Life Transitions Counseling
Feeling Overwhelmed By Big Changes?
Are you entering a new situation that’s causing you to question your path and identity?
Have you recently lost something or someone, moved, or changed jobs?
Are you feeling exhausted as you try to figure out which parts of your past to hold onto and how to make space for what’s ahead?
You may feel like your life bears little resemblance to how it used to look. Especially if aspects of your daily routine have changed drastically, you may be struggling to adapt. Whether you’re anxious, having trouble sleeping, or experiencing physical discomfort, your mind and body are probably signaling unease.
On top of that, you might be feeling disappointed that you’re not handling this transition as well as you thought you would. Despite the fact that, in some cases, the transition is welcomed—for example, taking on a new role, retiring, having children, or becoming an empty nester—it’s confusing when expectations don’t match up with reality.
No matter what your new chapter holds, if you’re letting go of something, you’re probably grieving. In doing so, you’re experiencing very normal feelings of sadness, aimlessness, and frustration. As you move through this adjustment period, you may feel disconnected to the parts of yourself you’ve left behind, including your relationships and former identity.
But it’s possible to feel supported, connected, and confident moving forward. In therapy for life transitions through Inner Voice Counseling, you can create an actionable, empowering plan for the future.
It Takes Fortitude And Bravery To Make Changes
As the old saying goes, “Change is the only constant.” Nevertheless, embarking on change takes tremendous courage. As a therapist, I recognize and honor the courage you’re demonstrating in powering ahead with your life’s next transition.
I see a lot of individuals at every stage of adulthood struggling to manage their stress, whether they’re switching careers or retiring, expanding their family, navigating a loss, or new to Colorado. They have to figure out so many details all at once, often questioning What is my identity now? Despite doing everything they can to prepare for the change, they’re emotionally and mentally overwhelmed as the reality of their new life sets in. Not to mention, they often feel like they have to find answers entirely out on their own.
But my job as a therapist is to help you manage your emotions and tell you that it’s okay to feel overwhelmed when adapting to a big life transition. It’s brave of you to take the leap and face the future, and I want to help you recover from the stress of all that change. Working together in counseling, you can keep your eyes on the destination and gain the skills to get there in the quickest, healthiest, and most resilient way possible.
Therapy Through Inner Voice Counseling Prepares You To Navigate Big Life Transitions
Often when we’re in the midst of a significant change, we feel so caught up in the details that we lose sight of the big picture. Therapy provides you with an opportunity to gain essential perspective on your situation so that you can approach your life transition with clarity and awareness.
What To Expect
First and foremost, therapy will give you individualized tools for managing distress as your anxiety escalates. By calming your mind and body, you can think and approach problems more clearly. With these strategies in place, you can begin the deeper work of challenging anxious, counterproductive patterns.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) combined with mindfulness helps with emotion identification and managing your stress response, ultimately reducing negative, incessant thoughts on a loop. When combined with mindfulness, ACT gives you a meaningful chance to stay grounded in the moment instead of hyper-fixating on what’s next. The stress reduction skills you gain through counseling will not only be helpful for this particular life transition—they will come in handy for the rest of your life.
Therapy can help you to see that who you are is not defined by what you do; rather, what you do is informed by who you are. Change is an inevitable aspect of life, but it doesn’t have to invite anxiety at every turn. Instead, as you learn to challenge negative self-beliefs and make choices according to your authentic values in counseling, you can navigate any life transition with confidence.
Common Questions About Counseling For Life Transitions…
How can a therapist actually help me make this new transition in my life?
When processing a significant change on your own, it’s hard to have a perspective on what the bigger picture will look like. A therapist gently guides you in facing tough questions and learning strategies that will allow you to grieve and move forward. Talking through these questions as a team gives you a chance to feel less overwhelmed, anxious, and more supported.
I’m on medication—can counseling help me get off of it?
Counseling for life transitions is absolutely intended to help you combat symptoms of anxiety and depression. That said, there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration if you want to stop medication.
As a non-prescribing clinician, I ultimately leave any medication-related decisions up to you and your doctor, though I hope our time together in therapy helps you feel more resourced and capable of managing big life transitions.
How long will I need to be in therapy?
Time spent in therapy greatly depends on the severity of your symptoms. The vast majority of my clients discover what skills they need to navigate their life transition after about ten weeks of weekly sessions before switching to biweekly appointments. Eventually, they will go down to one therapy session a month, either tapering off completely or continuing our sessions to receive ongoing emotional support.
Many of my clients stay in counseling even after their initial life transition is managed because they enjoy working with a therapist who knows their life stories and struggles.
Honor What’s Been Lost So You Can Embrace What’s Ahead
Therapy through Inner Voice Counseling can give you the perspective and skills needed to embark on your life transition with confidence. For more information about how I can help, contact me.
Recent Posts
