Received 10/16/12

Revised 02/04/13
Accepted 02/11/13
DOI: 10.1002/j.2161-0045.2014.00071.x

Differentiation Levels of
College Students: Effects on
Vocational Identity and
Career Decision Making
Patrick Johnson, Tamara D. Schamuhn,
Danielle B. Nelson, and Walter C. Buboltz Jr.
This study assessed the effects of differentiation levels on the career development
of college students. Participants were 231 college students who completed the
Differentiation of Self Inventory (Skowron & Friedlander, 1998), My Vocational
Situation (Holland, Daiger, & Power, 1980), the Career Decision Profile (CDP;
Jones & Lohmann, 1998), and demographic questions. The results supported the
hypotheses that higher levels of the various components of differentiation would
predict higher levels of vocational identity and fewer difficulties with career decision
making. In particular, lower levels of emotional cutoff and emotional reactivity and
higher levels of “I position” predicted higher levels of vocational identity and career
decision making. Results suggest a more complicated picture for fusion, with higher
levels being predictive of lower levels of decisiveness but not significantly related to
vocational identity. Implications of the results for career counselors are provided.

Keywords: differentiation, vocational identity, career decision making

According to attachment theory, healthy psychosocial development is

associated with secure parental attachment, wherein children or adoles-
cents feel safe enough to explore their environment while knowing their
parental figures are accessible and responsive when called upon (Bowlby,
1988). This secure attachment is associated with individuals’ ability to
connect with others and cope with stressful problems (Ketterson &
Blustein, 1997). Similarly, it is necessary for adolescents and young adults
to become autonomous or psychologically separate from their parents
(Lee & Hughey, 2001), thus developing functional identities of their
own (Tokar, Withrow, Hall, & Moradi, 2003).
Research on the attachment and separation process in relation to young
adult career development has produced mixed results. For example,
parental attachment has been linked to career aspirations (O’Brien,
1996; O’Brien & Fassinger, 1993; Rainey & Borders, 1997; Richie et
al., 1997), career planning (Felsman & Blustein, 1999; Kenny, 1990;
Lee & Hughey, 2001), career self-efficacy (Lease & Dahlbeck, 2009),

Patrick Johnson, Tamara D. Schamuhn, and Danielle B. Nelson, Department of

Counselor Education, Portland State University; Walter C. Buboltz Jr., Depart-
ment of Psychology, Louisiana Tech University. Tamara D. Schamuhn is now
at Northern Aurora Counseling Services, Alberta, British Columbia, Canada.
Danielle B. Nelson is now at Mental Health Services, Red Deer, Alberta, British
Columbia, Canada. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to
Patrick Johnson, Department of Counselor Education, Portland State University,
PO Box 751, Portland, OR 97207-0751 (e-mail: johnsonp@pdx.edu).
© 2014 by the National Career Development Association. All rights reserved.

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 and career exploration (Ketterson & Blustein, 1997; Lee & Hughey,
2001). However, psychological separation has not been as clearly linked
with career development. Tokar et al. (2003) found that, among the 350
undergraduate students surveyed, greater psychological separation from
mothers was correlated with a higher vocational self-concept; however,
separation from fathers was related to a lower vocational self-concept and
higher levels of career indecision. Lopez (1989) found that lower scores
of conflictual independence (i.e., freedom from excessive guilt, resent-
ment, and anger in the relationships with parents) among young adults
were predictive of higher levels of vocational identity, indicating a more
clear and stable sense of work-related goals, interests, personalities, and
abilities. Other researchers found no relationship between psychological
separation from parents and young adult career development (Downing
& Nauta, 2010; Hartung, Lewis, May, & Niles, 2002; Lee & Hughey,
2001; Lucas, 1997; O’Brien, Friedman, Tipton, & Linn, 2000; Santos
& Coimbra, 2000; Thomason & Winer, 1994).
Empirical evidence suggests that achieving the developmental task of
career development may be facilitated by a balance in psychological se-
curity: healthy levels of attachment and independence from attachment
figures, particularly parents (Lee & Hughey, 2001; Rainey & Borders,
1997). The pairing of attachment and independence seems to provide
the “most supportive family conditions with respect to commitment to
the career choices process” (Blustein, Walbridge, Friedlander, & Palla-
dino, 1991, p. 47). Collectively, studies have shown that strong parental
attachment in combination with psychological separation from parents
has been linked positively to career commitment (Blustein et al., 1991),
vocational identity (Berríos-Allison, 2005; Lopez, 1989), and positive col-
lege adjustment (Mattanah, Hancock, & Brand, 2004). Lee and Hughey
(2001) found that psychological separateness alone was not significantly
associated with the career maturity of college freshmen unless paired with
a strong emotional attachment to parental figures. O’Brien and Fassinger
(1993) found that female adolescents who exhibited moderate degrees
of attachment to as well as independence from their mothers tended to
value career pursuits, thus expressing higher levels of congruency and
realism with regard to their current career choice. Lease and Dahlbeck
(2009) studied the attachment of college students to their mothers and
established a positive correlation between elevated degrees of career deci-
sion self-efficacy and a higher perceived quality of relationship to those
mothers who facilitated the young adult’s independence.
Thus, research on career and family dynamics points to the importance
of a combination of both healthy attachment to one’s parents along with
a certain level of psychological separation as contributing positively to
aspects of career development. It seems that separation alone does not
lead to healthy career development, which may be reflective of the qual-
ity of the family interactions surrounding the separation process. Reac-
tive family dynamics may underlie the mixed results found in previous
research related to the effects of psychological separation on the career
development of young adults. It may be that the level of emotional
reactivity associated with the separation process has a defining impact
on the career process, especially decision making. Young adults who
are attached to their parents and are able to separate with low levels of
emotional reactivity may exhibit successful career development.

