Midlife Career Transition and Identity

Justification of the Study

Justification of the Study

As a member of the Baby Boomer generation, this researcher experienced the desire
to transition during midlife to a new career. She entered nursing school immediately after high school and became a Registered Nurse at 20 years of age. Over the next 25 years, she worked in a variety of settings, including hospitals, surgeons’ offices, and an internal medicine doctor’s office. The researcher experienced the disorienting dilemma of awakening to the belief that she had no desire to work in nursing for another twenty years. The discovery of art therapy, a field which marries the researcher’s passion for art and caring for people while giving them personal time, led to the beginning of the researcher’s personal transformative experience.

The median age continues to rise in the United States (Appendix A; United States Census Bureau, 2016). Consequently, many individuals in midlife will either consider, or will have already made, the transition to a new career. There is limited research on the phenomena of midlife career transition and identity. Through qualitative interviews, this researcher sought to investigate experiences of midlife career transition and its impact on identity. Additionally, through the heuristic component of this study, the researcher aimed to examine the benefits of art therapy using visual journaling during the researcher’s transition season to a new career. The researcher utilized these methods due to the belief that individuals experiencing midlife career transition may benefit from art therapy to assist them with emotional awareness and regulation,
self-expression, increased self-esteem, and narrative re-framing of their life stories. The researcher hopes that her findings will add to the body of art therapy literature on the impact of career change across the lifespan.