engaged, what the goals of those projects are, what meaning K and
others make of them, and the thoughts and feelings he has about
them. Projects, however limited they may be, are the basis for link-
ing K to the future. Although he is able to frame the future in terms
of goals, he has more difficulty with initiating actions. Thus the link-
ing of goals to functional steps and behavioral elements through
projects will likely be a helpful approach in counseling K. The coun-
selor might wish to consider using the assessment data as K relates
them to his actions and projects rather than to stable dispositions.
The counselor could use the self-confrontation procedure heur-
istically with K. This could be simply a self-confrontation of the
dialogue between the counselor and the client. However, as in the
case of E, K’s need for belonging and the way in which others are
involved in his career decisions warrants, if possible, the involve-
ment of others (for example, his parents or the friend who advised
him to attend college) in counseling with K.
Summary
The contextualist explanation proposed in this chapter moves
beyond an environmental or structural conceptualization of the
career context and beyond conceptualizations that emphasize sys-
tems or meanings as the critical contextual perspectives. By basing
this explanation on intentional action and emphasizing joint ac-
tion, we have been able to address the social and dynamic nature of
context and retain our concern with the underlying aspects of ca-
reer such as plans, goals, and agency. All participants in career and
career counseling can use intentional concepts without ignoring
their social anchoring. Participants can relate to social inhibitors
and facilitators of career and counseling and still see these processes
as intentional. Our methodology based on the perspectives of man-
ifest action and social meaning, as well as on internal processes such
as cognition in individual action, communication in group action,
and joint narratives in projects and careers, gives all participants a
broad spectrum of involvement. As this explanation uses people’s
244 CAREER CHOICE AND DEVELOPMENT