two

In presenting our rationale for cognitive-developmental stage theories for counseling in this chapter, we discuss the failure of prior models for counseling and the need for a preventive-developmental framework. The cognitive-developmental paradigm, as opposed to previous models, is linked directly to comprehensive theory and major longitudinal and cross-cultural research. Ultimately, any effective counseling practice must reside on the broadest set of theoretical and empirical validations. It is insufficient, in our view, to base practice on perhaps interesting and speculative eclectic and/or "pop" psychology ideas. Instead, we present the assumptions linked to empirical cross-validation that outline a sequence of cognitive-developmental stages that humans employ when faced with difficult and problematic issues of development. We integrate theories of Loevinger, Kohlberg, Piaget, and others to describe the different preferred modes of cognitions that humans employ depending on their cognitive capacity to make meaning from experience. This is followed by a series of case studies to illustrate the crucial importance of selecting a counseling technique that matches the client's needs and then gradually mismatches within a zone of manageable dissonance. We also complement individual counseling with examples of social role-taking activities designed to shift the emphasis to primary prevention. We close the chapter with a discussion of implications for both counseling and counselor education. The cognitive-developmental model encompasses nearly all common techniques. As we note, the effective counselor employs systematic techniques such as behavior modification, rational emotive techniques, person-centered methods, and cognitive-behavioral methods selected and keyed to the current cognitive-developmental stage of the client.

Background: The Need for a Preventive and Developmental Approach

During the 1970s, applied psychology was confronted with a professional dilemma. Research had shown that traditional approaches of counseling and psychotherapy had, at best, achieved only very modest positive effects (Smith & Glass, 1977). In fact, much earlier research had shown no effect whatsoever (Bergin, 1963). Partly as a result of these findings, some leaders within the psychological establishment called for what then was viewed as a radical change. Miller (1969), in his American Psychological Association presidential address, urged that psychologists concentrate on giving their skills away to the lay public. He said that we should select principles and practices from the armamentarium of applied psychology and teach the public how to employ such knowledge and skills on its own behalf. At the same time, Kohlberg and his associates had completed a major review of child, adolescent, and adult development and reached a stark conclusion: "Put bluntly, there is now research evidence indicating that clinical treatment of emotional symptoms during childhood leads to predictions of adult adjustment" (Kohlberg, 1974, p. 251). Kohlberg further noted, "The best predictors of the absence of adult mental illness and maladjustment are the presence of various forms of competence and ego maturity in childhood and adolescence rather than the absence of problems and symptoms" (p. 251).

This same theme was echoed by Albee's (1982) comments on the need for a primary preventive approach for applied psychology rather than after-the-fact treatment on an individual basis from the intrapsychic paradigm. The way in which to avoid mental illness was to promote psychological development; prevention always is more effective than a curative approach. Allport (1968) had consistently pointed out that most psychological theories of the day essentially conceptualized humans as reactive rather than proactive. And within counseling, there were a series of special journal issues devoted to a rationale for primary prevention such as those in the Personnel and Guidance Journal (Barclay, 1984) and, more recently, in Elementary School Guidance and Counseling (Paisley & Peace, 1995). Baker (2000) also has written extensively about the need for school counselors to achieve a balance of primary prevention and intervention programs with the same goalhealthy development for all students. The goal is applicable to other client settings as well.

Although all of these efforts are important as significant reasons for a preventive and developmental approach, it is instructive to examine just briefly the failures of many of the precursors. For example, Super (1955) attempted to create such a model with his concept of "hygiology," presumably a variant of the mental hygiene movement or Alschuler's (1970) concept of a "Eupsychian psychology" or even van Kaam's (1965) model of a "positive existentialism." These attempts were no more successful than parallel ventures to revise psychoanalytic models to include a positive and proactive conflict-free sphere for ego development as a target for counseling (Hartmann, 1958).

It might be somewhat of an overgeneralization, but nearly all of these prior attempts to form an adequate model for development and primary prevention were unable to resolve the theory-research-practice gap. For example, psychoanalytic ego theory and van Kaam's (1965) positive existentialism were brilliant theoretical discourses, yet they lacked a research base and had only very broad guidelines for practice. Similarly, other models for prevention may display an opposite set of problems, namely, a major focus on practice and perhaps research without adequate conceptual frameworks. From one of our allied fields, in teacher education, Katz and Raths (1985) referred to this as the "Goldilocks problem," with the slender Goldilocks slipping and sliding in the overly spacious beds of the papa and mama bear. Theory is too broad to fit practice. At the other extreme, we could denote the problem as the "Procustean" difficulty. That mythical Greek robber would simply stretch a short victim or lop off the limbs of a tall victim to force a fit between the person and his or her bed, for example, a theory too narrow bereft of research as a framework for practice.

