Major Life Transitions: Why Does Change Feel So Challenging?

While almost everyone has had to negotiate a massive life transition, when you step from one reality into another, the universality of these journeys doesn’t take away any of the challenges they pose. 

Fortunately, you don’t have to make your way through these transitions, from college graduation and entering adulthood to retirement and everything in between, alone. 

Our sensitive team of providers at Clarity Psychiatric Care is here to help you move through your major life changes with confidence, helpful tools, and greater insight. 

It’s validating to know you’re not alone in seeking help with a major life transition, and that you can travel through life with happy anticipation and embrace change, even if it also involves uncertainty and trepidation. 

Major life transitions shake your foundation, but they are also growth opportunities

What defines a life transition? Think of events like these:

• Graduation from high school, college, or an advanced degree program
• Becoming a parent
• Losing a loved one
• Getting married or divorced
• Hitting a “milestone” birthday (the ones that end in “0”)
• Dealing with chronic illness
• Relationship struggles
• Job changes or career shifts
• Moving to a new house, city, or country 
• Retirement
• Gender reassignment

It’s easy to see why you could feel overwhelmed when facing any one of these changes. Whether a transition is welcome or not, it’s full of newness and confusion. You may feel isolated, like you’re the only one who has navigated a change like this. The good news is you’re not.

Let’s face it — change of any kind isn’t easy, and when the change is major, it can cause an immense amount of worry. 

At Clarity Psychiatric Care, we can help you develop effective coping strategies as you travel through significant life changes.

Why can’t moving through change be easier?

If the change you’re looking at is one that’s commonly dreaded or painful, like grieving the loss of a loved one, the difficulty is obvious.

But what about exciting life transitions, like getting married, moving to a dream house, or having a baby? Why would they cause consternation? At these points in life, we tend to review our past with a critical eye and look to our future with high hopes and worries.

The newly married couple might wonder if their love will last, what challenges lie ahead, or how they’ll negotiate disagreements in a healthy way. 

A new parent filled with love may worry about their baby’s safety and health, and what parenting mistakes they’ll inevitably make (since babies don’t come with instructions).

It all makes for what can be a thrilling but emotionally chaotic time filled with critical decisions. So, even exciting life changes can be the sources of anxiety and depression.

Solutions for managing life transitions successfully

When you partner with us to ready yourself for a significant life transition, we offer knowledge, understanding, and deep compassion. We offer several therapeutic approaches that can address concerns around all types of change:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) offers new ways to frame worries around a transition
• Career counseling helps with work-related change and professional goal-setting
• Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) highlights mindfulness, self-regulation, and other key tools
• Relationship counseling can address marriage, divorce, and family relationship issues
• Bereavement counseling assists people moving through grief and loss

We can also help you with medications and medication management if necessary. 

You can acquire exciting skills that you can use in all areas of your life as you go through a life transition and after. 

If you’re approaching a significant life change, contact us at our Cherry Hill office to schedule an appointment. Simply call 856-428-1260 or book an appointment with us online.