Navigating Life's Transitions:

How Therapy Can Help You Thrive Through Change

Life is full of transitions, and while some changes are positive, they often come with their own set of challenges. Whether you’re navigating a new career, transitioning into or out of a relationship, becoming a parent, or facing an unexpected shift in your life path, these transitions can trigger feelings of uncertainty, stress, and emotional upheaval. Even the most exciting or anticipated changes can be overwhelming, leaving you feeling unprepared or stuck.

In this blog post, we’ll explore how life transitions impact your emotional health, symptoms to watch out for, and how therapy can support you as you move through these changes with greater ease and confidence.

What Are Life Transitions?

Life transitions refer to significant changes or shifts in your personal or professional life that require adjustment. These changes might occur gradually, such as a new career path, or suddenly, like the end of a relationship or the unexpected loss of a loved one. While these transitions often bring excitement and new opportunities, they can also create stress, anxiety, and emotional uncertainty.

Common life transitions include:

  • Career changes: Starting a new job, switching careers, or retiring

  • Relationship changes: Ending a long-term relationship, starting a new relationship, or navigating divorce

  • Becoming a parent: The adjustment to having a child, whether biological, adopted, or becoming a step-parent

  • Relocation: Moving to a new city or country

  • Life-changing events: Unexpected illness, the death of a loved one, or financial upheaval

Signs of Stress and Emotional Distress During Transitions

Transitional periods often cause emotional distress, as they disrupt the familiar and introduce uncertainty. Here are some common signs of stress or anxiety during transitions:

  • Increased anxiety or restlessness: Feeling on edge or unable to relax due to new responsibilities or changes

  • Difficulty focusing or making decisions: Struggling with mental clarity, overwhelmed by options or the fear of making the wrong choice

  • Mood swings or irritability: Increased frustration or emotional ups and downs during the adjustment process

  • Difficulty sleeping or changes in appetite: Anxiety and stress often manifest as sleep disturbances or eating patterns

  • Loss of confidence or self-doubt: Questioning your abilities or feeling uncertain about the future

  • Physical symptoms: Headaches, fatigue, or stomach issues that arise due to stress

While these feelings are normal, prolonged or overwhelming distress may require additional support, such as therapy, to help you manage the transition.

Potential Screening Tools for Life Transitions

If you’re going through a significant transition and experiencing emotional or physical distress, certain tools can help identify the severity of the impact:

  • The Life Change Index: A scale that measures how much life stress you are experiencing based on recent changes. This can help you assess how your current life situation is affecting you.

  • The Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7): A tool to screen for anxiety symptoms, especially when dealing with stress during life transitions.

  • The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS): Measures your overall level of stress and helps you determine how much of your life transition is contributing to your stress levels.

These screening tools can give you insight into how your transition is affecting your emotional and mental well-being, guiding you toward the appropriate steps for support.

How Therapy Can Help You Navigate Life Transitions

Therapy is a powerful tool for navigating transitions and helping you manage the emotional ups and downs that come with them. Whether you are going through a career change, relationship shift, or any major life event, therapy can offer:

  1. Emotional Support and Validation: Speaking with a therapist can help you feel heard and understood, providing emotional validation during a period of uncertainty.

  2. Coping Strategies: Therapy can teach you coping skills to manage the stress and anxiety that often accompany transitions. These might include mindfulness practices, relaxation techniques, and cognitive reframing.

  3. Building Resilience: Life transitions often require adaptation. Therapy can help you strengthen your resilience and develop a growth mindset that allows you to bounce back more effectively from setbacks.

  4. Goal Setting and Planning: If you're feeling lost or uncertain about the next steps in your transition, therapy can help you clarify your goals, break them down into actionable steps, and make a plan for moving forward with confidence.

  5. Improved Self-Compassion: Learning how to treat yourself with kindness and understanding during times of stress can be transformative. Therapy helps you build self-compassion, which is essential when navigating big life changes.

Take the Next Step in Your Life Transition

If you are facing a major life transition and feeling overwhelmed, therapy can provide the guidance, support, and tools you need to navigate this change. Whether you’re experiencing anxiety, uncertainty, or self-doubt, a therapist can help you process your emotions, regain clarity, and build the resilience to face the future with confidence.

