The Disorienting Dilemma of Unemployment: Transformative Learning, Life Design, and Community Strategies for navigating work transitions

The paper explores the impact of key significant experiences, focusing on the transformative potential of critical events such as job loss. Through Transformative Learning, individuals can undergo cognitive and emotional revisions of meaning perspectives, influencing self-perception and interactions with others and the world. Using the lifelong perspective of Life Design paradigm, professional career and personal aspirations can be reshaped in new paths. These two approaches are integrated in a Participatory Action Research involving a group of unemployed adults. The article analyses the impact of the disorienting dilemma on individuals’ well-being, emphasising the importance of community guidance strategies for perspectives transformation and the role of narratives in the process of critical reflection.