students and parental influence on choice. In the study, they evaluated narratives of fifty

students and found five common career and family themes. These included stories with

dramatic turning points, positive progressive narratives, progressive narratives with

negative stages, anticipated regressive narratives, and sad narratives.

 In the stories that included a dramatic turning point, students were able to change

the outcome of a life story, usually from a failure story to a success story (Young,

Friesen, & Borycki, 1994). In positive progressive narratives, students felt that their

stories were predetermined in a positive way. In progressive narratives with negative

stages, the storyteller described a positive outcome despite negative parental influence.

The anticipated regressive narrative group included stories in which the student felt that

there would never been a reconciliation between the parents' career narratives and their

own. Finally, the last group included those with no career story and a general despair

related to life goals (Young, Friesen, & Borycki, 1994).

 The authors examined the narratives in order to examine the cultural

understanding of careers generally established by parents (Young, Friesen, & Borycki,

1994). In addition, the narratives reflected directly on the interpersonal relationships

between parents and children. Finally, they dramatically expressed how the child felt

about his or her relationship to the family and what he or she believed would be the

relationship to the world outside of the family (Young, Friesen, & Borycki, 1994).

 In describing a new narrative-based career counseling intervention, Emmett and

Hawkins (1997) further explored the theoretical, research, and practical applications of a

narrative approach. Rather than matching clients into a career to position fit, career

counselors working from a narrative framework helped clients create meaning for the

purpose of belonging and participating. Described as an editor or perhaps co-author, the