Action Planning Through the Phases of Counseling.

The article discusses the implications of client actions to action planning using the four phases of career counseling. Activity that helps to draw counseling to a close, to consolidate learning, and to launch a client toward a new phase of self-initiated action. Although this certainly is a valid view of action planning, it is limiting. In many respects, action planning can be viewed as an ongoing activity that is evident through all phases of counseling. The approach suggested here assumes that the client is an active agent in the counseling process. The client's entry into counseling is viewed as part of an initial action plan. Each step in the career counseling process carries with It Implications for action planning. The focus of this article is on the articulation of these various facets of action planning and a discussion of their Implications. The very act of voluntarily approaching a counselor is in some way a reflection of an action plan that a client is initiating. Clients approach counselors with goals and some Idea of how seeing a career counselor is going to help them with their current problem. Counselors also enter the exchange with conceptions of the nature of career counseling and the services that they can provide to the client.