The Retreat to Eclecticism

The result of all these well-meaning but misguided attempts created the conditions for an eclectic model for counseling, and quite unfortunately, that has merely replaced one set of problems with an equal set of new problems for prevention. As documented by program analyses of Hollis (1997), no single theory with a research base provides an adequate basis for practice. The solution at this point in the phases of intellectual history is to reject ideological purity and adopt eclecticism. Counselor education programs, for example, now are apt to provide a variety of deliberately different theories and practices. These form a broad repertoire of counseling models. The counselor then is expected either to develop the ability to pick and choose from among these competing alternatives and find one that fits or to use different methods with equal competencesometimes referred to in the literature as "happy eclecticism." Even recent integrative models (Ivey, 1986; Lazarus, 1981; Meichenbaum, 1991) lack a central theoretical rationale for selecting techniques in a meaningful fashion. The assumption is that somehow the counselor will be able to make these choices prudently and that clients will benefit. Does this mean that we have reached the end point in the journey of intellectual development for counseling practice?

One of the most glaring problems is that eclecticism actually creates more and varied practices rather than providing a disciplined focus for the practitioner. New "therapies" emerge almost overnight and perhaps even faster than a small group of proponents can gather, form themselves into a group, and seek legal certification. Creating new counseling "guilds" through such proliferation avoids requisite theory and research and promotes what Barclay (1984) referred to as an "endless flow of gimmicky techniques" (p. 476). Without theory and research, eclecticism expands randomly using the anecdotal and the idiosyncratic (Brabeck & Weifel, 1985). Practice is simply a series of fads, fables, and folklore wandering in a zone between the trivial and the cosmic without distinguishing one from the other. Thus, it is with a sense of urgency that we turn toward an elaboration of a cognitive-developmental model for counseling as a careful synthesis of theory, research, and practice, resting equally on all three components.

The Cognitive-Developmental Model

The cognitive-developmental model rests on a series of assumptions that themselves have been tested out through extensive research. The most important of these are as follows:

Since at least the 1960s, there have been literally thousands of studies documenting these aspects of the developmental model in a variety of domains including cognitive, moral reasoning, and ego development. Stages of cognitions have been studied in the classic work of Piaget (1964, 1972) and confirmed many times over by the recent work of Case (1992) and King and Kitchener (1994) and cross-culturally by Ginsburg and Opper (1988). Stages of moral judgment were validated first on males by Kohlberg (1975) and then longitudinally on both males and females by Kohlberg (1984) and Rest (1986) and cross-culturally by Gielen (1996) and Snarey (1985). Stages of ego development were documented by Loevinger and Wessler (1970), confirming in many ways the theoretical propositions of Erikson (1959) and cross-culturally and within cultures by Hy and Loevinger (1996) and Faubert, Locke, Sprinthall, and Howland (1996). The Loevinger measure of ego stages has been translated into at least 11 languages for other cultures and demonstrates similar growth patterns across the stages in these cultures.

We should add that there are some developmental theories that do not agree with these basic assumptions. For example, both Ivey (1986) and Noam (1988) suggested that developmental stages are nonhierarchical. A close examination of these claims reveals a lack of significant longitudinal and cross-sectional empirical research in support of these views. Also in our view, these theorists might have confused developmental multilevelness as an indicator of a lack of age-stage growth. Current theory based on many of the studies cited previously indicates that cognitive stage growth occurs across a series of semi-independent areas, for example, cognitive, self (ego), moral, interpersonal, and affective domains. There may be systematic gaps in development across these domains according to experience and significant role-taking opportunities. This horizontal decalage (i.e., systematic gaps in development) results in patterns of uneven development that may give the appearance of a lack of a hierarchical stage and sequence (Loevinger, 1987a). In reality, however, such a decalage is an indicator of different stages within each individual. From a counseling standpoint, the usual presenting problems are systematic gaps in the personal and interpersonal domains when compared to stage functioning in academic/intellectual areas. The current state of the art along with a robust research base, then, supports the stage sequence framework as well as the problems presented by uneven development across different domains.

