning meaning to their lifetimes of productive activity. The instructional goal is to reduce acute problems associated with the loss of work. By learning coping strategies and constructing action plans, these people may avoid persistent regrets or sadness about retiring.

Secondary prevention occurs when the developmental counselor works with a small group of people selected because the members have a common developmental problem. The goal is to prevent the spread or further complication of problematic actions or situations. For example, the developmental counselor may work with young adults who have few friends and are considered to be ‘‘shy’’ in an effort to enrich their current friendships and possibly increase the number of friends or acquaintances, thereby forestalling more serious relationship problems.

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