sure why I’m here, but it seems like it might be a good idea since I
need to figure out what classes I’m going to take and I haven’t
selected a major yet.” K’s internal cues suggested that he was feeling
fairly anxious about starting college when his career plans were so
unclear. He said, “I’m worried about wasting time and money, and
I’m afraid I might drop out or fail if I don’t have a goal to keep me
motivated.” He seems to feel some pressure to complete college, as
indicated by his comment that “he will be sorry later in his life if he
does not go at this time.”
Preliminary Assessment. Given the lack of specificity in K’s open-
ing remarks and her concern regarding K’s readiness to engage in
the career counseling process, Eva asked K to complete the CTI as
part of the preliminary assessment process. K’s hypothetical CTI
results were used to assess his level of readiness and to develop a
plan for providing him with assistance. K’s CTI results would likely
indicate elevated scores on the DMC and CA scales because he has
not faced major decisions in his past and has tended to go with the
flow, leaning heavily on the advice of others. In addition, K had
done limited exploration of the options he is presently considering.
From a “capability” perspective, K’s general confusion and anxiety
over committing to a choice may make it hard for him to progress
through the problem-solving and decision-making process. In his
conversation with Eva, he had a tendency to move from one topic
to the next very quickly without any closure to the issue he raised,
suggesting that he may need more intensive one-on-one help to
keep him focused and ensure that he effectively engages each aspect
of the pyramid and the CASVE cycle. Eva noted to herself the need
to attend carefully to K’s decision-making style, recognizing that K
may have some difficulty with a linear approach to decision mak-
ing, given the presence of Artistic personality characteristics, as
indicated by his SDS results.
With regard to “complexity,” K appears to have some factors in
his life situation that have the potential to negatively affect his abil-
ity to engage the career decision-making process. One key issue may
A COGNITIVE INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACH 345