At other times, a person must decide which value should prevail in an envisioned course of life. The peculiarity of this decision is that a client does not decide between options, but between values, weighing their relative advantages and disadvantages for the future. Occasionally, clients can transcend a conflict by considering their priorities. For example, a client might find that the conflicting values are relatively unimportant when compared to other core values. The techniques chosen in career counseling largely determine the contents of awareness.
Some contents are apt to become visible while others remain invisible.
Unfortunately, traditional techniques of career counseling tend to make value conflict invisible. For example, conflict is not apparent in interpreting an interest test or a test of work values. In short, recognizing and dealing with conflict requires a change in career counseling practice. The immediate question, then, is whether or not it would be worthwhile to make value conflict a part of career counseling. In cases where conflict must be resolved, it seems necessary that conflict be recognized, understood, and dealt with in some way.