The authors, using a cocoon mainten...

The authors, using a cocoon maintenance or metamorphosis metaphor, articulate the powers weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and yet to be vision for career counseling. Major potencys in career counseling include the bourgeoning and development of career theory, research, and practice. Weaknesses are identified in metes of career counseling practices that maintain localized career standards. Opportunities exist for the profession to assist clients in redefining their careers in succession the basis of ownership and life stories. The continued devaluation of career counseling in counselor education programs is seen as a threat. The authors deduce with their vision for the what is yet to be for the discipline and profession of career counseling.

After reading the task articulated on the editor of this special issue, a first conceit was, "How can we possibly capture the central nature of an organization that is 90 years not new and provide strategies to advance the discipline in a short article?" "The Culturally Encapsulated Counselor" by means of Wrenn (1962) immediately came to mind, because in a not many pages Wrenn created a classic article about change that has value one 40 years later. Wrenn noted that in the proces of change, the world becomes increasingly smaller. besides counselors continue to surround themselves "with a cocoon of shamed reality" (p. 445). Being unable to papal court outside the walls of our impermeable cocoon is a phenomenon Wrenn called "cocoon maintenance," or "cultural encapsulation" (p 445)

In constructing our vision at identifying strategies to advance the discipline from one side a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis, we are mindful of our "pretend reality" and "cocoon maintenance." At the same time, we are also mindful of in what manner the chrysalis does not become a beautiful butterfly without undergoing a change proces In fact, the insect must shed many layers to go through a complete metamorphosis and generate the rich array of diverse colors. Thus, we attempt to advance the field by means of a progression from cocoon maintenance to "cocoon metamorphosis," as we examine career counseling--yesterday, today, and tomorrow. More specifically, we advance the vision of career counseling for the nearest 10 years by addressing the questions of (a) strengths: Where is career counseling past and present? (b) weaknesses: What forces are at work as career counselors face the future? (c) opportunities: What can career counselors do to better help clients? (d) threats: What are the specific challenges faced through the profession? and (e) vision: What do we behold ahead for career counseling in the nearest decade?

Career Counseling Strengths--Cocoon Metamorphosis

The hardnesss of career counseling can be observ by the agency of the examination of the 90-year metamorphosis of the discipline. disclosed of concern for the human condition in society, Frank Parsons and other social reformers decided to attack the question s created by a time of unprecedent change and growing pains. Career counseling began as the vocational guidance emotion out of a need for social reform that was spawned by means of a major technological shift from an agrarian society to an industrial society. DeBell (2001) characterized the period accordingly: "It was a time that ushered in industrialization, urbanization, and immigration--three factors that would shape the world of work in America for the quietness of the century" (p. 78)

These technological changes were characterized from population shifts that came about end immigration to the United States by means of members of White ethnic clumps migration from rural to urban areas by way of freed slaves, and soldiers returning from World War I. Today, there are many global parallels to the enigmas of the early twentieth hundred years (DeBell, 2001; Zytowski, 2001). Here in the early twenty-first hundred years individuals have moved from a postindustrial manufacturing society to the Information Age, maintained by dint of telecommunications and technological gadgets. through the whole extent of its 90-year history, career counseling has undergone a number of shifts and transitions.

There has been a dedicated cadre of career counseling professionals and a wealth of theories, research, and practice standards that have evolv from each transition. plenteous of the research has been theory driven-investigating numerous aspects of career behaviors and culminating in the practical application to career counseling. The section, Getting Down to Cases, which began appearing in The Career evolution Quarterly in December 1986 below the editorship of David A. Jepsen; The Career Counseling Casebook: A Resource for Practitioners, learners and Counselor Educators(Niles, Goodman, & bishop of rome 2002); and Experiential Activities for Teaching Career Counseling Classes for Facilitating Career assemblages (Pope & Minor, 2000) are of the first grade examples of this praxis. There have also been the adoption and codification of career counseling practice standards. The career counseling motion has made enormous strides in its 90-year existence. This sprouting has been a major source of the field's strength