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 The need for a balance of attachment to and psychological separation
from one’s parents is characterized best by the family systems theory
concept of differentiation of self. According to family systems theory,
within individuals there is a life force driving them to become an emo-
tionally separate person as well as a life force driving them to remain
emotionally connected to family (Bowen, 1976, 1978; Kerr & Bowen,
1988). Differentiation of self refers to an individual’s ability to function
in an autonomous and self-directed manner without being controlled by
family members or significant others and without emotionally cutting
off from these significant relationships. In other words, differentiated
individuals experience a separate sense of self while staying in contact
with significant others. Undifferentiated individuals, on the other hand,
tend to remain fused in relationships with parents and significant others
or emotionally cutoff from these relationships (Johnson & Waldo, 1998).
A central barometer of differentiation is an individual’s level of emo-
tional reactivity, often seen in the ability to separate thoughts and feel-
ings (Bowen, 1978). Differentiated individuals are not overwhelmed by
emotionality at the expense of their intellect, whereas undifferentiated
individuals are ruled by their emotions. Differentiated individuals are
“inner-directed” and readily take an “I position” rather than experience
emotional reactivity in response to external events and others’ emotion-
ality (Kerr & Bowen, 1988).
Kerr and Bowen (1988) theorized that an individual’s level of dif-
ferentiation would affect his or her physical, social, and emotional
health. A number of studies have explored the effects of differentia-
tion on different aspects of health and well-being. Specifically, higher
levels of differentiation have been correlated with healthy psychosocial
development in young adults (Jenkins, Buboltz, Schwartz, & Johnson,
2005), successful young adult identity attainment (Johnson, Buboltz, &
Seemann, 2003), and greater feelings of well-being (Bohlander, 1999;
Skowron, Holmes, & Sabatelli, 2003), whereas lower levels of differ-
entiation have been found to be highly correlated with increased levels
of chronic anxiety and symptomatic distress (Skowron & Friedlander,
1998). Differentiation has also been correlated to an individual’s overall
level of stress and health (Harvey & Bray, 1991).
The process of differentiating from one’s family of origin occurs
throughout childhood and adolescence, becoming increasingly impor-
tant in young adulthood (Carter & McGoldrick, 1989) and continu-
ing well into the 30s for most individuals (Lawson, Gaushell, & Karst,
1993; Williamson & Bray, 1988). Young adults are often required to
make educational and vocational decisions while they are in the midst
of their differentiation process. According to Super, Savickas, and Super
(1996), individuals in their early to mid-20s are typically focused on the
career development tasks of crystallizing, specifying, and implementing
an occupational choice. Thus, for many young adults, the differentia-
tion process is occurring simultaneously with the career development
process, which highlights the need to further explore the relationship
between differentiation levels and career identity and decision making.
The purpose of our study was to assess the effects of differentiation levels
on the career development of young adults. As previously mentioned, it
may be that balanced attachment with parents, in combination with low

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 levels of reactivity in the separation process, has a strong impact on the
career development process. Thus, it was expected that higher levels of
the various components of differentiation would predict higher levels
of vocational identity and fewer difficulties with career decision making.
Specifically, we hypothesized that healthy career development would be
predicted by a balanced connection with parents (i.e., neither fused nor
cutoff), a strong sense of a self (i.e., I position), and a balance of thinking
and emotional processes characterized by low levels of emotional reactivity.

