The world is in a period of rapid change. Trends in moving to a high technology information society, a world economy, more ethnic groups, an increasing economic gap between the rich and the poor, and more people living in poverty present enormous challenges and opportunities for the counseling profession. Counseling must broaden its focus from a narrow intrapsychic perspective to a more systems oriented perspective including a social context for change. The social context of change has for the most part been ignored and the counseling profession has been largely ineffective in responding to a multitude of social issues that have arisen. What seems to be needed is both a broadening of perspective and a wider array of intervention techniques. Counselors must move to a more pluralistic perspective in working with clients. Counseling needs to take an integrated, dynamic, holistic view of health that eliminates mechanistic explanations. Research needs to be strengthened and furthered. Perhaps research needs to be viewed from a much broader perspective than traditional scientific models. If counseling can include social issues, be more effective with poor and minority populations, change theories to fit the new paradigms of science, emphasize prevention, work with other disciplines, and strengthen research, counseling can be relevant and viable into the next century. (ABL)