Life Transitions Counseling
Are You Feeling Overwhelmed By Changing Circumstances?
Have you been struggling with a difficult change lately? Perhaps you recently moved, changed careers, married, separated, or became the caretaker of a loved one and are uncertain about how to handle the changes that have come your way.
Do you find yourself worrying about these transitions? It’s possible that you’re overwhelmed and struggle to focus on anything outside the change. You may have even started unconsciously cutting out things that used to give you joy.
In fact, not knowing how to handle all these life transitions may have become so overwhelming that you’ve started to feel stuck or helpless. Perhaps you’ve started getting down on yourself because you’ve experienced changes like this before and believe you should be able to handle what you’re facing now.
Regardless of the type of transition, you’d probably like to manage the more difficult emotions—such as sadness, anxiety, frustration, and fear—and to gain a sense of control and empowerment.
Lots Of People Struggle With Change
Transitions are a natural part of life. They encompass any sort of major shift in our lives, such as a career change, a major move, a change in family dynamics, or a change in personal identity. Everyone at some point faces these kinds of changes.
Because change is natural, people often assume that they should be able to handle it on their own. What many don’t understand is that just because it’s natural doesn’t make it easy.
When people go through life transitions, they can often feel stuck, alone, and isolated. Oftentimes, people worry about burdening others with their problems, and so they may keep quiet in order to protect friends and family. Others may fear that their concerns won’t be taken seriously or that loved ones may not get it.
When you’ve gone through a major change before, these feelings of self-doubt and stuckness can be particularly frustrating. You might discover that strategies that worked well before aren’t working as well for this transition. You might even feel embarrassed or confused about the fact that dealing with change seems harder than it was before.
But you don’t have to go through transitions feeling stuck and helpless. By working with a trained therapist, you can learn how to manage stress and build skills that will help you face your concerns.
Therapy Can Help You Manage Difficult Changes
Counseling is incredibly effective in teaching people stress management. It can impart you with self-confidence, valuable coping mechanisms, and an ability to take on new perspectives towards old dilemmas.
I provide a warm, safe environment where we can explore the problem together and find solutions that work for you.
When you deal with difficult life transitions, you will often be faced with a wide variety of emotional ups and downs. One of my major goals with therapy is to help you understand and use these emotions in a way that will serve you better. For example, if you’re anxious about starting a new job, I’ll help you build skills to reduce and unpack the anxiety, take steps to increase your agency and identify tangible ways to proactively engage with your situation.
Our focus can often shift in unhelpful ways when we face major life transitions. This means that it’s easy to forget to recharge or focus on problems beyond our control. Through mindfulness techniques and talk therapy, I can help you hone your ability to focus and identify your strengths. For example, I might help you build self-care habits into your daily life, and find space for joy in addition to challenge. This way, you’ll be ready to face the challenges of your transition head on.
I understand how frustrating navigating a major change may be, but I want you to know that I’ll be here to work with you as you discover how to manage it. I have a PhD in counseling psychology and have been helping people go through life transitions for almost ten years. During this time, I’ve helped many people navigate a wide range of transitions, and it’s been a joy to see them tap into the strength they didn’t know they had and grow from the experience.
Managing change is hard, but you don’t have to go through it alone. It’s possible to regain a sense of clarity and hope and to come out on the other side better than when you started.
You might still have some concerns…
Are we just going to talk about the problem over and over again?
While I will absolutely ask you to talk about the problem, it won’t be just to address things we’ve already handled. My goal is to help identify what’s really going on and to differentiate your worries from reality. I can help you figure out what you can do to address change, and I can help you connect with resources within yourself as well as around you that will provide lasting support.
I already have people I can talk to.
Friends and family are wonderful as a support system. However, it can be very helpful to have a safe and more neutral space to talk about your problems.
Many times your support system can be affected by the same changes that you’re experiencing. Sometimes your support system may be invested in specific outcomes or may not be able to explore all the options available for dealing with the situation. Additionally, some people may want to protect their loved ones from the changes they’re facing. A therapist is a professional who is invested in your growth and happiness but isn’t tied to a specific outcome in the same way a loved one might be.
I’m not sure you’ll really understand what I’m going through.
My goal is to provide an empathic and warm space where you can talk about your problems without fear of judgment. I view therapy as a partnership where I earn your trust through attentive listening, honest feedback, and collaborative work that helps you meet your goals. Whatever solutions we come to will be ones that make the most sense for you.
Life Transitions Don’t Have To Control Your Life
If you still have questions, I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation that you can set up through my scheduling form. There is a silver lining to every change; by working together, I can help you find it.