Method
Procedure and Participants
Participants were 231 college student volunteers who, after providing
written consent, completed standardized instruments and demographic
questions. Of these 231 participants, 140 (61%) were women, 88 (38%)
were men, and three (1%) did not identify their gender. In terms of
ethnicity, 35 (15%) identified themselves as African American, two (1%)
identified themselves as Asian American, 185 (80%) identified themselves
as Caucasian/Anglo American, three (1%) identified themselves as His-
panic/Latino American, and six (3%) identified themselves as other. The
mean age of the participants was 22.85 years old (SD = 5.93).

Instruments

Differentiation of Self Inventory (DSI). The DSI (Skowron & Friedlander,
1998) is composed of 43 items, rated on a 6-point scale, that generate
a total differentiation score and four subscale scores. Factor analyses
demonstrated support for the four subscales as being “empirically dis-
tinct dimensions of a single construct, differentiation of self” (Skowron
& Friedlander, 1998, p. 241). The first subscale, Emotional Reactivity,
reflects the degree to which a person responds to environmental stimuli
with emotional flooding, emotional liability, or hypersensitivity. The
second subscale, I Position, reflects a clearly defined sense of self and
the ability to thoughtfully adhere to one’s convictions when pressured
to do otherwise. The third subscale, Emotional Cutoff, reflects feeling
threatened by intimacy and feeling excessive vulnerability in relationships
with others; this vulnerability leads to fears of engulfment and defensive
behaviors such as distancing and denial. The fourth subscale, Fusion
With Others, reflects emotional overinvolvement with others, including
triangulation and overidentification with parents. Higher scores on the
DSI reflect higher levels of differentiation (i.e., more total differentia-
tion, less fusion, less reactivity, less cutoff, more I position).
Skowron and Friedlander (1998) provided information about the psy-
chometric properties of the DSI based on three separate studies. Across
the three studies, participants were 609 adults, of which 75% were women.
In terms of ethnicity of the total sample, approximately 5% were African
American, 3% were Asian American, 88% were Caucasian/Anglo Ameri-
can, 2% were Hispanic/Latino American, and 2% were Native American.
Initial construct validity of the DSI was supported as the DSI correlated
highly and in the expected direction with a measure of chronic anxiety and
with amount and intensity of symptomatic distress. Across several stud-
ies, internal consistency coefficients, using Cronbach’s alpha, supported

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 moderate to high reliabilities for the DSI total score and each of the four
subscales (e.g., DSI = .88, Emotional Reactivity = .88, Emotional Cutoff
= .79, Fusion With Others = .70, and I Position = .85).
My Vocational Situation (MVS). Holland, Daiger, and Power (1980)
developed the MVS to assess difficulty related to vocational decision
making. The MVS has 20 items and three subscales. Our study used
the Vocational Identity (VI) subscale, which consists of 18 items and
assesses the degree to which individuals possess a clear and stable picture
of their goals, interests, personalities, and talents. Vocational identity
“leads to relatively untroubled decision making and confidence in one’s
ability to make good decisions in the face of inevitable environmental
ambiguities” (Holland et al., 1980, p. 1).
Holland et al. (1980) reported reliability and validity information
for the VI subscale. For a sample of 592 college students and workers,
the internal consistency of the VI subscale was .89 for men and .88 for
women. Construct validity was established by correlations between the
VI subscale and vocational aspirations for 824 participants in high school,
college, and businesses, as well as external ratings for a subsample (n =
245). In general, the results provided moderate support for the validity
of the VI subscale, with high VI scores being related to the external
ratings of workers’ attributes.
Career Decision Profile (CDP). The CDP (Jones & Lohmann, 1998) is
composed of 16 items, rated on an 8-point scale, that generate six subscale
scores. The first, Decidedness, assesses the level of decidedness upon an
occupation. The second, Comfort, assesses the level of comfort with the
process of making a career decision. The third, Self-Clarity, assesses the
level of clarity related to one’s interests, abilities, and personalities. The
fourth, Knowledge, assesses the level of knowledge about occupations
and training. The fifth, Decisiveness, assesses decision-making abilities in
general. The sixth, Career Choice Importance, assesses the importance
of making a career choice at this time.
Jones and Lohmann (1998) reported reliability and validity informa-
tion for the CDP based on three studies. The reliability of the CDP was
reported as satisfactory with 3-week retest reliabilities for the scales falling
in the .70s, ranging from .66 to .80, and alpha coefficients ranging from
.59 to .84, with most scoring in the mid to high .70s. Construct validity
was established by correlations between the Decidedness subscale with
measures of career indecision and career salience; the Comfort subscale
with measures of career indecision, trait anxiety, and self-efficacy; the
Self-Clarity subscale with measures of trait anxiety, identity achievement
status, vocational identity, self-esteem, and state anxiety; the Knowledge
subscale with measures of the Occupational Information subscale of the
MVS; the Decisiveness subscale with measures of global instability, trait
anxiety, social anxiety, and self-esteem; and the Career Choice Impor-
tance subscale with measures of career salience. All correlations were in
the expected directions.