Also, the most recent evidence indicates that none of these cognitive-developmental frameworks by Piaget, Kohlberg, Rest, and other developmentalists is biased against women. In fact, the most current outcome from a large number of studies by Rest and Narvaez (1994) documented a recent trend in stages of moral development indicating that women consistently score higher on justice issues than do men. These findings also were confirmed by Lind (1993) in Germany; by Stewart, Sprinthall, and Siemienska (1997) in Poland; and by Daniels, D'Andrea, and Heck (1995) in Hawaii. Loevinger (1987b) originally normed her stage theory on an exclusively female population and subsequently cross-validated the scheme with male samples. Morrow (1993) examined the Loevinger system in a sample of lesbian women and found no bias by sexual orientation. The distribution by stage from Morrow's sample was exactly parallel to that from Loevinger's normative female and male samples. From all of this, and in spite of the commentary by critics such as Gilligan (1982), we can document the lack of bias across these developmental stage theories.

As a result of this extremely large set of basic research studies, it can be concluded that humans do exhibit the characteristics of cognitive-developmental growth as they confront problems of living in a complex and diverse society.

Cognitive-Developmental Stage and Behavior: Is There a Link?

From a counseling standpoint, of course, the question of stage theory does not end with the theoretical and cross-cultural validations noted earlier. Far more important is the stage-behavior connection. Namely, do humans behave differently and in accordance with these stages? The results here are not as clear-cut, yet the trends are highly consistent. Humans who process experience at higher stages of development are more likely to act in humane and altruistic modes than are cohorts who function at less complex stages. These results were summarized by Sprinthall, Sprinthall, and Oja (1998) in studies of resisting cheating, whistle-blowing situations, resisting obedience to arbitrary authority, aiding a bystander in distress, and returning an important questionnaire. Studies reviewed by Rest and Narvaez (1994) documented the relationship between higher stages and fraud detection by certified public accountants; between higher stages and skilled professional performance by physicians, veterinarians, dentists, and nurses; and the opposite by those professionals functioning at lower stages. Goleman (1998) documented similar findings for business executives. Peace (1995), in her review, showed clear relationships between stage of development and professional performance in areas such as teaching and counseling.

In summary, we can conclude that as each stage of development is transcended, individuals increase their competence in a wide variety of domains (Heath, 1991). These include greater effectiveness in problem solving and even problem finding, interpersonal sensitivity, recognition of individual differences, valuing cultural diversity, decision making in accord with democratic principles of equity and fairness, ego strength to withstand unjust criticism, and self-knowledge and awareness.

Cognitive-Developmental Stage: Counseling Goals and Strategies

The overall process of counseling, either through primary prevention or by individual and small group work, starts with the current stage level of functioning of the client. Then, the counselor creates a slightly more challenging interaction that results in a constructive mismatch so as to promote developmental growth (Hunt, 1974). All developmentalists agree that growth is not automatic, unilateral, or without some pain. The accommodation-as-similation disequilibrium is inevitable given that growth toward greater effectiveness requires the person to give up his or her "old" and ineffective methods of problem solving. Thus, with any developmental strategy, there needs to be a careful balance between support and challenge. Each stage, then, is not fixed or permanent as a special education label; rather, the stage represents the current preferred mode of problem solving. The goal is to aid the growth process, step by step, to a system that is toward more complex functioning at both the cognitive and affective levels. This is based on Vygotsky's (1962) theory of the zone of proximal development. It is important to remember that no one is completely "in" one stage; rather, there are elements of both higher and lower cognitive process. The counseling dictum is to connect with the current mode and then facilitate development to the slightly higher and more complex mode. Our case studies in subsequent sections illustrate this "plus one" concept given that effective growth always is a gradual and graduated process.

Having established the research and theory base for stage as a predictor of different levels of behavior (e.g., lower stages produce less complex problem-solving strategies and vice versa), we now can outline a general synthesis of stage level and strategies to promote client growth. Early work on this model first was suggested by D'Andrea (1984), Ivey (1986), Loevenger and Wessler (1970), Swensen (1980), and Young-Eisendrath (1988). Paisley and Hubbard (1994) and Vernon (1999) also incorporated developmental theories into counseling strategies for children and adolescents. The current model, described in the following paragraphs, is a further elaboration of those initial efforts. Also, we have expanded and integrated the stage definitions of Loevinger, Kohlberg, and others as a means of providing broad definitions of human functioning across domains of cognitive, affective, and interpersonal functioning. For background purposes, a brief overview of Loevinger's and Kohlberg's stages is outlined in Table 7.1.

