Life-Career Re-Engagement: Considerations and Implications for Counselling People in Retirement Transition--Part 2 (Report‪)‬

The proposed new concept of life-career re-engagement (LCRE) is an addition to and enrichment of the conceptual framework for counselling people in retirement transition. From the perspective of LCRE, the retirement phase of life may be regarded as a re-engagement with the opportunity for self-exploration and self-enhancement as well as the integration and interaction of life roles. An elaboration on the rationale for proposing the new concept of life-career re-engagement (LCRE) in the context of retirement transition is the purpose of this article. The meaningfulness of the LCRE concept rests on its forward-looking and constructive perspective in viewing one's great potential that can be explored, used and enriched during our later life experiences. In light of the meaningfulness of the LCRE concept, this article presents several counselling considerations that may help people in their retirement transitions. These considerations are inspired by and support the LCRE concept. They aim to show how the LCRE concept may be translated into a helping practice. The term 'retirement transition' here refers to a very general and loosely defined life-career stage. It may include individuals who are in the process of leaving their regular working lives and moving towards a retirement life. It may also mean people who have just made the physical transfer from the role of a paid worker to the role of a retiree. Furthermore, the term could include the retired workers who have been experiencing their retirement career for quite some time, and are continuing their transitional experiences in the re-engagement stage (Kim & Moen, 2001). As such, individuals' experiences, expectations and other needs may vary because of the different sub-stages they are in, making the LCRE counselling in the retirement transition a very situational and individual-oriented helping and coping intervention.