Results

For our study, the alpha coefficients for the scales were as follows: DSI
= .75, Emotional Reactivity = .67, Emotional Cutoff = .83, Fusion With
Others = .50, I Position = .75, VI = .89, Decidedness = .74, Comfort =
.79, Self-Clarity = .80, Knowledge = .77, Decisiveness = .86, and Career
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 Choice Importance = .34. (The Fusion With Others and Career Choice
Importance subscales are noted as having low internal consistency).
Means, standard deviations, and bivariate correlations for the DSI, MVS,
and CDP scales and subscales are presented in Table 1.
To assess the effects of differentiation on vocational identity and ca-
reer decision making, we performed simultaneous multiple regression
analyses. In separate analyses, the full model, which included all four
DSI subscales, significantly predicted the MVS VI subscale, R2 = .12,
F(4, 197) = 6.86, p < .0005, and all six CDP subscales: (a) Decided-
ness, R2 = .09, F(4, 200) = 4.77, p = .001; (b) Comfort, R2 = .11, F(4,
200) = 6.23, p < .0005; (c) Self-Clarity, R2 = .05, F(4, 200) = 2.45,
p = .047; (d) Knowledge, R2 = .16, F(4, 200) = 9.16, p < .0005; (e)
Decisiveness, R2 = .33, F(4, 200) = 24.76, p < .0005; and (f) Career
Choice Importance, R2 = .05, F(4, 199) = 2.65, p = .035.
Multiple regression analyses also revealed the unique effects of each
component of differentiation on vocational identity and career decision
making. Specifically, higher levels of emotional reactivity predicted lower
levels of vocational identity, F(1, 197) = 3.71, p = .0275, and decisiveness,
F(1, 200) = 6.47, p = .006. Higher levels of I position predicted higher
levels of vocational identity, F(1, 197) = 4.38, p = .019; decidedness, F(1,
200) = 9.33, p = .0015; comfort, F(1, 200) = 11.55, p = .0005; self-
clarity, F(1, 200) = 6.04, p = .0075; knowledge, F(1, 200) = 8.87, p =
.0015; and decisiveness, F(1, 200) = 26.47, p < .0005. Higher levels of
emotional cutoff predicted lower levels of vocational identity, F(1, 197)
= 6.27, p = .0065; decidedness, F(1, 200) = 3.86, p = .0255; comfort,
F(1, 200) = 3.88, p = .025; knowledge, F(1, 200) = 15.32, p < .0005;
decisiveness, F(1, 200) = 16.39, p < .0005; and career choice importance,
F(1, 199) = 7.06, p = .004. Higher levels of fusion with others predicted
lower levels of decisiveness, F(1, 200) = 10.50, p = .0005.

Discussion

Our study suggests a link between differentiation of self and young
adult career development. Specifically, higher levels of differentiation
predict higher levels of vocational identity and higher levels of all six of
Table 1
Descriptive Statistics and Study Variable Intercorrelations
Item M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1. ER 37.75 10.14 —
2. IP 46.55 9.08 .42* —
3. EC 54.16 10.66 .16* .15* —
4. FO 24.84 8.63 .27* –.05 –.26* —
5. VI 12.11 6.10 .27* .25* .21* .04 —
6. Dec 13.80 3.04 .08 .24* .20* –.09 .48* —
7. Com 12.33 3.64 .20* .29* .18* .01 .56* .60* —
8. SC 12.68 6.98 .03 –.01 .02 .14* .14* .14* .11 —
9. Know 15.34 6.22 .11 .14* .23* .04 .46* .40* .47* .00 —
10. Deci 16.22 6.33 .33* .25* .14* .20* .25* .15* .34* .11 .19* —
11. CCI 20.08 3.91 .08 .08 .10 .02 .11 .19* .21* .04 .04 .04 —
Note. ER = emotional reactivity; IP = I position; EC = emotional cutoff; FO = fusion with others; VI
= vocational identity; Dec = decidedness; Com = comfort; SC = self-clarity; Know = knowledge;
Deci = decisiveness; CCI = career choice importance.
*p < .05.

