Chaos+Theory+(Bright+and+Pryor)


 * Bright and Pryor's Application of Chaos Theory**


 * Basic Principles of Applied Chaos Theory
 * Career development - a process; it is forever being influenced by the factors of the individual's life which are constantly changing.
 * The influencing factors are most often random events or circumstances. It is impossible to accurately predict //any// outcome; however, one can plan for adaptive reactions to the unknown.
 * It is impossible to accurately conceptualize a client's problem from inductive and deductive reasoning. The counselor must employ nonlinear reasoning through which patterns emerge that are linked to past events.
 * Past decisions should only be considered in the environmental context.
 * The counselor helps the client identify attractors so they are able to terminate ineffective ones.
 * Attractors
 * point attractors - singular goal.
 * pendulum attractors - oscillating between two choices.
 * torus attractors - repetitious behavior that changes slightly with each cycle.
 * **strange attractors - unexpected opportunities, events, etc that do not trigger repetition.**
 * When the individual finds themselves in a **transitional phase** (example: loss of job) they have two options:
 * maintain the status quo by repeating familiar patterns (attractors) or try something completely different (strange attractor).
 * in order to avoid repetition, the client must become open to any and all experiences.
 * They must also be willing to deal with the anxiety and fear that are inevitable.
 * The resulting change is commonly experienced as grief
 * the individual has experienced a figurative death of the life they had lived and the future they constructed based on their life with that job.
 * Re-create the narrative
 * counselor and client co-create a brand new life-narrative.
 * The anxiety triggered by change (unproductive) is reframed as a benign signal of impending change (productive).
 * The benefit of the chaos approach is that with the acceptance of an unpredictable universe, the client can excuse himself from blame that their planning or adherence to prescribed "steps" has led them to failure rather than success (Healthy External Locus of control).