We now provide a few sample strategies at each level of functioning in two modes: (a) individual/group counseling and (b) primary prevention role-taking strategies. First, given the importance of primary prevention, we do wish to emphasize the need for the role-taking mode as a genuine complement to the more traditional methods. This idea of incorporating both counseling strategies and preventive social role-taking methods originated with a colleague, Jean Williams (personal communication, April1993). A key element in using a cognitive-developmental framework to create person-environment interactions to promote growth is social role-taking, first suggested by Mead (1934). Assuming a complex new role such as peer mentoring, tutoring, counseling, teaching, child care, or companions to older persons can facilitate the ability to take another's perspective, comprehend a wider worldview, and tolerate ambiguity (Sprinthall, 1994). Significant role-taking experiences in a person's contextual setting combined with guided reflection has been shown to promote more complex levels of thinking and reasoning (Boss, 1994; Sprinthall, Reiman, & Thies-Sprinthall, 1993). More details on the conditions needed for designing successful role-taking activities are discussed in a subsequent section.

Sample Strategies for Each Level of Functioning

Delta/Delta Three Level

Table 7.2 outlines the client characteristics common at a highly concrete and low level of psychological integration along with the corresponding counseling techniques. For example, Loevinger's stage definitions, unfortunately, somewhat mix the numerical and the conceptual. Thus, her lower stages of functioning, the equivalent of Stages 1 and 2, are denoted as Delta/Delta Three levels. The individual does not differentiate ideas and feelings and exhibits impulse control problems, sees the world in a narrow-minded dichotomy of right and wrong, and focuses on materialistic gain for self. This

ometimes is referred to as the impulsive/self-protective stage.

Counseling strategies initially would focus very directly on the concrete, for example, a behavior modification system set up and managed by the counselor. The individual at that level is not capable of consistent self-management. This also means that the counselor needs to employ high structure with minimal ambiguity using immediate, concrete, and meaningful rewards through positive reinforcement. At the same time, the counselor stresses the concrete connection between the individual's current maladaptive behavior and consequences (means connected to ends). This also indicates that the counselor would be very active in the processto set up, maintain, and comment on the reinforcement schedules. Because client self-understanding is very limited, there will be only a rudimentary consciousness of level of emotions in self and others. This would mean a very limited discussion of feelings, perhaps only an acknowledgment and naming of a few. Use of expressive arts, such as drawing, photography, music, and drama (Gladding, 1998), could be effective when strictly verbal modes fail.

Social role-taking through a peer helping model would be highly concrete and highly structured. For example, at the school level, high school students could be taught to use almost a paint-by-the-numbers approach to transmit a health education curriculum to elementary school students, complete with easy-to-follow transparencies and worksheets. Also, the counselor then would facilitate short and structured discussions with the helpers after each session. The counselor would present a few words describing feelings that the helpers might have experienced and would ask them to pick out one or two and write them down in a journal. This will gradually expand the ability to process experiences of the helpers and then later to begin to process the feelings of the elementary school students. A similar format could be used with adults working out of a community setting (e.g., women's center, church outreach program, sheltered workshop, retirement home). For example, the client could be taught how to teach retirement home residents simple skills such as crafts and exercise.

Stage Three Level

Table 7.3 presents characteristics of clients functioning at the Stage Three level of integration. The main problem at this level is the lack of individuation and autonomy. The person is largely "other directed" and caught in constant need for social conformity, with abundant use of clichs and a ready acceptance of stereotypes concerning race and gender. An appropriate counseling mode needs to emphasize assertiveness training, complete with cognitive-behavioral "self-talk." This should occur in a sequence of modest steps to ensure success. After a period of initial successes, it also might be possible to employ a few of Ellis's (1994) rational emotive behavior therapy techniques, particularly the "worst-case scenario" approach. Group counseling could employ a moral dilemma discussion method to increase clients' perspectives (Claypoole, Moody, & Peace, in press; Powell, Locke, & Sprinthall, 1991).

The social role-taking method could focus directly on one aspect of excessive social conformity: Have the individuals larn how to use

"I-messages" and then teach either peers or others how to use the techniques, a small yet significant step out of

social conformity and a lack of individuation. We have found that this Stage Three level is very common with adolescents and with a rather large number of both young and middle-aged adults (Sprinthall, 1993). The content of the conformity may be different, but the structural process is highly similar. A survey of our community counseling center at North Carolina State University indicated that at least 50% of the adults seeking help still functioned at that level. Quite unfortunately, most were women who had been "treated" previously only with drugs to handle their depressive feelings (Sprinthall, 1993).

