While the term "mid-life crisis" is often used as a clich, for those experiencing major life transitions a mid-life crisis is anything but just another off-hand expression. However, if dealt with effectively, you can avoid a crisis and use mid-life transitions to create new beginnings and a brighter future.
Most men and women experience some form of emotional transition in the middle of their lives. This transition period can involve reaching a point in life where you've achieved the success that should make you happy (marriage, relationships, job, house, kids, etc.) only to find yourself bored, restless and wanting something different, or it may be that you've reached the same stage of life only to discover you've yet to achieve your goals and fulfill your dreams.
Mid-life transitions generally involve reevaluating our lives and making some adjustments to the way we live. It is not uncommon for people going through a mid-life transition to:
Question past decisions
Feel dissatisfied with the lifestyle that was previously a source of happiness
Experience indifference towards the people and pursuits that used to provide pleasure
Become angry with their spouse and feel trapped in their relationship
Wonder about who they are and the direction they're headed
Have difficulty making decisions about the future
Seek out change and adventure
Desire new relationships
While these thoughts and feelings, and the transitions they lead to, don't always bring about a crisis, if they are not adequately addressed a crisis is likely to result... a crisis that can be unproductive and even destructive to one's relationships and one's life.
External factors, such as work or relationship stress, the loss of a parent or loved one, low self-esteem, and unresolved childhood issues, can make mid-life transitions even more difficult and make it more likely that a crisis will emerge.
Even for those who don't reach a crisis, mid-life transitions can easily present emotional challenges that lead to anxiety, depression, and the need for professional counseling or therapy.
How Can Mid-Life Counseling Help?
In our teens, our 20s, and our 30s, our future lies in front of us and all of our wants, hopes, and dreams can be realized in the years ahead. But something happens when we transition into our 40s and 50s. We experience a new sense of urgency about life and the direction in which we're headed. We recognize that, if we're going to achieve our goals, fulfill our dreams, and change our lives, we need to take action today.
But how do you successfully create the change you seek? Do you just struggle through it on your own or do you try something different?
We are all surrounded by expectations: the expectations of family and friends, career demands, and societal values, to name but a few. Sometimes we hold ourselves back because we believe we shouldn't think or act in certain ways. While some thoughts and actions may not be in our best interest, exploring them and uncovering the underlying beliefs and desires that lead to them can be extremely beneficial, and mid-life crisis counseling can help.
If you're going to successfully transition into the second half of your life and create the future you desire, you need to explore your own expectations and those of others, take a closer look at what you're doing and why you're doing it, and determine what would give you a greater sense of happiness, contentment, and personal fulfillment.
You need to know who you really are and what you want out of life. It's during our 40s and 50s that we really come to grips with these issues, and it's a very personal journey.
As we struggle with what all this means and what we're going to do about it, we realize the need to make different choices. But change can be difficult. Change involves risk and uncertainty; but change is also an inevitable part of life that allows us to discover who we really are.
When transitions occur, we need to give up our old definitions of the world and our old ways of doing things. Only by doing so can we embark on a journey of new priorities with optimism for the future.
In addition to helping you overcome work and relationship stress, deal with the loss of a parent or loved one, and increase your self-esteem, mid-life counseling and therapy provides a confidential environment in which you can objectively explore your thoughts, feelings, and desires, determine the changes you need to make, and start taking action.
I know what it's like to have unfulfilled hopes and dreams, to want more out of life and to not know how to get from where you are to where you want to be. Professional counseling and therapy can and does make a difference.
You can discover what you truly want and learn how to create it. Mid-life crisis and transitions counseling and therapy can help you ask the right questions and start taking the steps you need to create the future that's right for you!
Most men and women experience some form of emotional transition in the middle of their lives. This transition period can involve reaching a point in life where you've achieved the success that should make you happy (marriage, relationships, job, house, kids, etc.) only to find yourself bored, restless and wanting something different, or it may be that you've reached the same stage of life only to discover you've yet to achieve your goals and fulfill your dreams.
Mid-life transitions generally involve reevaluating our lives and making some adjustments to the way we live. It is not uncommon for people going through a mid-life transition to:
Question past decisions
Feel dissatisfied with the lifestyle that was previously a source of happiness
Experience indifference towards the people and pursuits that used to provide pleasure
Become angry with their spouse and feel trapped in their relationship
Wonder about who they are and the direction they're headed
Have difficulty making decisions about the future
Seek out change and adventure
Desire new relationships
While these thoughts and feelings, and the transitions they lead to, don't always bring about a crisis, if they are not adequately addressed a crisis is likely to result... a crisis that can be unproductive and even destructive to one's relationships and one's life.
External factors, such as work or relationship stress, the loss of a parent or loved one, low self-esteem, and unresolved childhood issues, can make mid-life transitions even more difficult and make it more likely that a crisis will emerge.
Even for those who don't reach a crisis, mid-life transitions can easily present emotional challenges that lead to anxiety, depression, and the need for professional counseling or therapy.
How Can Mid-Life Counseling Help?
In our teens, our 20s, and our 30s, our future lies in front of us and all of our wants, hopes, and dreams can be realized in the years ahead. But something happens when we transition into our 40s and 50s. We experience a new sense of urgency about life and the direction in which we're headed. We recognize that, if we're going to achieve our goals, fulfill our dreams, and change our lives, we need to take action today.
But how do you successfully create the change you seek? Do you just struggle through it on your own or do you try something different?
We are all surrounded by expectations: the expectations of family and friends, career demands, and societal values, to name but a few. Sometimes we hold ourselves back because we believe we shouldn't think or act in certain ways. While some thoughts and actions may not be in our best interest, exploring them and uncovering the underlying beliefs and desires that lead to them can be extremely beneficial, and mid-life crisis counseling can help.
If you're going to successfully transition into the second half of your life and create the future you desire, you need to explore your own expectations and those of others, take a closer look at what you're doing and why you're doing it, and determine what would give you a greater sense of happiness, contentment, and personal fulfillment.
You need to know who you really are and what you want out of life. It's during our 40s and 50s that we really come to grips with these issues, and it's a very personal journey.
As we struggle with what all this means and what we're going to do about it, we realize the need to make different choices. But change can be difficult. Change involves risk and uncertainty; but change is also an inevitable part of life that allows us to discover who we really are.
When transitions occur, we need to give up our old definitions of the world and our old ways of doing things. Only by doing so can we embark on a journey of new priorities with optimism for the future.
In addition to helping you overcome work and relationship stress, deal with the loss of a parent or loved one, and increase your self-esteem, mid-life counseling and therapy provides a confidential environment in which you can objectively explore your thoughts, feelings, and desires, determine the changes you need to make, and start taking action.
I know what it's like to have unfulfilled hopes and dreams, to want more out of life and to not know how to get from where you are to where you want to be. Professional counseling and therapy can and does make a difference.
You can discover what you truly want and learn how to create it. Mid-life crisis and transitions counseling and therapy can help you ask the right questions and start taking the steps you need to create the future that's right for you!
About the Author:
Felita Fox is a therapist in Los Altos, where she specializes in providing couples counseling.
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