TPC-Journal-V2-Issue2

The Professional Counselor \Volume 2, Issue 2 104 At the base of the pyramid are two knowledge domains, self-knowledge and occupational knowledge. Self-knowledge is knowledge about one’s values, interests and abilities, while occupational knowledge is knowledge about the world of work and specific occupations (e.g., work setting, income and occupational tasks). These two areas provide the basic information that needs to be acquired in order to formulate appropriate occupational alternatives. The decision-making skills domain is at the second level of the pyramid and involves individuals moving through the five phases of the cycle to process information for career decisions. The five-cycle phases include communication, analysis, synthesis, valuing and execution (Figure 2). These phases are referred to as the CASVE cycle. During the communication phase, individuals realize that they need to make a decision based on internal (e.g., anxiety) and external (e.g., notice from the university a major must be declared) cues they receive from themselves and their environment. External or Internal Problem Signals Communication (identifying a gap) Analysis (interrelating problem components) Execution (forming means-ends strategies) Valuing (prioritizing alternatives) Synthesis (creating likely alternatives) Figure 2. Cycle of information processing skills used in career decision-making. Reprinted from Career development and services: A cognitive approach by G. W. Peterson, J. P. Sampson, and R. C. Reardon. Copyright ©1991 Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, a division of International Thomson Publishing, Inc. In the analysis phase, individuals seek to fully assess their career problem or the gap between their existing state of indecision and a desired state of decidedness. This phase involves determining the cause of the career problem and understanding the problem’s relationships themselves, their options and the factors that influence both themselves and their options (Sampson et al., 2004). This phase typically entails understanding assessments of interests, skills, values and engaging in occupational exploration. (Sue was unable to move from the communication phase to the analysis phase in the case example.) In the third phase of the CASVE cycle, synthesis, individuals seek to determine a possible course of action which may involve developing alternatives for making a decision, including brainstorming an exhaustive list of options (synthesis elaboration) and narrowing this list to obtainable options (synthesis crystallization). (Sue was unable to successfully engage this phase of the CASVE cycle.) Throughout the fourth phase, valuing, individuals make judgments about these