Diane, I like your typology and I am excited to think that we have reached the point of needing some qualitative research on the evolution of the LC as a professional! I can clearly see myself on that second crest now, as I've become mostly a mentor for new LCs. When I hit the last stage...the one with burnout, I wanted to see the larger picture more clearly so I added the doula role to my repertoire. Now that I look back upon my career, I think every time I've hit that lull I've responded by wanting a larger picture. For instance: I started out as a NICU nurse and when I got burned out I went to pediatric nursing....then when I burned out on that I went to perinatal nursing......from there to LC work and Family Studies......and then to doulaing and Women's Studies........... I now do family education including birth, breastfeeding, baby care, child care, parenting...... I would love to see some research on this subject! How many of us have this pattern of ever expanding interests? Is it unique to LCs? Seems there are some pretty big questions to ask! Susan *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html