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 the CDP subscales (i.e., Decidedness, Comfort, Self-Clarity, Knowledge,
Decisiveness, and Career Choice Importance). These findings support
our hypothesis that differentiation, as a whole, predicts healthy career
development. In particular, the full model accounts for 12% of the vari-
ance of vocational identity and significant amounts of variance of each
CDP subscale, including 33% of the variance of the Decisiveness subscale.
It seems that differentiation levels have a strong practical significance
on the career development of young adults, especially decision making.
In addition, the various components of differentiation appear to have
unique effects on the different areas of vocational identity and career
decision making. In regard to emotional cutoff, results are as expected,
with higher levels of emotional cutoff predicting lower levels of vocational
identity and lower levels on five of the six CDP subscales (i.e., Decided-
ness, Comfort, Knowledge, Decisiveness, and Career Choice Importance).
Thus, emotional cutoff appears to have a negative impact on career de-
velopment. As seen in previous research, separation alone does not lead
to a healthy career process for young adults (Downing & Nauta, 2010;
Hartung et al., 2002; Lee & Hughey, 2001; Lucas, 1997; O’Brien et al.,
2000; Santos & Coimbra, 2000; Thomason & Winer, 1994). The level
of emotional reactivity associated with the separation process may have a
defining impact on career development. Emotional cutoff tends to be a
reactive attempt to deal with family overinvolvement (fusion) and unre-
solved family dynamics (Johnson & Waldo, 1998). Emotionally cutting off
from others is a way to reactively disentangle oneself from undifferentiated
relationships. Thus, emotional cutoff is a reactive process that seems to
negatively affect the career development process.
With regard to reactivity, results are as expected with higher levels of
emotional reactivity predicting lower levels of vocational identity and
lower levels of decisiveness. Reactive individuals tend to be ruled by
their emotions at the expense of their intellect (Bowen, 1976), which
seems to challenge vocational identity and decision making.
Differentiation has also been associated with psychosocial identity
development (Johnson et al., 2003), with higher levels of emotional
cutoff and reactivity being associated with the moratorium status of
identity development, in which individuals are actively searching for
and exploring an identity but have not yet made a clear commitment.
Johnson et al. (2003) pointed to an emotional upheaval in the process of
moratorium in which individuals are reactively attempting to differentiate
from parents, causing a great deal of turbulence, which may account for
the inability to commit to a particular identity. These individuals may
be experiencing a similar level of turbulence in the career development
process. This turbulence associated with moratorium, which has been
shown to be related to reactivity and cutoff (Johnson et al., 2003),
may be what is accounting for the lack of vocational identity and lower
levels of decisiveness. Thus, it would make sense that as in the case of
moratorium, individuals from our study who scored high on levels of
emotional cutoff and reactivity are searching, but not yet able to make
clear career decisions and develop a stable vocational identity.
An interesting finding from our study is that higher levels of fusion are
predictive of lower levels of decisiveness; yet fusion is not significantly
related to vocational identity. Fusion reflects an emotional overinvolve-