Contact us Today to learn more about how our therapy services can support you through life transitions and help you emerge stronger and more confident.

 What to Expect

  • If you’ve received the client portal invitation, log in and check any messages, fill out paperwork, etc.

    Be thinking of what you would like to talk about, or any questions you have. Feel free to write those down and bring them in.

    Verify your insurance. Click here for more information regarding insurance.

  • Our office is tucked beside/behind Ge’Angelo’s in the. Northern Lights Shopping Center.

    We do not have a receptionist, so feel free to have a seat and we will be with you as soon as possible.

    If there is still paperwork to be done, you may be asked to fill out paperwork before your appointment.

    Each therapist has a private office, so you will be with the same therapist in the same office every session. To increase privacy we leave a noise machine on as well as the bathroom light/fan. These are to muffle noises.

    The lighting in the office LED. If you prefer lamps to overhead lighting, let us know and we will be happy to use lamps instead.

    After your appointment we will work together to decide if you would like to schedule another session. We will also determine if that will be scheduled at that time, or if it will be scheduled later. There is no right or wrong way to do it.

  • Be kind to yourself, you’ve done a lot of hard work.

    You are welcome to contact your counselor with any questions/concerns between session. Email or the client portal are the preferred and most direct ways to get in contact. We are generally in with clients and are unable to answer phone calls much of the time. Please be aware we may not be able to return your message for up to 48 hours.

    You can use the client portal to check your appointments or make/change any appointments.

    Contact the Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or visit your local emergency department if you are having thoughts of self harm or suicide. Vivant is not a crisis center.

 Frequently Asked Questions

  • Age ranges are based on individual clinicians.

    Child specific information:

    Sometimes kids are unable to manage more than 30 minutes. Children’s sessions may seem short, but they are still working.

    All child sessions are unique. Sometimes kids have parents/caregivers in the session, other times they do better without parents in the room. Parents/caregivers are almost always involved in the first session, and we will talk about these options.

    If you are bringing an elementary aged child, we ask that you stay in the building during the session if you are not in the session. If there is a concern we will try to accommodate something. We want your child to be safe.

    If you are bringing an older child that gets dropped off, please be aware of the end time (generally 45 minutes for middle school/high school aged kids) so they can be picked up quickly. Again, we want everyone to be safe and we will likely be in session and unable to monitor safety.

  • We treat a variety of diagnoses including, but not limited to, depression, anxiety, ADHD, and PTSD. Our clinicians have extra training in trauma, and am Basic Trained in EMDR.

    We are not licensed to prescribe medications.

  • Yes. Vivant is LGBTQ+ Affirming

  • While we are not faith based, we welcome all faiths.

  • For ongoing clients, scheduling your next appointment can be done at the end of an appointment, through the client portal, or by calling 515-523-5543. Counselors are not always able to accommodate same day appointments.

    Potential Clients can fill out a potential client request on our scheduling page.

  • Read about our insurance/fees/payments here

  • We take your privacy seriously. This is suppose to be a safe space and confidentiality is vital to that. If you want someone to be able to communicate with us about your services. (including billing) you can sign a release of information. This is also something that can be revoked by you at any time. Best practice includes coordinating with your primary care provider, but again, this is your choice.

    HIPAA (Health Insurance Privacy Portability Act) protects your PHI (protected health information). Our emails use HIPAA compliant encryption. Our client portal and our backup telehalth platform are HIPAA compliant.

    Counselors are mandatory reporters. As such we are mandated by law to report any suspected child abuse.

    Child Specific: During our first session we will go over confidentiality with children. It is my practice to keep conversations private and only tell parents general updates (ex: ____was open and talkative today), unless there is a safety concern or something that I feel the parents/caregiver should know. If this is the case, I try to be transparent with that so the child is not caught off guard.

    42 CFR Part 2 affords special protection when talking about substance abuse. Therefore children 14 years of age and older need to sign a specific release of information for parents/caregivers to obtain information from the counselor about anything substance abuse related.

  • While our emails use a HIPAA compliant encryption, it is safest to use our secure portal to communicate with your counselor. You may call 515-523-5433, however this is not the preferred form of communication as we are often in session and unable to answer phone calls.

    We discourage coming in person without an appointment as we may be unable to help you. Our office space is shared with other counselors, but they are unable to see your information and will likely be unable to help.