Understanding Life Transitions: The Process of Grief

Life transitions—even positive ones—can feel disorienting and overwhelming. A transition is not just a change in circumstance; it's often a profound experience of grief. You are grieving the loss of a past identity, a known routine, a comfortable future, or a specific relationship. This process often leaves you feeling lost, unstable, and unsure of who you are or what comes next.

Struggle is not as a lack of resilience, but as a necessary emotional process that requires intentional support to navigate the unknown and find new stability.

The Many Forms of Transition and Loss

Relational & Family Shifts

• The Experience: This includes the profound loss associated with divorce, separation, breakups, or the end of a long-term friendship. It also covers difficult family transitions, such as navigating a parent's illness, becoming an empty-nester, or complex family estrangement.

• The Impact: Intense feelings of loneliness, confusion, difficulty establishing boundaries, and rebuilding a stable sense of self outside of the old relational structure.

Professional & Geographic Changes

• The Experience: This covers the stress of career changes, job loss, entering or leaving school/university, retirement, or the huge emotional and cultural impact of relocating to a new city or state.

• The Impact: Anxiety about the future, loss of identity tied to a career, stress from navigating new environments, and difficulty finding grounding.

Identity Shifts & Personal Evolution

• The Experience: This includes internal transitions related to medical diagnosis, significant health changes, or mid-life identity shifts. These are profound shifts in how you see yourself and how you move through the world.

• The Impact: Grief over lost capacity, feelings of being misunderstood, and the challenging but vital work of integrating a new, evolved sense of self.

Our Work Together

We focus on creating grounded stability during a time of chaos and processing the grief that accompanies evolution. We move you from a state of being lost to clarity, confident adjustment, and renewed purpose.

Therapy for Life Transitions and Change in California