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 ment with others, specifically one’s parents, indicating a certain level of
dependence on other individuals. This dependence and overinvolvement
in significant relationships may be indicative of a certain level of bor-
rowed functioning from others, specifically one’s parents. According to
Johnson et al. (2003), a higher level of fusion is associated with the ego
identity status of foreclosure, indicating a commitment to an identity that
is largely based on parents’ beliefs without an exploration of alternatives.
The foreclosure process associated with fusion may extend to the career
development process. Specifically, individuals who are fused with their
parents may possess a certain level of vocational identity because they
are borrowing this identity from their parents. However, if individuals
base their career decisions on their parents’ values and beliefs, it makes
sense that they would struggle with their own decision-making process.
Finally, findings related to I position are as expected. Specifically, higher
levels of I position are predictive of higher levels of vocational identity
and higher levels of five of the six subscales (i.e., Decidedness, Comfort,
Self-Clarity, Knowledge, Decisiveness) of the CDP. Results suggest that
a clearly defined sense of self and the ability to thoughtfully adhere to
one’s convictions when pressured to do otherwise is central to healthy
career development (i.e., higher levels of vocational identity and increased
capacity for career decision making). In addition, results support Kerr
and Bowen’s (1988) belief that poorly differentiated individuals have
more energy bound in relationships with others, resulting in little to no
capacity for autonomous functions and a decreased percentage of energy
that can be directed to one’s own life functioning. Thus, an individual
with a high level of I position may have more capacity and energy to
direct one’s own life function, specifically the career development process.
Limitations and Future Research

Our study has limitations that may prove constructive in guiding future
research. First, the study concentrated on the differentiation and career
decision-making abilities of college students. Although an important
population to consider, a college demographic is not representative of all
young adults contending with career choice and the developmental task
of differentiation. In addition, the demographic makeup of the sample
and instrumentation used in our study limit the generalizability of eth-
nic differences. The participants in our study and those in the norming
samples used in the development of the MVS, CDP, and DSI largely
consisted of Caucasians/Anglo Americans. Concepts of individuality
and autonomy have been challenged as less relevant in some cultures
that have a much more group-oriented consciousness than is typically
observed in Western societies (Christopher & Smith, 2006; Johnson
& Smith, 2011). In future research, inclusion of greater ethnic/racial
diversity as well as young adults from outside the college environment
would make the results more generalizable and could address cultural
differences related to ideas of a separate self.
Our study focused on the concept of differentiation, which can be
viewed as a measure of an individual’s current level of psychological
health. Bowen (1978) theorized that an individual’s level of differentia-
tion is a result of a projective process in which parents pass down their
anxieties to their children. Although the current status of an individual’s

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 psychological health is relevant, it may not be sufficient in understanding
the quality of the parental attachment and differentiation process. In
other words, we assessed current differentiation levels, not the process
of how they arrived at their differentiation levels. Future research could
focus on how career decision making is affected by the quality of family
interactions, especially the projection process and reactivity in identity
development (Johnson et al., 2003).
Another limitation of the study is that all measures were self-reported.
Thus, the relationships among variables could have been inflated because
of method variance.

Implications for Career Counselors


Despite limitations, findings from our study have implications for career
counselors and other clinicians who work with a college population.
Our study hypothesized that a balance of attachment to parents and
autonomy in combination with low levels of reactivity in the separation
process would positively affect career development. The findings from
our study, in addition to previous studies on the quality of attachment,
provide a strong justification for career counselors to attentively track
family-of-origin dynamics, which are associated with differentiation.
For example, the use of genograms and lifelines could prompt fam-
ily information that may be relevant to the career process (Brown &
Brooks, 1991). Lease and Dahlbeck (2009) suggested an exploration
of the degree to which parents facilitate autonomy and the quality of
the affective relationships between parents and their children. They also
recommended offering psychoeducational programs for students and
their parents that would facilitate an open discussion on career decision
making and how students and their parents could work together in this
developmental process. Counselors are encouraged to sensitively consider
their clients’ cultural styles and expectations as they navigate issues of
attachment and separation in their relationships.
In our study, I position was highly correlated with all but one measure
of career decision making. This result highlights the importance of
assisting clients in the construction of a solid and clearly defined sense
of self. Jenkins et al. (2005) stated that the focus of counseling could
involve turning clients inward and helping them build a foundation of
inner-generated knowledge rather than external reactivity. McGoldrick
and Carter (2001) suggested coaching individuals to investigate the
role they play in their family system and then having individuals alter
their participation in the system by defining themselves more proac-
tively without fusion or cutoff.
Finally, our results indicate that high levels of emotional cutoff are
inversely related to career development. Counselors are encouraged to
be clear about the qualitative differences between cutoffs and healthy
differentiation. The level of emotional reactivity associated with the
separation process is the key distinction. Career counselors will likely
find it helpful to assist their clients with the resolution of emotional
cutoffs and the underlying, unresolved fusion that may have provoked
the cutoffs (Johnson & Waldo, 1998). In some instances, cutoffs may
be justified (e.g., childhood abuse), but generally should be thoughtfully
considered and addressed (Jenkins et al., 2005).

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