negotiations with counselors. Counselors should “interpret” them
as narratives about clients’ lives and as narratives that are functional
in counseling to negotiate the counseling process. This interpreta-
tion serves to set up a joint action between the client and counselor
that would be a suitable part of the client’s long-term career or proj-
ect. Thus counselors need to be aware that, in addition to the nar-
ratives shared in counseling, clients have other discourses about
their lives as lived in relation to other people and events.
Goals
The emphasis on goals and goal-directedness in contextualist
action theory may lead some counselors to reject the approach as
too rational, too predetermined, too calculated, or too disconnected
from emotion. It is important to state that these are misunder-
standings of action. Goals are only one part of action that, to some
extent, are set prior to action but largely emerge from action, proj-
ect, and career. Thus in action theory, action is the product of some
goals and the precursor of others; it is the basis for goal development
and enhancement. Once counselors and clients address real-life
events, which inevitably involve goals, they recognize that goals
involve emotions and cognitions, arise from events in our lives, can
be spontaneous, and, although conscious, are not always available
for reflection.
The counselor can also recognize that goals represent one level
in the organization of action (Figure 6.1) but not the entirety of
action, project, or career. Rather than dealing with goals in an iso-
lated way, the counselor and client are encouraged to work on the
action, project, and career. This includes addressing internal pro-
cesses as well as behavioral components. Although not a new idea
in counseling, the connection of action, project, and career pro-
posed in this explanation allows goals to be seen in a more in-
tegrated way across the dimensions and stages of one’s life. The
counseling itself is a joint project that serves as a basis and model
for developing and practicing changes at any of the levels.
234 CAREER CHOICE AND DEVELOPMENT