Life Transitions Therapy
Are You Navigating A Significant Change Or Transition?
As humans, our lives are in constant flux. Many of us are being pulled in multiple directions at once—whether we’re embracing a new, welcomed development or adjusting to a challenging shift. Life transitions take on many forms, from the physical to the emotional to the cognitive to the spiritual. In the process, it’s normal to experience a crisis of identity and wonder How will I endure this?
If you have recently undergone a change in your health, family, career, or day-to-day routine, you are likely grappling with big questions about your life and what’s next. Fear and anxiety may be compromising your ability to think clearly, resulting in intense confusion, sadness, and longing. With all change, we are letting go of something, and feelings of grief are to be expected.
When life is overwhelming, it can be tempting to want time to stop or even move back to when you felt safer and more in control. You may feel so paralyzed by your worry about making the wrong decision or leaving something behind that you cannot take the next step. Wanting to move forward, you may not know how.
Therapy is an opportunity to put your unique life transition into perspective so that you can have a better understanding of what is happening and how to navigate the change. Working together, we will uncover the deeper meaning of your transition and gain clarity about what you really want and need.
Life Transitions Can Be A Portal To Deeper Meaning And Perspective
My clients often seek professional counseling when they have reached a crossroad in their lives. Sometimes they have started a relationship or ended one. Maybe something happened in their lives to trigger an identity crisis. Or perhaps their career has taken a turn, for better or worse. Many of the people I work with in counseling grapple with the pressure of growing age and responsibilities, whether they are undergoing physical changes, have received a life-altering medical diagnosis, or find themselves in “the sandwich generation”—caught between raising children and caring for elderly parents. For these individuals, challenging emotional and somatic symptoms are common.
A Psychology Today article cites Professor William Bridges, author of the book Transitions, as saying, “Divorces, deaths, job changes, moves, illnesses, and many lesser events disengage us from the contexts in which we have known ourselves. They break up the old cue system that served to reinforce our roles and pattern our behavior.” [1] In other words, life transitions are disruptors—forcing us to re-evaluate our values, our relationships, and ourselves.
While the transitions in Bridges’ aforementioned list are certainly valid, it’s also important to consider how the stress of many common transitions flies under the radar because these transitions are considered “normal” or “good” (i.e., purchasing a house, welcoming a baby, becoming an empty nester, etc.). This causes many people to feel that they should be responding differently or that their grief is somehow not valid.
At the root of every significant change—welcomed or not—is a pattern, a learned response. Psychotherapy can significantly help to disentangle patterns and tap into deeper, unconscious issues that have the ability to offer tremendous insight on how to move forward. As we explore core issues together, we can facilitate healthy coping and resilience, leading to deeper meaning and perspective in your life
Therapy Allows You To Understand And Honor Your Life Transition
Therapy for life transitions requires awareness: a “stop, look, and listen” mindset. Paying attention to where there is movement and where there is stagnancy, you can foster a deeper self-understanding. With newfound insight and recognition of your symptoms, you will likely discover a silenced aspect of the self and empowering ways to express that part of the self.
As a depth psychologist, I approach counseling as an opportunity to explore the various layers of your life transition and get to the core of what is actually causing your pain and suffering. We will navigate the question of what this change means for you. Through this exploration in therapy, I aim to instill an understanding of what is actually being played out through your life transition and why. From here, space is opened up for new meanings and possibilities.
Psychodynamic therapy allows you to reframe past experiences and cultural contexts as you become conscious of the unconscious forces at play in your life. Furthermore, dream work and symbolism can help you stimulate your imagination for what could be and help you endure the liminal space between where you are now and where you want to be.
The only constant in life is change, and therapy is a meaningful opportunity to adjust your relationship with change as you enhance your overall quality of life. Through counseling, you can find meaning and purpose in all of your life transitions, honoring each step of your journey along the way.
Common Questions About Counseling For Life Transitions
I worry the pain of this transition will never stop.
This is an understandable, natural thing to feel—especially during times of significant transition. The truth is that change is a dynamic process that occurs all around us in nature. Just like all living things, the human psyche is naturally equipped to endure and move through change.
By taking the time to face the transition in therapy as you better understand your reaction to it, you are making the most important step towards processing this stage in your life. I will be here to support you along the way.
Other people don’t seem to take this life transition as hard as I have been—there must be something wrong with me.
This is a common feeling. The experience of navigating life transitions is highly personal and individualized. Everyone moves through the mountains and valleys of life differently, and there is no “right” or “wrong” way to do it. The goal of therapy is to focus on what this transition means for you and how to honor your personal process—however that looks and feels in your life.
I should be able to figure out my life transition on my own without the help of a therapist.
While this is a common feeling, social support is absolutely essential to navigating the process of change; we are wired for connection, not meant to move through life’s challenges alone. I am confident that therapy can offer you a sense of community while actively offering strategies for reducing the emotional and physical symptoms impacting your daily life.
You Can Endure Loss And Find Meaning Again
If a significant change or transition has thrown you off kilter, therapy can offer you a new sense of balance, clarity, and resilience in your life. For more information about how I can help, contact me.
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