Narrative career counselling for Chinese clients in Hong Kong: Cultural inclusiveness and practice development

Abstract

This chapter discusses the application of narrative career counselling in Hong Kong, considering issues relating to cultural appropriateness and professional practice. Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan city with a population of over 7 million and a Chinese society, with over 90% of its population being ethnic Chinese. In the discussion, we highlight the cultural inclusiveness of narrative career counselling and its applications in Hong Kong. Narrative career counselling addresses clients' subjective experiences in the local social and cultural context by focusing on their storytelling. Moreover, efforts have been made to introduce and develop narrative career counselling practice locally with good potential for further development. To illustrate the local practice development, we have included a case of a young Chinese woman who participated in a six-session narrative life design programme in a mental health service setting in Hong Kong.