There is a crack in everything; that is how the light gets in.
– Leonard Cohen
Possible Emotional Roadblocks
Stage-in-Life
It is not uncommon when moving through different stages of life, such as moving away from home, getting married, developing a career, going through a divorce, experiencing an “empty nest,” or caring for declining parents, that we can feel uncertain and anxious. Life Transition Therapy can be helpful in addressing these concerns.
Painful and Difficult Childhood Experiences
How we were raised and what type of family environment we grew up in can have a powerful and complex impact on our current lives. As an adult, deep inner work can untangle, heal, and integrate these experiences leading to more emotional and practical freedom.
Social Anxiety and Feelings of being Different or Lonely
Feeling awkward and uncomfortable in social situations or engaging with new people can create a sense of loneliness and isolation. The solid sense of self that you gain through being in therapy can help you increase your confidence in new situations and will allow you to begin to reach out to people.
Lack of Confidence in your Abilities
Growing up with unsupportive caregivers or people who repeatedly criticized or “put you down,” could lower your confidence in your capabilities. Counseling provides the support you need to examine and reshape these negative beliefs about yourself.
Fear of Failure
Having the need to predict a positive outcome before trying a new challenge is more common than you would think. Continuing to live this way will limit your satisfaction and your ability to create the type of life that you really want to have. Taking small but continual steps, with the help of your therapist to try new things can produce a profound and positive shift.
Fear of being Hurt or Disappointed
These types of fears can keep you from allowing yourself to care about, want, and love another person. The solution is to learn how to make the repairs within the therapy relationship that result in you being more willing to allow yourself to be vulnerable with another.
Searching for Meaning
Sometimes a deeper meaning in life has always been elusive. Other times one’s meaning is shaken or is no longer workable as a result of a major change or event in one’s life. Finding meaning is an essential task of being human. Talking with someone who is interested in this journey can be very helpful.
A Loss of Faith
A loss of spiritual or religious faith can result from facing end-of-life issues, the death of loved one, experiencing a natural disaster, or any number of other circumstances where one’s core beliefs are challenged. Counseling can be a neutral place to explore your own spiritual path.
We are all “cracked” in some way. I have discovered that by coming to understand the nature of the crack and where it may have begun can help you begin to change and have a fuller life, one that you may never have thought was attainable for you. I know that deep and permanent healing is possible if you seek it and work with the right therapist. Finding one that you feel a connection and affinity with is very important to your experience and therapeutic outcome.
Please contact me with any questions you may have.