Historically, counselors have focused on intrapersonal and interpersonal client phenomena, confining their practice to within-the-office efforts. Lewin’s (1 936) notion of conceptualizing behavior as a function of people interacting with their environment, although accepted for its theoretical contribution, has not led to broad counseling applications. Behavior is still treated largely outside of environmental considerations (Moos 1973, 1974b). This tendency to disregard environmental influences restricts change possibilities.
People simply do not function in isolation. To counsel clients while ignoring their environmental setting denies an important part of their reality; environments contribute strongly to experience. For example, clients living in a large, coeducational residence hall may have needs and concerns quite different from the ones they would have if they were living alone in an apartment five miles from campus. The two different living situations might have very diffeient impacts, leading to