Toward a Constructivist and Developmental Identity for the Counseling Profession: The Context‐Phase‐Stage‐Style Model

Abstract

The constructivist and developmental metatheories offer foundations for prevention-and health-oriented counseling approaches that target the whole population. In the assessment model proposed here, the counselor is directed toward 4 specific dimensions of human construction and development. They are the following: social context, life phase, constructive stage, and personality style. It is proposed that such assessment be infused into everyday counseling practice in schools, mental health settings, and colleges while also being a ground for the counselor education curriculum.

The Convergence of Counseling and Psychiatric Genetics: An Essential Role for Counselors

“…With their rich tradition of prevention (Myers, Sweeney, & Witmer, 2000), developmentalism (Ivey & Ivey, 1998, 1999, multiculturalism (Lewis & Arnold, 1998;Sue, Arredondo, & McDavis, 1992;Sue & Sue, 2002), contextualism (D'Andrea, 2000;Ivey & Ivey, 1998, 1999McAuliffe & Eriksen, 1999;Thomas, 1996), and social action (Kiselica & Robinson, 2001; Lee & Walz, 1998), professional counselors have largely eschewed more medical approaches to mental health and have generally been critical of this medicalizing trend (Breggin, 1994(Breggin, , 2001Douthit, 2001;Glasser, 2003;Ivey & Ivey, 1998, 1999. The time may be at hand, however, when it will be necessary for counselors to expand their knowledge base, both to defend their time-honored traditions and to establish a basis for deciding when attention to biopsychiatric findings may be warranted.…”

Forming a Professional Counselor Identity: The Impact of Identity Processing Style

“…The collective identity of the counseling profession has been marked by humanistic roots (Hansen, 2003;McAuliffe & Eriksen, 1999), emphasis on empowering relationships that facilitate human development and wellness (Eriksen & Kress, 2006;Kaplan et al, 2014;Mellin et al, 2011), and a contextual and culturally sensitive approach in counseling practice (ACA, 2014;Eriksen & Kress, 2006;McAuliffe & Eriksen, 1999;Van Hesteren & Ivey, 1990). The distinctiveness of this collective identity has been a central theme in the profession's struggles regarding the medical model and diagnosis of mental disorders (Eriksen & Kress, 2006;Hansen, 2003), the growing demand for empirically validated and empirically-supported therapies (Hansen, 2006(Hansen, , 2012, and the articulation of the counseling profession's unique and valuable contribution to the mental health needs of society (Kaplan & Gladding, 2011;Kaplan et al, 2014;Mellin et al, 2011;Reiner et al, 2013).…”

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“…The collective identity of the counseling profession has been marked by its humanistic roots (Hansen, 2003;McAuliffe & Eriksen, 1999), emphasis on empowering relationships that facilitate human development and wellness (Eriksen & Kress, 2006;Kaplan et al, 2014;Mellin et al, 2011), and a contextual and culturally sensitive approach in counseling practice (ACA, 2014;Eriksen & Kress, 2006;McAuliffe & Eriksen, 1999;Van Hesteren & Ivey, 1990). The distinction of this collective identity has been a central theme in the profession's struggles regarding the medical model and diagnosis of mental disorders (Eriksen & Kress, 2006; …”