Life Transitions Therapy
Are You Facing A Crossroads You Didn’t Expect Or Plan For?
Are you experiencing a life transition that seems too overwhelming to confront? Faced with making important decisions, do you feel frozen in place and unable to move forward? Have new circumstances caused you to doubt yourself or question life’s meaning?
The times in life when things are in flux can be challenging. Perhaps a recent milestone has thrown your life off-balance. Although you had been looking forward to this phase, maybe now that it’s happened, the upheaval has caused you to lose clarity about your life’s direction. Feeling rudderless, you may fear the future.
You Could Be Facing Tough Decisions Or Circumstances
If you’re experiencing a setback or challenge that requires a decision, you may struggle to hold yourself accountable. Even though you might need to make a fresh start, it might be hard to summon the courage to take the leap. You may find yourself procrastinating instead of taking action. Lacking intrinsic motivation and willpower may cause you to feel wishy-washy and apathetic.
Rather than being an active participant in your life, you may have lost your sense of self and confidence in decision-making. If you feel isolated, overwhelmed, and stuck in place, you probably wish you had the wisdom to know what path to choose and trust yourself without second-guessing.
Regardless of the life transitions you are facing, therapy can support you in your journey forward. Counseling can help you navigate whatever season of life you are in, from transitioning between college and career, premarital guidance, becoming a new parent, facing an empty nest, moving, or retirement.
Life Transitions Happen Whether Or Not We’re Prepared For Them
There are seasons of life that are rife with uncertainty. When we encounter change, we must rely on our sense of self to navigate the shifting tides. However, if we experience life transitions with little or no bandwidth to handle more uncertainty, we often don’t know how to move forward. Instead of confronting what lies ahead directly, we may postpone making concrete choices.
Whether we are ready or not, we still have to go through what life throws at us. If we aren’t anchored by a strong sense of self, we could make decisions that go against our best interests. We often don’t realize how our past experiences inform and shape how we respond to change and fuel our discomfort.
Milestones Can Be Bittersweet
Even when the changes in store are seemingly positive, our apprehension and mixed emotions can make the experience bittersweet. We may be ashamed to admit our fears to others if we think we should be nothing but happy and grateful. But the fear of the unknown is a powerful thing. Taking steps out of our comfort zone where everything is safe and familiar can be scary.
When the path ahead is unclear, it’s natural to wonder where to begin. If there are too many potential pathways to choose from, it can be easy to become overwhelmed and freeze. Or we might feel like we should be able to handle things on our own rather than consider seeking professional support to help guide us.
However, not acknowledging the importance of a milestone belittles it. Even though it may just be one short chapter in your life, it’s connected to something bigger. Life transitions therapy puts things in perspective and provides you with the tools you need to be more definitive with your decisions and move forward with confidence.
Life Transitions Therapy Can Help You Rediscover Your Inner Compass
As humans, we are naturally driven to make meaning of our lives and feel known to ourselves and others. In the pursuit of self-exploration, we formulate a narrative of ourselves that guides us along our journey. When we encounter a setback, challenge, or unexpected curveball, we can recraft our narrative to adjust to our new circumstances. But when life seems daunting, we may forget that we have this potential and, instead, freeze in the face of adversity.
Regardless of the challenge you face, life transitions therapy can help you tap into your innate wisdom. Working with a therapist offers a safe space to engage with and trust your decision-making abilities. Being known and identifying what is true to you allows you to embody your life with the knowledge that your inner compass is guiding you.
What To Expect In Sessions
In therapy sessions, we will take a holistic approach that evaluates your current mindset and formulates helpful strategies for handling life transitions, including:
Learning beneficial coping strategies, such as stress management, goal setting and achievement, time management to boost productivity, building a support network, and holding yourself accountable;
Improving decision-making and adaptation to build confidence and self-esteem;
Exploring your identity and purpose to cultivate a deeper sense of self and identify your core values;
Balancing your inner and outer worlds to overcome obstacles, both actual and perceived;
Understanding the origin of your current thoughts, emotions, and behavior patterns; and
Using the deep knowingness of self to create new thoughts, harness new emotions, and develop new behavior patterns.
Although certain tendencies have always existed within you, perhaps they’ve been inflamed by new circumstances that highlight deep-seated fears. With an awareness of what lies at your core, you can better understand why a particular life event has been so challenging and ways to make adjustments that foster self-acceptance.
Life Transitions Therapy Is Rooted In Neuroscience
Because the skills and tools you will learn in therapy are rooted in neuroscience and neuropsychology, it allows you to learn and integrate them more holistically. With psychoeducation, you will learn more about how your brain and nervous system function. With this knowledge, we can work on skills such as mindfulness and visualizations to soothe the nervous system, cognitive restructuring, and replacing unhelpful habits with more productive ones that will help you with your transition.
In particular, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can help you change negative thought patterns, emotions, and behaviors that keep you stuck in procrastination or cause setbacks or distress when handling change. Additionally, narrative therapy focuses on the stories you tell about yourself and how these stories don’t necessarily reflect who you truly are. Constructing new narratives that are more meaningful and accurate can shift your perspective and remove limiting beliefs. In psychodynamic therapy, we will explore your underlying subconscious beliefs that influence how you react and respond to life transitions.
With a renewed confidence and sense of self, you will realize your potential to be resilient and adaptive in times of change. Life transitions therapy can show you how to make sustainable lifestyle changes to achieve your goals, revealing your values and purpose along the way.
But Maybe You’re Not Sure If Life Transitions Therapy Is Right For You…
Why is change so hard for me to accept?
Finding stasis is a natural human desire. When our routines are stable, we feel safe. It’s easy to slip into a comfort zone where we don’t have to question who we are or push ourselves beyond daily tasks. Change represents a monkey wrench in stasis and challenges us to rise to the occasion. And although we try to pretend otherwise, change and transition are constants in life. Learning to embrace the ever-changing nature of life can help you define your values and be known in the deepest sense.
Is life transitions counseling typically short or long-term therapy?
Life transitions therapy can be both short-term—providing hands-on coping strategies for current challenges—and long-term—undertaking a more in-depth exploration of your inner resources when dealing with upheaval. What’s more, you can embark on counseling proactively in anticipation of an upcoming life transition. The duration will be determined by your needs and goals to ensure that whatever transition you are experiencing, you will be supported and guided toward your innate resilience.
How will counseling help me navigate a difficult life transition such as chronic illness, job loss, breakup, or divorce?
No matter the new chapter in life you’re facing, therapy can help guide you through it by discussing challenges, setting attainable goals, and identifying any potential setbacks. Working with a life transitions therapist not only offers you a balanced perspective but also provides you with the tools to foster self-compassion and confidence in your decision-making. This helps you navigate changes with realistic expectations and achievable aspirations.
When You Know And Trust Yourself, You Can Face Anything
You don’t have to face your challenges alone. To find out more about life transitions therapy with Be Known Wellness Group, email, call 857-505-1856, or visit our contact page to schedule a free 15-minute call.
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