cacy, networking with active minority support organizations, and
securing legal advice, may help empower individuals to develop and
apply newly acquired positive self-statements and feelings of self-
confidence in career problem solving and decision making.
We now move toward the application and practice of CIP in
career counseling. Clients come for career counseling in different
states of preparedness for problem solving and decision making
(Voight & Peterson, 2000). Some are in a high state of preparedness
and require little assistance to solve a career problem, whereas oth-
ers are in a highly confused and anxious state and require consider-
able assistance from a skillful career counselor. A model of readiness
for career counseling is presented next that enables career counselors
to assess a client’s needs for kinds of assistance to successfully engage
and complete the career problem-solving and decision-making
process.
Applications to Practice
This section begins by describing the use of a two-dimensional
model for assessing clients’ readiness to engage in career problem
solving and decision making. The Career Thoughts Inventory, an
instrument based on CIP theory, is discussed as a tool for readiness
assessment. The CIP model for readiness assessment is then related
to determining levels of service and the selection of career inter-
ventions. Finally, the CIP seven-step service delivery sequence is
presented.
A Two-Dimensional Model of Readiness for
Career Problem Solving and Decision Making
At the communication phase of the CASVE cycle, when individ-
uals become aware of a career problem and seek assistance, they
vary in terms of a state of readiness to solve problems and make
decisions.Readinessis defined as “thecapabilityof an individual to
A COGNITIVE INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACH 331