LEÃO, M. A. B. G.; GÍGLIO, J. S. Psicodinâmica da mulher trabalhadora de meia-idade em fase de pré-aposentadoria [Psychodynamic of a middle age working woman in pre-retirement stage]. Psico-USP. Campinas, v. 7, n. 2, p. 185-194, jul-dez. 2002.
Available on: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/pusf/v7n2/v7n2a07
This study analyzes the process of retiring as a transition phenomenon in middle age, investigating how a working woman, with a high level of professional qualification, experiences the proximity of retirement and what guides her life expectations. It uses interviews and story-drawing as a technique of clinical investigation of personality, analyzing qualitatively the data in the light of Analytical Psychology. The authors found that the proximity of the loss of professional identity, due to retirement, mobilizes shadow symbols that can be integrated into consciousness, as well as transformation archetypes, determining the quality of facing these changes in mid-life. She concludes that the retirement event propitiates the redefinition and reorientation of this woman’s personality and that the preparation programs for retirement should highlight the importance of the psychological aspects that this event involves, favoring the continuity of the individuation process.