Life Transition Counseling

Are You Struggling to Navigate a Significant Change?

Do you feel unprepared for the future, or are you worried that you’re making the wrong decisions? Perhaps you’re doubting a once-certain career move or suddenly uncertain about having the kids you thought you always wanted. Are you having doubts about your marriage, wondering if you’re truly with the right partner after all? Maybe you are thinking about ending a relationship, but the idea of being alone or dating again is terrifying and exhausting.

Do you simply wish that you could feel more comfortable with change and more confident in your choices?

Whether you’re starting a new career in your early twenties or dealing with marital upheaval in your fifties, major life transitions can be disorienting and anxiety-inducing. A new marriage might leave you struggling with unforeseen complications, such as managing joint finances or juggling family life and work life. A promotion may leave you overworked and stressed, while a recent and unexpected layoff could leave you questioning your entire career path. Maybe you’ve moved to a new part of the country and find that your new home isn’t as welcoming as you thought it would be. Or, perhaps you are feeling stuck or unsatisfied but don’t know how to find purpose and fulfillment. During this period of change and uncertainty, you may doubt a piece of your identity and wonder if you know what you need or want as well as you thought you did.

Difficult Transitions Are Nearly Universal Experiences

While a tough period of transition might make you feel like a lone failure in a sea of successful, adaptable people, everyone struggles with change at one point or another. Even if life transitions make you feel isolated, rest assured that others are dealing with similarly difficult changes.

Many different changes create turmoil in people’s lives, but changes to relationships, careers, or lifestyle can feel particularly distressing. A major shift in your relationship, such as getting married or divorced, can not only disrupt your daily life but also make you question who you are. Similarly, having small children can prevent you from relaxing or maintaining a regular self-care routine. A layoff at work can cause self-doubt and feelings of uselessness, while undertaking a big move often results in feeling “out-of-place,” especially if you’ve moved to a completely unfamiliar location. Finally, those recently diagnosed with an acute or chronic illness, such as cancer or Crohn’s disease, must generally change their lifestyles in dramatic ways, leading some to feel as if they’ve lost their sense of self.

Whatever change you’re going through, facing it alone inevitably makes it seem scarier. If you’re struggling with changes that seem insurmountable, life transition counseling can help you regain confidence and control.

Life Transitions Counseling Combines Practical Problem Solving and Emotional Support

Therapy offers a valuable chance to slow down and explore new perspectives on the issues you’re dealing with. Time dedicated to self-reflection is especially important for those struggling with major change, as it can help you understand why you’re feeling so stressed and also what you can do to navigate life transitions.

In life transitions counseling, I’ll help you identify practical resources to make the right decisions both now and in the future. If you’re dealing with significant work adjustments, our time together might resemble career counseling sessions, focusing on developing networking skills, drafting resumes, and identifying your strengths, values, and complementary career paths. Or, if you’re dealing with a relationship change, my sessions might look more like marriage and family counseling, identifying resources to start dating again, co-parent more effectively or improve the way you and your spouse communicate. Most importantly, we’ll practice decision-making skills to ensure that future life transitions are less disruptive.

Besides identifying resources and exercises to help your day-to-day experience, during life transitions counseling we will also explore your deep emotions and your past to discover what is truly causing you so much pain in the present. We might address tough questions, including why you’re making the change, what you need in this moment and what you truly want to get out of life. We also might touch on why you’re getting mad at or down on yourself for having difficulty navigating this change, validating that the transition is unique to you and there is no “right” way to get through it. After all, it’s impossible to make a truly perfect decision, and even effectively managed transitions can be difficult.

Change is a learning process, and even the most difficult transitions often result in the discovery of meaningful, powerful qualities we never knew we had. Life transitions counseling can help you work through the stress of the unknown and emerge from turmoil with renewed self-awareness and confidence.

You might still have questions or concerns about life transition counseling…

Everyone goes through tough transitions. Why do I need counseling?

Many people assume that you don’t need (or, in some cases, don’t deserve) to go to life transitions counseling. However, while it’s true that some people don’t go to therapy when dealing with major change, everyone is unique, and you shouldn’t base what you need on what everyone else does. Therapy can give you invaluable insight into the ways that you deal with change, allowing you to voice your concerns rather than wrestling with them alone.

Therapy is too expensive.

While it’s true that therapy is an investment, it can actually save you money in the long run. Regular therapy can help you gain a clearer sense of direction in your life before you waste valuable time and money on school programs, long-distance moves or other financial commitments that don’t actually serve your goals and values. Therapy can also help you avoid the heartache of an unhealthy relationship or divorce. While there is nothing wrong with these experiences in and of themselves, effective career counseling or marriage and family counseling can help you make balanced decisions that align with your truest self.

I’ve always made bad decisions; it’s just the way I am!

It’s important to avoid boxing yourself into a negative self-definition: decisions are hard to make, and no one can see completely what kind of impact they will have. An expert in life transitions can help you uncover the reasons behind the decisions you’ve made and develop the insight and clarity you need to make healthier choices in the future.

Are you ready to gain confidence in navigating change? Contact me today for a free phone consultation, and you can ask me any questions you may have about my life transitions counseling practice online and in Simsbury, CT.