LIFE TRANSITIONS

“Transitions can feel like a pointless season sandwiched between the good ole days and life’s next good thing.”

Thus far, my life has been marked by transitions like graduating college, moving to a new city, starting a new job, going to graduate school, moving to another city, moving back to the other city, starting a whole bunch of different jobs, moving too many times to count with different roommates at most places, dating, getting married, buying a house, quarantining from COVID-19, opening a practice, and having a baby. To name a few of the big transitions over the last 12 years. Truthfully, just typing that makes me tired. 

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So, I want you to know I get it (and so does our amazing team of therapists at Steady Hope). I have found personally and through the years of being a professional counselor that having a space like therapy to talk about the in’s, the out’s, the good, and the hard of life transitions can be such a massive resource. 

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A few things that can make transitions hard are that they usually impact more than one area of our lives and usually take time to figure out who you are/how to respond to the new change. 

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For example, moving seems like it wouldn’t impact your job, but here are a few ways it could: driving a new commute, figuring out when to pack or unpack, transitioning to and from work into your outside-of-work life. I have a few clients who share that they actually really enjoy having a longer commute time because it provides a good transition between work and home. Other clients process how working from home can lead to making them feel like they are working all the time. 

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When we experience a transition — many times even if it is something we have done before like changing jobs — it still might mean that we feel like a beginner. The job you are changing to is still new. The new job has its own workflow processes. So, if you had just gotten used to using Slack and then the new job uses email exclusively — well, that’s a change, and it likely is going to take some time to adjust and might even mean that you miss responding to something. 

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Here is another example that often serves as a more life-altering transition: having a baby. Suddenly everything has changed. No longer can you say “yes” to every single activity invite. Now life involves thinking about sleep schedules, the safety of spaces for kids, the priority of a babysitter list, three sets of clothes to change into, and so-on.

Great, you think. Transitions are normal. So how can therapy come alongside me during these transitions? Therapy is a space to:

• Name the transition you are in

• Process life prior to the transition

• Explore the current realities

• Identify strengths and growth areas

• Gain tools and suggestions for navigating the transition (i.e., how to increase recognition of needs, communicate, and establish helpful boundaries) 

• Identify any core pain points or internal messages that are impacting how you see yourself or the transition process

• Process hopes for the future on the other side of this transition 

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As I mentioned earlier, there are many types of transitions that we can process together in counseling. A larger list includes:

• Graduating high school or college

• Starting first jobs and new jobs

• Dating (the start of relationships, the end of relationships, and the feelings about the lack of relationships)

• Getting married

• Moving

• Making friends  

• Having a baby, becoming a new mom or dad

• Losing a parent or receiving a difficult diagnosis for a parent or loved one

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Are you going through life transitions right now? Steady Hope Counseling can help process one of the experiences mentioned above or something else entirely. Our team of therapists can help by providing support, guidance and a space for hope through these changes. Here are some steps to help get you started:

1. Connect with one of our dedicated therapists.

2. Make your first in-person or virtual appointment at Steady Hope.

3. Get support through your life transitions.

“From my human perspective, transitions aren’t desirable. Instead, they’re often marked by pain, discomfort, awkwardness, false starts, and conflict. Transitions can feel like a pointless season sandwiched between the good ole days and life’s next good thing. But we must get from point A to point B, and the inbetween is where God does some of his best work of making us more like Christ.”

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I (Kim) couldn’t agree more with this quote from Emily Jensen and Laura Wifler from their book, Risen Motherhood. Transitions often aren’t fun and often take a whole lot of grit and perseverance to keep pushing through when you aren’t sure what it will look like on the other side. 

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I often have the thought: “Am I done with this transition season?” But then another transition happens. I have started to realize that transitions are as much a part of our lives as seasons of the year (that is if you live in a state that experiences seasons, ha).