Innovative moments and narrative change in career counselling: a case study

Abstract

This case study of an undecided university student has two aims: to assess the effect of life design career counseling on autobiographical reasoning and career variables, and to analyze the client’s narrative transformation using the innovative moments coding system. Results show improvement in career development and organization of autobiographical narrative. The client’s narrative evolved from basic to complex levels of elaboration. The spontaneous emergence of re-conceptualization innovative moments differs from previous studies and suggests that counseling length and tasks can facilitate re-conceptualization. Among the implications, the use of narrative change markers to fit counseling tasks to clients’ level of development is discussed.