Therapy for Life Transitions
Transitions are difficult
I get that. A life transition represents a change from your normal routine. Even if it’s a change that is beneficial for you, it can be difficult to move from one, known, way of living, to another. Our behaviors, emotions, and physical nervous system gets used to how we live. Therefore, changing this and living a different way can bring difficulties. It takes effort and energy to change our norm, especially when our nervous system perceives it as a threat.
Life transitions can bring about stress, anxiety, and a feeling of paralysis in how to move forward or what to do next. It can feel like we are stumbling from one day to the next without a plan or structure if we don’t know how to support ourselves or ask for support.
Common Life Transitions Where You May Seek Therapy
Therapy After a Breakup
Leaving a relationship, however it ends, can bring about grief, excitement, relief, and loss. However, the breakup of a relationship can also jumpstart your self-growth if you allow yourself to go there. Relationships show us all the parts of ourselves that we need to work on, but that doesn't always mean that we’re supposed to stay with the person. It may mean that we are shown the parts we need to protect and move on. Leaving a connection, whether it be a romantic or platonic relationship, can make us question ourselves on a deep level.
You may need some support during this period of transition. Therapy after a breakup can help as your mourn that loss of a relationship, help you get to know yourself on that deeper level and support you in moving toward personal growth.
Transitioning After College Graduation
Transitioning out of college and into the world can come with all kinds of questions: What’s my identity? What do I want for myself? What kind of job fits me? What am I “supposed” to do? How do I keep up with my relationships? One of the most important tips I provide for this transition is being open to change. Change on all levels and at many different times in the next few years is natural as you create the person you want to be and the people you want to surround yourself with.
Therapy for a Chronic Illness
Whether you're drowning in symptoms that no one can understand or you’ve found relief and hope, the chronic illness journey needs an incredible amount of patience, compassion, and hope to keep you going. It can be painful and isolating for no one to understand what's going on. It may seem really easy to give up and surrender to the new life you’ve seemed to adopt. Finding a community that can empathize with you and where you can find hope is crucial. We also have to find a new way of regulating our nervous system as it is most likely stressed and depleted.
Disordered Eating/Body Image Recovery
Entering the world of Intuitive Eating, anti-diet culture, and adopting a Health at Every Size Approach (HAES) means breaking up with your old belief system. You are dismantling the societal norms of body size as an indicator of health and stepping into body liberation. It can be isolating if most people around you don’t understand or adopt the same beliefs. It takes time to release what you thought you knew about health and step into a sense of confidence with what you know is best for you.
Therapy for Moving Stress
We are in an age of transformational life transitions as a whole and moving is a huge part of it. People are moving to new places to get a better quality of life for themselves. This may mean you move towns, cities, states, or countries; closer to or away from family. When we do this, we uproot what we know about our physical environment whether that be nature, friends, or/and family in person. When we do this, there can be a wave of excitement that wears off after a while especially if you're having trouble connecting to your surroundings, and creating new relationships. Just because you’re excited about the move, doesn’t mean it’s easy to get settled.
Therapy for Personal Growth
Starting your journey of becoming self-aware of the patterns that are keeping you stuck, working through them, and coming home to yourself is a huge transition. It will change how you see yourself and how you see others. Oftentimes, it means opening old wounds and experiencing pain in different ways before we can heal. This also means that it might change the way we relate to others. This may mean that we need to let go of some relationships and invite new ones that serve us better. This also means committing to ourselves and our healing, so that we can be the best versions of ourselves.
Begin Therapy for Life Transitions in Austin, TX
As a life transition therapist in Austin, TX, I would love to help you implement a few strategies to support yourself through stressful changes in your life. Therapy is a gift you can give yourself that will truly be useful during this period. Everyone needs support sometimes and therapy is a healthy, safe way to receive that support.
In therapy for life transitions, we will focus on the areas that you feel stuck in, and give you the skills to be able to support yourself. Through therapy, we will work together to instill hope, relief, and confidence that you can handle this. Get started today with these steps:
Contact Elevate Therapy by filling out a consultation form or emailing me directly
Set up a 20-minute no-cost consultation
Find new ways to cope and move through the stress of transitions!
Other Mental Health Services at Elevate Therapy & Wellness
At my Austin, TX-based counseling practice, I value a holistic approach to mental health treatment. This means healing the body, mind, and soul together. I can help you with yoga therapy, anxiety, trauma therapy, therapy for chronic pain, therapy for self-esteem, and eating disorder treatment. Whatever is bringing you in, I’m here to help. Furthermore, online therapy allows me to support people anywhere in the state of Texas. So, whether you’re right here in Austin, over in Houston or even all the way up North in Amarillo, I can help. Or, if you’re not ready to start therapy yet but are looking for helpful tips and information about mental health, consider reading through my blog!