ABSTRACT
In the preceding chapter, eight individual stories were presented. Each story represents a verified life career experience of a counsellor trainee from a non-Western culture (NWC). While each narrative manifests a range of diverse and unique experiences, in this chapter I intend to present a general narrative that will synthesize the main aspects and/or key themes that have arisen from the experiences of these eight individuals. This general narrative describes and illustrates the particular experiences of those who were involved in the current study, and may yield some generalizations to people in similar contexts. A narrative itself does not represent a result or outcome, but rather, the plots and turning points that become apparent through the narration process render meaningful descriptions. It is these descriptions that function as the means leading to explanations and interpretations of individuals’ actions associated with objectives, aims, goals, and purposes. Such human intentions are the essence a narrative attempts to focus on, to explore, to comprehend, and to convey. That is, the narrative serves as the core of meaning making in people’s lives. Our present narrative of NWC counsellor trainees’ experiences is no exception, and its function echoes exactly the very same nature of meaning making that a human story has. In defining such a nature, Cochran (1997) identifies three key characteristics of a narrative:
According to Cochran (1997), a story begins with a conflict, problem, or disequilibrium that drives the development of the whole story; the middle comprises the efforts to resolve the conflicts and problems; and the end brings closure to what had originated in the beginning. Cochran (1997) further suggests that a positive end is a solution to a problem or a resolution to a conflict. However, if the outcome state is deemed to be negative, the end can be a resignation to a problem or a loss.