Stage Four Level

Table 7.4 describes the characteristics at Stage Four as well as the problem areas most associated with that level. McClelland (1980) identified this as a level with a high need for achievementa rational problem solver and a moderate risk takeras opposed to the previous Stage Three, where the strong need is for affiliation and relationship. Thus, at Stage Four, there is an important developmental gain, namely, individuation and self-directed decision making. However, such individuality carries with it an identifiable set of concerns such as overachievement, a lack of mutuality in relationships, a narrow rationalism, and perhaps an aloofness to anyone less fortunate. As a result, concerns for others might be low. Objectivity might be so high that there is no room for subjectivity.

Counseling, then, would focus on expanding emotional awareness. Goleman (1998) referred to this as "emotional intelligence." Because individuals here are self-directed, self-managed behavioral contracts could be negotiated, keeping track of how the person and cohorts feel in everyday situations. Similarly, self-managed systematic relaxation modes could be followed to further expand the range and complexity of human emotions. These procedures would help the person to loosen up and not worry quite so much about linking self-esteem to his or her most recent grade point average or some other criterion. Written reflection, through journals or poetry writing, also could prompt emotional expression and fresh insights. The counselor could enhance client development by guiding the reflection process through asking questions, reflecting feelings, and using positive reinforcement (Sprinthall et al., 1993).

Role-taking here would focus on leading groups in peer helping, teaching active listening and accurate empathy. Learning empathy by teaching it to others, such as peers (e.g., mentors, tutors, residence hall advisers in schools and colleges) or paraprofessional helpers in community centers, would be the most obvious choice of role-taking (Delworth & Aulepp, 1976). Keeping journals on self and discussing how the "helpee" felt would expand interpersonal and intrapersonal perspective taking. These leadership role-taking experiences could be graduated in levels of complexity according to how quickly the person learns from the helping experiences (Sprinthall, 1994).

Stage Four/Five to Five Level

Table 7.5 presents the characteristics of a very high stage of development, Stage Four/Five to Five. Of course, the first question that always is asked is why anyone who functions at that level would need help. Swensen (1980)

quipped something to the effect that if a counselor runs into anyone at that level, then one should reverse roles and request help. However, Loevinger (1987b) made it clear that higher stages are not necessarily happier ones. In fact, the real problems at this level are those that appear as endemic to our societythe twin evils of racism and sexism. How can a person relax and experience joy when there are so many societal problems at the doorstep? How,

n an existential sense, can a person accept his or her limits and avoid what often is called a "messianic complex"?

Probably the counselor with such a client needs to facilitate an examination of the client's strengths and emotional investment that are aligned with pressing societal concerns. The counselor may help the client prioritize how time will be spent in altruistic actions. Also, the counselor can continue to help the client reframe the problems and concerns in a careful balance of seriousness and humor. Readings, particularly Frankel's (1939) compelling discussion on meaning and purpose under horrendous conditions or other such accounts, would promote perspectives for a balance between one's obligation to society at large and one's obligation to self and private life. Quite obviously, the counseling interactions would become much more of a peer dialogue at this level. Helping the client to integrate a spiritual dimension could help with questions about life's purpose and meaning (Burke & Miranti, 1992).

The social role-taking component likely would involve creating a support system, that is, a common concerns and (interests-based) dialogue group with others in the community. This would reduce the isolation and increase the resources for each individual as he or she struggles with these central life issues. The personal, work, and societal dilemmas could be the context for a searching examination toward actualizing a holistic approach to life including physical, psychological, spiritual, and emotional aspects. As Loevinger and Wessler (1970) noted, at this level, all the complexities of life are evident, and seemingly irreconcilable issues are confronted (e.g., rational passion, commitment, relativism). This is one of the tasks of the generativity stage described by Erikson (1959) or, in the words of Allport (1968), becoming "whole hearted yet half sure" (p. 320).

Conditions for Social Role-Taking Activities

In addition to using traditional individual and group counseling strategies, the counselor needs to be intentional about incorporating social role-taking activities as part of the counseling process. For optimal success in promoting client development, the following conditions for designing and implementing role-taking activities are necessary.

