Week 4/ Indecision Article

Because we did not have a class discussion this week, I chose to thoroughly examine Savickas’ (1995) article about constuctivism and indecision. I found this article to be a very positive and enlightening read! Savickas (1995) explains the constructivist life-theme approach to career counseling, detailing career interventions which focus on the undecided individual, as guided by the individual’s past subjective experiences and practical knowledge. Savickas (1995) provides contrasting elements in this article, illuminating the progression of interventions used to remedy indecision by identifying the three phases of previous positivist research from which constuctivism would later improve upon. The first phase of positivist counseling techniques focused on the decided-undecided dichotomy (Savickas, 1995). The second phase, positivists developed a single-dimensional continuum from undecided to decided individuals (Savickas, 1995). In the third phase, positivists proposed a multidimensional scale of decision progress (Savickas, 1995). Learning from the progression of others, constructivists understood the need for a meaning-making intervention to contextualize the self, past experiences, and future career decisions to be made (Savickas, 1995).

In relation to what I have learned in other School Counseling courses, it seems positivist research focused mainly on problem-focused counseling techniques, using scales to determine the magnitude of indecision. Conversely, the constructivist view seems to concentrate on solution-focused interventions. Constructivists do not view indecision as a problem, instead they describe it as “a sign of transformation in progress” and “a normal experience” that occurs similarly in most people (Savickas, 1995). The process of overcoming indecision involves many steps, including seeking a transformation, hesitating to re-evaluate identity, reviewing past experiences to find patterns, and, finally, developing a life-theme to use to facilitate forward progress (Savickas, 1995). Not only does Savickas (1995) identify internal patterns of overcoming indecision, but he also provides universal steps to be followed in life-theme approach interventions. Savickas (1995) explains that in life-theme career development, the individual must find relationships linking past experiences to future goals to understand all available career possibilities. To facilitate this, the counselor leads the individual through five steps throughout the intervention: collecting stories from the individual, narrating commonalities (creating a life-theme) for the individual, discussing the relationship between the theme and the indecision, extending the theme to related career opportunities, and rehearsing the previously attained skills and future needed qualities to decide and succeed in the chosen career path (Savickas, 1995).

These “continuous narratives” that we create on our career journey help us to understand our own “identity-formation process” (Savickas, 1995). Many researchers explore this identity formation, career exploration, and adult transition through the lens of “emerging adulthood,” a stage in life characterized by constant change and recurrent decision-making (Syed & Seiffge-Krenke, 2013). Savickas (1995) developed such an optimistic outlook on smoothing these life transitions and overcoming indecision through the identification of one’s life-theme by identifying preferences through story telling. “When clients envision the future as a continuation of their stories, they can overcome their hesitation and author the next chapter” (Savickas, 1995).

Savickas, M. L. (1995). Constructivist counseling for career indecision. The Career Development Quarterly,43(4), 363-373.

Syed, M., & Seiffge-Krenke, I. (2013). Personality development from adolescence to emerging adulthood: Linking trajectories of ego development to the family context and identity formation. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 104(2), 371-384.