Important events in career counseling: Client and counselor descriptions

The authors used a content analysis system to classify career-counseling participants' responses to questions about the helpfulness of their recently completed counseling experiences. Both clients and counselors most frequently identified client gains associated with self-exploration and with emotional support as most helpful. Members of both groups frequently identified ineffective counselor-selected activities as least helpful. Clients rated their experiences as significantly more effective than did their counselors. The authors discuss implications of these results for the validity of the content analysis system and the nature and practice of career counseling.