MID-LIFE TRANSITIONS

As our life progresses, our circumstances shift. While some changes we welcome, others fill us with dread and uncertainty. It’s new territory, and we may not know how to live peacefully in our new situation. We might be dealing with:

• Caring for elderly parents/losing parents
• Losing loved ones to illness
• Illness
• Divorce
• Empty-Nest Syndrome
• Questions about intimacy as you become “a couple” again
• Contemplating your identity as you approach or enter the second half of your life
• Changes in workplace dynamics and roles
• Yearning for more meaning and fulfillment in your life

The mid-life eruptions that occur for most of us are painful and bewildering. They also can trigger a host of real-life challenges – loss of identity, depression, boredom, insomnia, anxiety, isolation, addictive behaviors.

And then, there is Menopause….

While every woman experiences her mid-life years differently, menopause represents a formidable transition for many women. The rapid hormone fluctuations that are associated with menopause have physical, emotional and psychological implications.

The research shows that changes in mood, increase in anxiety, irritability, feelings of sadness, difficulties with memory and concentration, foggy thinking, and even depression are common. Changes in our sexual well-being can occur – decreased desire, arousal and pleasure, as well as painful intercourse. Other women report physical pain, soreness and achiness around the joints.

With all of this, it’s no wonder that mid-life has become synonymous with words like “crisis” and “breakdown.” Our body is no longer known to us – how did it become such an unpredictable stranger?

Endings precede new beginnings

By their very nature, life transitions are challenging because they force us to let go of the familiar and face the future with a feeling of vulnerability. Mid-life transitions can feel even more daunting. Seeing our children become adults, losing our parents, friends, and family to illness or age, bodily changes that are wrapped up in our feminine and sexual identity. We are getting older for god’s sake, and there’s nothing we can do about it. We can’t stop time. At its worst, aging can feel like the ultimate loss of control.

Here’s the good news: there are so many things we can do. We can start by making room for all those conflicting emotions, the good, the bad and the ugly. We can let them breathe. We can help reconnect you to your inner and outer resources, clear out the cobwebs and get you back on track.

For as much trouble as they can stir up, mid-life transitions provide us with a glorious opportunity for growth and expansion. Out of the struggle and uncertainty emerges a deeper understanding of who we are and our life’s purpose. We can heal, awaken and transform. We can take charge of our lives.

Therapy can help

If you are experiencing a difficult passage through mid-life or menopause, there is no reason to go it alone. Therapy can help you make meaning of your experience so that you can move forward with greater ease and freedom.

Let me help you get your bearings so you can refocus on what is important to you and move forward with your life.