XII PREFACE
admitted that the daunting task he had undertaken was not com-
plete and that the “glue” that might hold the segments of his the-
ory together would have to be applied by someone else.
Another approach to theorizing has emerged in the last two
decades. This approach simply states that the complexities of the
interactions that occur within and among the intrapersonal traits and
interpersonal interactions are simply too complicated to understand
and, therefore, we should stop trying to do it, except on an individ-
ual basis. These people are the constructivists, and their writings have
given rise to an oxymoron—constructivist counseling—whether it
refers to career counseling or some other type. I call constructivist
counselingan oxymoron because I eschew the concept of cause-and-
effect relationships. People who get “stuck” in their career devel-
opment often seek help from career counselors, hoping that the
counseling process will result in (cause) changes in their develop-
ment. However, the constructivists have already had one favorable
impact on the career choice and development theory and practice.
Their criticisms have forced most of us to consider more carefully
the economic, social, and cultural context of the individuals we try
to understand and help. Some writers have taken this increased
recognition of the importance of context as a move toward an inte-
gration of the two camps—modern and postmodern. When “dust
bowl” empiricists such as John Holland agree that cause-and-effect
relationships are unimportant and data collected about large groups
of people do not generalize to others, integration is on the way.
Until then, integration of these points of view is little more than a
gleam in the would-be integrationists’ eyes.
Alternative points of view, such as those taken by the modern
and postmodern theorists in this book, can be very helpful if readers
carefully consider the points of view of the theorists as they read their
material. It may be useful to recall that theories are neither true nor
false. It may also be useful to examine one’s own beliefs about human
beings and how they develop and change. If these core beliefs can be
combined with one’s beliefs about counseling in general and turned
into a “What I believe at this time” statement, the reader’s journey