Therapy for Life Transitions

A life transition is any period in your life in which you are undergoing a significant lifestyle change. There is no typical picture for what a life transition looks like. Life transitions can stem from one big change or several small changes. They might also come from decisions you actively made or stem from factors that were out of your control. Some examples of life transitions would be you or somebody important to you getting married, a sudden accident, moving from a longtime home, getting a new job, or the loss of a loved one. 

As you can see from this list, life transitions aren’t inherently “negative” or “positive things,” but they do require you to face the unfamiliar and adjust to new ways of being in the world. Occasionally, people may react to life transitions with feelings of anxiety, sadness, or shock. You may even feel confused to find that after making a change that felt like a “good thing,” you’re filled with anxiety and doubt. This is because transitions can sometimes cause us to reevaluate the overall state of our lives or look for meaning in the changes, leading to feelings of overwhelm and stuckness. 

If you’re experiencing these feelings, or struggling to accept or understand a big change, therapy may be helpful for you. Since everybody reacts differently to change and the circumstances of your transition are likely unique, at Therapists of New York, your therapist will work with you to identify the particular areas of difficulty within your transition. In practice, this might look like working with you to recognize and process the grief of any losses brought on by the transition, to help you make the most of the opportunities the change represents, to support you in shedding old habits that are no longer serving you, and to create meaning out of the experience. 

While a transition can feel frightening, therapy can help you turn an anxiety provoking transition into a healing period. At the end of the day, times of life transition offer you the opportunity to explore what your ideal life might look like and to bring yourself closer to living a life that is aligned with your values. 

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