Narrative Career Counselling for People with Refugee Backgrounds

Labour market integration of young refugees and asylum seekers: a look at perceived barriers and resources

“…Career counselling can play a pivotal role in identifying immigrants' barriers and strengthening their resources as they face labour market integration challenges. In particular, narrative career counselling has been shown to be effective in this sense (Abkherz & McMahon, 2017;Kennedy & Chen, 2012). Focusing on individuals' relation to work and taking into account people's life trajectories and the meaning of their experiences, this approach provides powerful support to young immigrants (McIlveen & Patton, 2007).…”

“…More specifically, by tracing their life trajectories throughout a de-, re-, and coconstruction process, refugees and asylum seekers can identify their past and current barriers and acknowledge their resources. Moreover, awareness of their resources and positive stories foster their capacity to forge career plans with hope, confidence, and optimism, and to seize opportunities (Abkherz & McMahon, 2017;Amundson, 2009;Kennedy & Chen, 2012).…”

Finding voice through narrative storytelling: An exploration of the career development of young African females with refugee backgrounds

“…Facilitating the process of storytelling as an act of inquiry into the career narratives of participants exhibited examples of the five process constructs of reflection, meaning making, connectedness, learning and agency, inherent in the practice of narrative career counselling (Abkhezr & McMahon, 2017;McMahon et al, 2012). Additionally, the curiosity and tentative listening posed by the interviewer, allowed participants to experience a relational power dynamic which was different from many of their previous interview experiences (Abkhezr & McMahon, 2017).…”

“…These youths might have never had an opportunity to story their career journey and therefore, their efforts, achievements, struggles and challenges for reconnecting with their skills and abilities might have never been voiced. Therefore, an exploration of their career development inevitably needs to involve a process of finding voices that might have been lost or silenced (Abkhezr & McMahon, 2017). However, to do this, the heterogeneity of these young people must be acknowledged (Schultheiss & Davis, 2015).…”

“…Such an approach could provide a space where youth with refugee backgrounds may narrate career stories and, through the experience of storying, find an opportunity to voice career plans, motivations and concerns for the first time. Exploring and raising sensitivity to the career development of young people with refugee backgrounds among researchers and practitioners is subject to the provision of such a space and finding lost and silenced voices which can be achieved using narrative approaches (Abkhezr & McMahon, 2017;Maree, 2007;McMahon & Watson, 2013). Narrative approaches to career counselling honour people's subjective experiences, local and particular ways of narrating career stories and conceptualisations of work (Abkhezr & McMahon, 2017;Abkhezr et al, 2015;Blustein, Kozan, Connors-Kellgren, & Rand, 2015;Maree & Molepo, 2007;Słowik, 2014).…”