Many of life’s changes are expected and wanted, but sometimes our feelings about those changes are not. We may feel confused or ashamed when we have been eagerly anticipating an event or change, and then we feel depressed, anxious or resentful. It can be helpful to process our reactions to these transitions, so we can better understand what we might need.

 

Some of life’s transitions aren’t expected at all and adjusting to these changes can also be difficult. We may have gotten messages in the past to “suck it up” or “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” when we’ve faced challenging situations. Those messages can feel very invalidating, as we do not get to choose our feelings only how we respond to them.

 

Discussing life transitions with a therapist can be a helpful way to acknowledge our experience and develop healthy ways to cope.