Writing as soul work refers to the active engagement of students in transformative writing activities in a group setting with the aim to enable students to develop new, more empowering narratives. This article explains how soul work through writing can be used to foster career adaptability, expressed in the form of increased awareness and self-direction. We summarise the labour market realities that underlie a need for more narrative approaches and introduce writing as soul work as a potential method to respond to these contemporary career challenges. We define what is meant by soul work and writing, illustrate its use with several stories from practice, and make recommendations for teachers and implementation in institutions. ARTICLE HISTORY

English teachers encourage writing that opens college students to transformative learning through soul work as John Dirkx describes and develops the concept of soul work in his theory of transformative learning. This soul work involves the conscious attempt to bring to the surface myths, images, and metaphors from the unconscious through imaginative writing and thinking processes. Participants in this study engage in personal interviews through which they answer questions about the activities most useful for soul work inside their classrooms and the results of their soul work experiences. Through phenomenological methodology, the lived experiences of six community college English teachers yield valuable results that connect holistic learning, soul work, and transformative learning theory. Soul work occurs in English classes when, according to the participants of this study, teachers and students enter a call, movement, and response relationship.