Significant role-taking experiences. These are complex situations in which the client feels fully involved with others, requiring the client to construct new ways of thinking and behaving in response to the new demands of the role. As opposed to role-playing in a counseling session, a significant new helping role triggers empathy as the client actively cares for another and perspectives increase. The counselor matches client characteristics of developmental stage with an appropriate level of social role-taking such as the examples described earlier.

Guided reflection. It is important to provide ongoing opportunities to examine the new role-taking experiences through journal writing and discussions. These forms of reflection help the client to process his or her thoughts and feelings and to understand experiences from different perspectives. The counselor can monitor client progress and guide the growth process by responding to the client's written reflections with systematic feedback, differentiated based on developmental level (Sprinthall et al., 1993).

Balance between reflection and experience. Programs must be carefully planned to allow for sequences of experiential activities balanced with regular cycles of reflection and self-analysis. This interplay of action and reflection ideally should occur on a weekly basis so that there is an ongoing examination of one's adjustment to the new role.

Support and challenge. Complex new roles create a challenge for people. Psychological support is needed when clients enter a state of disequilibrium as they give up old cognitions for newer and more complex methods of problem solving and understanding. The goal is to manage an appropriate ratio of support and challenge, which varies for each individual.

Continuity. For cognitive structural change to take place, the role-taking experience and the other conditions described previously have to be continuouspreferably weeklyand span 6 to 12 months.

Age and Stage Issues

On an overall basis, then, the framework becomes a guiding format for the counselor. Each stage represents a consistent cognitive problem-solving system. The stage structures how we as individuals derive meaning from experience. It is important to note the qualitative differences between the less complex and more complex stages. This also means that the stage system can be more significant than age. For example, a 30-year-old who employs a Stage Three social conformity mode finds a parallel in a 17-year-old who also solves problems at Stage Three. The same would hold for a 45-year-old and a 25-year-old Stage Four conscientious achiever. No one, however, is ever completely "in" a single stage. There always is overlap across the earlier and later stages juxtaposed with the current modal system. Figure 7.1 depicts very crudely some of the age-stage relationships across the life span. Note that as age increases, the modal stages also increase. This represents primarily an integration of longitudinal studies from Loevinger (1987a) and Kohlberg (1984) and other developmental researchers.

Transitions

From a counseling viewpoint, the age-stage question is more complicated than depicted in Figure 7.1. Transitions from stage to stage usually are created by a crisis in problem solving and interaction with the environmental press Ivey & Bradford Ivey, 1998). The current system is literally jammed, and anxiety follows as the person begins to confront the reality that the current mode is inadequate to the new task. An obvious example occurs at the Stage Three level when one struggles with how to please everybody or the crisis created when a concrete dualistic thinker confronts an essay exam requiring symbolic interpretation. One of us still remembers hearing a college student bitterly complaining about why a professor kept talking about Herman Melville's symbolism. After all, he said, "Why spoil a good sea story with Melville's complexes?" Kegan (1982) reminded us that a modal stage is only a temporary "evolutionary truce" (p. 108) that may shatter when confronted with a more complex task. During such periods, of course, the individual may be most inclined to seek counseling assistance given that a common response to a more complex task involves feelings of despair, retreat, and withdrawal or the opposite (e.g., anger, acting out). Thus, it is during these periods of transition that the emotional agenda will be most apparent and most accessible to an alert counselor.

Assessment Issues

Certainly, one of the keys to the developmental approach concerns assessment. It is clear that the choice of individual treatment and the complementary social role-taking activity is guided by an assessment of the current level of functioning. There has been some advocacy for using formal developmental testing methods to guide counseling strategies to promote growth (D'Andrea & Daniels, 1992). We have found that a less formal method of using the counselor's listening skills represents the starting point. The counselor bears in mind the problem-solving strategies common to each stage (as noted in Tables 7.2 to 7.5 on client characteristics and problem areas) and listens and questions during an initial interview or two. This generally will provide at least an initial approximation of stage level. The counselor needs to remain open to adjustments to this initial view if further discussion yields important new insight. It is good to remember that we need to know what the modal level is during difficult situations. Metaphorically, it is similar to assessing the competence of a sailor during a storm versus being safely at anchor in a peaceful harbor. An appropriate level of support through accurate empathy is particularly important during the emotionally charged transition periods. Consequently, assessment is an ongoing process of listening and revising when necessary to gradually get an accurate fix on present cognitive stage process.

