What I Help With
Therapy for Life Transitions
New relationships, parenting, a changing career, midlife and older age: support for the turning points of adult life.
A turning point can ask you to look back, and decide what you want ahead.
The past may offer both lessons and expectations that no longer fit. The future can feel open or uncertain. We use the present to understand what is changing and consider goals that belong to the life you have now.
A change can be welcome and unsettling. You may feel ready for something new without knowing what it should be. I listen to what the transition means to you.
What It Can Feel Like
- Starting or ending a relationship
- Becoming a parent, or children leaving home
- Disappointment in work or career
- A move or a retirement
- Midlife questions about meaning
- Aging and its changes
Setting New Life Goals
I especially value helping people who need to set new life goals or want more optimism and energy for their lives. Your own aspirations guide the work, even if they are not clear yet.
We can begin by talking about what no longer fits and what still matters. A goal does not have to become a complete plan immediately. We consider manageable steps, notice how they feel, and leave room to revise your direction as you understand yourself more fully.
Who I See for This
I work with adults from their twenties into their nineties. Individual sessions give us room to understand your experience in the context of your life, relationships and hopes.
Couples sessions may be useful when the concern is also affecting how partners relate. We discuss what you want help with and choose a format that gives the work room.
Strengths and Support
What Can Change
- Clarity
- We explore what no longer fits and what you want to keep. Understanding the transition may help you see choices that worry or disappointment have obscured.
- Room for Mixed Feelings
- You can want a change and grieve what it leaves behind. We make room for both, rather than treating uncertainty as a reason you should already know the answer.
- Your Own Goals
- We consider steps connected to what matters to you now. Goals can be revised as you learn more about the direction you want your life to take.
How I Approach It
How I WorkInsight Into Your History
We look at the expectations you carry about relationships, work and who you should be. Some may still serve you; others may need reconsidering as your circumstances change.
Strengths First
I help you recognize the capacities you bring to this turning point. We consider what you value and how you have handled change before, without assuming this transition should feel easy.
Grief and Loss Work
Moving into something new can involve losing a role, a hope or a familiar routine. We make room for that loss rather than asking you to feel grateful for every change.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
We notice thoughts that make the future seem fixed or your choices seem smaller than they are. We can test those conclusions and consider more accurate ways to look ahead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a problem to come to therapy?
No. You can come because you want to understand yourself, reconsider your goals or make room for growth during a change in your life.
Can therapy help me decide what is next?
We can explore your values, hopes and concerns together. I help you think through your choices rather than decide for you.
Do you help with career disappointment?
Yes. We can discuss disappointment in work, what it means to you and the goals you want to consider now.
Related Pages
Related Reading
When Anxiety Lives in the Future
I help people notice when worry has taken them ahead of the moment and practice returning to what they can do today.
Read the GuideMore to Explore
- Retirement and Identity
Explore changing routines, purpose and relationships after retirement with room for both relief and uncertainty.
- Relationships Through Life Changes
Explore how partners can discuss shifting roles, routines and hopes during a significant life change.
- Midlife and Changing Values
Explore shifting priorities and the difference between familiar expectations and what matters to you now.
- Career Change and Identity
Explore what a career change means for your sense of self, relationships and hopes without reducing the decision to a job title.