Becoming a self through occupation: Occupation as a source of self-continuity in identity formation

For the past 20 years, occupational science researchers have been
occupied with the relationship of occupation and identity formation.
While this research has led to a diverse and rich body of literature, little
attention has been paid to the processes underpinning identity
formation through occupation. Within the broader identity literature,
self-continuity has been identified as an identity process essential to the
foundation of being and the development of a core self. Based on an
assemblage of theories positioned in psychodynamic theory, personality
psychology, and narrative theory, I present a theoretical construct that
describes occupation as a source of self-continuity in identity formation
1) in the ‘now’ of occupational experience, and 2) through the telling
and enactment of occupations in narrative configurations.