Case Studies

As a means of illustrating the assessment intervention strategies, we present a few examples of a person's seeking counseling assistance and then present some sample strategies for short-term counseling and social role-taking suggestions.

Case 1. The client is a 34-year-old male with a history of underachievement in school and career. His characteristics include the inability to see long-term consequences and the desire to solve problems exclusively from an intuitive perspective. He seems easily swayed by popular opinion. All of this results in a low planning orientation toward problem solving. Despite an attractive personality and strong social skills, he has failed to get promoted and remains an assistant sales manager. He switches companies, but the career pattern repeats itself. During counseling, the client says that it might be time to figure out what is getting in the way of being successful. He talks about himself in a very clich manner.

The chief characteristics of this client are the following: low planning, low rationality, high social skills, and reliance on stereotypes and clichs. This would lead to an initial assessment of a Stage Three system. From this, the counselor would choose some assertiveness training and decision making, emphasizing contracting and similar activities to promote self-direction and self-management. Social role-taking could involve volunteer work as a school mentor to middle school students using one of the career decision-making curricula.

Case 2. The teenager, a 15-year-old, has a record of being a real "cut-up" in school and has had multiple minor scrapes with the police. She shows a very short attention span in counseling and class discussions. The student seems to understand self and ideas at a concrete level. She is easily distracted, with grades heading toward a dropout level. There is little in-depth insight. She indicates a desire to do better in school but does not know where to start.

The characteristics of this client are obvious: impulsive behavior, acting up, concrete thinking, and low on self-awareness/insight. These fit closely with the Delta/Delta Three level and will require high levels of counselor directedness. Behavioral contracts directed by the counselor focused in rudimentary study skills represent the starting point. After an initial period with positive reinforcement for small successes, the counselor could arrange for the teenager to "help" some elementary school students in Grades 1 and 2 to improve their reading skills as an appropriate role-taking activity.

Case 3. The client, a 60-year-old at the community counseling center, has just learned that his company has folded as a result of a heavily leveraged buy-out. He has 30 years experience with the company as an accountant but has heard that the new firm might not fully honor his retirement plan. He has been a "company man" all his life and says, "I always figured that I'd work there til retirement at [age] 70." At this point, he appears confused and depressed as he reflects, "It's something I never thought I'd have to confront." He concludes, "I always thought good work and loyalty was enough."

In this situation, the client actually exhibits segments of two stages. There are characteristics of Stage Four, including conscientious achievement. Stage Three is represented by his loyalty to the company and his assumption that "they" would take care of him together with a lack of self-direction and assertiveness. The counselor could well choose to build on the Stage Four elements, for example, a planning orientation along with supporting exploration for career options. Simultaneously, the counselor needs to expand the client's emotional repertoire because this apparently is his first major crisis.

Journal writing assignments can encourage expression of feelings and thoughts. The counselor can guide the written reflection by providing feedback and reflecting feelings. Social role-taking eventually could include volunteer work at a senior center in setting up a tax advising service.

These cases are necessarily brief to simply illustrate aspects of the process of assessment and strategies for both counseling and social role-taking. Also, we need to point out that research supporting these approaches does vary. Because the counseling model is relatively new, positive esults have been reported in the form of case studies by Ivey (1986) and Kegan (1982) and from our practice in supervising graduate students in a community-based counseling center. However, the research base for the social role-taking procedures has been widely researched over the past 25 years across age groups (children, adolescents, young adults, and older adults) and different geographical, social, and racial groupings (Sprinthall, 1994; Sprinthall et al., 1993). The meta-analysis shows a consistent positive effect size (circa +1.0) in promoting developmental stage growth for those helpers who participated in the peer programs. Also, such studies have shown the importance of varying the amount of responsibility and structure in relation to different developmental stages. Hedin's research (as reported by Sprinthall, 1994), in particular, demonstrated how to employ three different role-taking strategies for adolescents who themselves presented three different levels from Delta/Delta Three to Stage Four. Each group then improved within its own stage as a result of the helping activity.

Implications

For Counseling Practice

We have outlined the importance of creating a counseling system based on the developmental stage characteristics of individuals. The following are a few of the major implications for counselors:

For Counselor Education

Traditionally, counselor education programs have placed great emphasis on remedial and individual therapeutic paradigms of how change takes place (Lewis et al., 1998). This limits many counselors' understanding of primary prevention and developmental interventions. Training in an expanded developmental model should aim to do the following: