CAREER_COUNSELLING_EN

essential, more than the fact itself, the range of details used in description. There are no
failed beginnings or erroneous directions, since all the details perceived by a narrator
have a potential of explaining disposition, understanding and relative intervention.

There are several types of critical incidents analysis, according to the picture put together
by Tripp (1993). The methodological chains, an ad-hoc formula can be found to direct the
writing or commenting on more or less all-critical incidents.

Analysis type
Judgement
type

Necessary

information

Questions that can be asked People involved

Practical Procedural What should I do? How? When? For whom? With whom?
Descriptive What happened? Who was involved?
Causal What caused this to happen? Who acted?
Effect What does it produce? What
does it generate?

For whom?

Affective How does it feel? By whom?

Semantic What does it mean? For whom?

Diagnostic

Explanatory What happened? With whom?

Personal Do I like it? Do others like it?

Evaluative Is it a good thing? For whom?

Reflexive

Validated Why? Who is involved?

Classified What makes it for a good

example?

Critical Whose classification?

Social Is it fair? For whom?

We find a form proposal and at the same time interview guide for composing critical
incidents with Ertelt and Schulz (1997), adapted from Sue and Sue, with priority designed
for multicultural counselling.

1. Describe a counselling situation you went through yourself and you consider relevant.
   a) How did it come about?
   b) What had actually happened? (place, time, circumstances)
   c) What people were involved?
   d) In what did the events consist and in what order did they occur?


2. What people belonging to an ethnic group or various cultures were involved and what
   relationships did they develop with the others?


3. Describe in detail the counsellor’s attitude and the way he/she approached the situation.


4. What particular problems, difficulties or other aspects came up in the meantime?


5. a) How did the counsellor react to the situation described under 4)?
   b) How do you think the counsellor should have reacted?


6. a) What was the result of the situation?
   b) What problems remained unsolved?

Using this chart as a starting point, the clients have an opportunity to present their own
goals, the actions undertaken for their achievement, the degree of achievement after one