Nationally speaking. Life history and narrative research: generating a humanistic knowledge base for occupational...

As a profession, occupational therapists are guided in practice by the accumulated knowledge of occupational therapy. This article demonstrates the contributions of life-history and narrative research to this knowledge base. We are suggesting that in response to our humanistic roots, we must pursue additional knowledge, principles of practice, and ethical philosophies that support practice. We have argued that our ideologic concern for the client must guide our choice of epistemologies to investigate the lived experience to those whom we serve. "What is at stake here is the ethic that is embedded in the epistemology that gives rise to kinds of research" (Brock, 1995, p.157) that meet the societal demands for professionalism and support a humanistic practice.