Developmental Counseling and Therapy (DCT) was one of Allen Ivey’s many contributions to the field of counseling. He initially developed the idea for this theory when he began to see a need for the incorporation of various counseling theories into a developmental perspective (Littrell, 2001). Barrio and Myers (2008) describe DCT as an integrative approach to counseling that attempts to utilize theories of human development by incorporating developmental ideas into the practice and profession of the counseling field. DCT specifically draws from Piaget’s developmental concepts and is rooted in the idea that development plays a large role in a person’s cognitive and emotional processes. As an integrative approach DCT works to effectively asses
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Ivey and Ivey (2009) show that DCT differs from Piaget’s developmental concepts because DCT posits that developmental processes recycle throughout a lifetime through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. From this they explain that development is never-ending rather than linear and that fluid development immediately influences the counseling and treatment process (Ivey & Ivey, 1990). Ivey created the idea of a developmental sphere to explain movement through the four cognitive-emotional styles. This allows for the use of various theories and interventions that are most effective for specific developmental styles (Ivey & Rigazio-Digilio, 2009). Individuals can have one style that they function in primarily or they can move through the various levels and rely on the one they feel is most suited to their needs at the …show more content…
Operating within this cognitive developmental level means that the person’s worldview revolves around bodily experiences (Ivey & Rigazio-Digilio, 2009). The senses that this level pulls from are what a person is hearing, seeing, and feeling (Myers, Shoffner, & Briggs, 2002). According to Piaget children would generally fall into a sensorimotor level of functioning. However with DCT age is considered irrelevant because individuals can find themselves at the sensorimotor level based on the situation and where they feel most comfortable or are used to functioning. People functioning at this cognitive developmental level may have a shorter attention span regardless of age and sometimes tend to be more active (Myers, Shoffner, & Briggs,
Ivey and Ivey (2009) show that DCT differs from Piaget’s developmental concepts because DCT posits that developmental processes recycle throughout a lifetime through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. From this they explain that development is never-ending rather than linear and that fluid development immediately influences the counseling and treatment process (Ivey & Ivey, 1990). Ivey created the idea of a developmental sphere to explain movement through the four cognitive-emotional styles. This allows for the use of various theories and interventions that are most effective for specific developmental styles (Ivey & Rigazio-Digilio, 2009). Individuals can have one style that they function in primarily or they can move through the various levels and rely on the one they feel is most suited to their needs at the …show more content…
Operating within this cognitive developmental level means that the person’s worldview revolves around bodily experiences (Ivey & Rigazio-Digilio, 2009). The senses that this level pulls from are what a person is hearing, seeing, and feeling (Myers, Shoffner, & Briggs, 2002). According to Piaget children would generally fall into a sensorimotor level of functioning. However with DCT age is considered irrelevant because individuals can find themselves at the sensorimotor level based on the situation and where they feel most comfortable or are used to functioning. People functioning at this cognitive developmental level may have a shorter attention span regardless of age and sometimes tend to be more active (Myers, Shoffner, & Briggs,