Midlife Career Transition and Identity

Definition of Terms

Definition of Terms

Art Therapy. Art therapy is a mental health profession that offers individuals, families and communities life enrichment through art-making within a psychotherapeutic relationship (AATA, 2018).
Midlife. Midlife refers to the period of life beginning at the middle of a person’s expected lifespan (Freund & Ritter, 2009). Midlife corresponds with roughly ages 43-62 years old (Strenger & Ruttenberg, 2008).

Generativity Versus Stagnation. A stage of Erikson’s (1980) psychosocial model of development, generativity vs. stagnation refers to the stage that corresponds roughly to midlife. Generativity is characterized as future thinking, caring for others, and seeking to improve one’s community or world. Stagnation is characterized as feelings of disconnection from community or society, or failure to be future-oriented.

Identity. Identity has been conceptualized as the condition of being a specific person and having individuality (Guralink, 1980). Identity develops throughout life as one learns to know oneself, one’s potential, and one’s purpose.

Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT). RCT developed from psychodynamic and feminist theory, with emphasis on human relationships and connections (Jordan, 2010). Primary theory was that humans are born for connections with other humans.

Soul. The soul has been described as the “spirit or immaterial part of man, the seat of human personality, intellect, will, and emotions, regarded as an entity that survives the body after death” (Soul, n.d.). Other words to describe soul include: essence, being, particularity (Soul, 1977).

Visual Journal. A visual journal is a journal in which creating art is in the foreground, and words are secondary. The reflective writing elaborates on thoughts and feelings expressed in images first (Jacobson-Levy & Foy-Tournay, 2010).

Wabi-sabi. Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic of finding beauty in accepting imperfection in nature and acceptance of the natural cycle of life, growth and death (Buetow & Wallis, 2017).