STRATEGIZE & NAVIGATE LIFE CHANGES WITH ACE COUNSELING

Phase of Life Changes

Life transitions are our specialty because we love working with clients who are going through important experiences that cause them to re-examine their present sense of self and move towards greater authenticity and happiness. Some may even contribute to a quarter or midlife crisis.

Phase of Life Transitions include:

  • Living in a new city
  • Career confusion or changes
  • Motherhood or new parents
  • Deciding whether to have kids or not
  • The coming out process
  • Shifting from school to the workforce
  • Changes in relationship status
  • Grief and loss
  • Substance abuse and recovery
  • Becoming vegan or vegetarian
  • Being in a different phase of life than your friends
HOW YOU APPROACH & PERCEIVE YOUR LIFE TRANSITION

Impacts how you feel getting through it.

Quarter & Mid-Life Crisis

“People may call what happens at midlife ‘a crisis,’ but it’s not. It’s an unraveling – a time when you feel a desperate pull to live the life you want to live, not the one you’re ‘supposed’ to live. The unraveling is a time when you are challenged by the universe to let go of who you think you are supposed to be and to embrace who you are.” – Brene Brown

Both the Quarter-Life Crisis and Mid-Life Crisis are embedded in an existential uncertainty about one’s life happiness. There is search for reassurance, direction and greater meaning. But there’s also an inability to pinpoint exactly what you should be doing.

At the root of resolving these difficult life phases is authentically and deeply knowing yourself and bravely moving towards your path outside of social, familial and societal influences.

Quarter-Life Crisis

You’re in your 20’s to mid 30’s and you’re feeling confused and doubtful about your life, decisions, and path. You’re trying to figure out and balance what will actually make you happy, your own internal pressures, as well as family and society pressures. You’re torn, lost and unsure.

A Quarter-Life Crisis can be triggered by the pressure to find the right path or career, pressure to be successful, a loss of a relationship, or even seeing your peers in a different phase of life than you. You find yourself wondering, “What am I doing with my life?” “What is going to make me happy?”

  • Self-doubt, confusion and difficulty making decisions
  • Feeling adrift and lost
  • Fear about making the wrong decision
  • Career confusion & comparing yourself to peers
  • Difficulty transitioning into adulthood

Mid-Life Crisis

Also known as the mid-life happiness slump, the mid-life period can be a stressful time, where you feel bored and unsettled and you’re reflecting on your life and yearning for a greater sense of purpose.

The Mid-Life Happiness Slump is an emotional crisis of identity and purpose that can occur in early middle age. Triggers could include grief and loss, aging or health changes, financial stressors, family obligations, or wanting more work and personal achievement.

  • Confusion about who you are or how you’ve spent your life
  • Desire for more purpose and meaning in life
  • Difficulties with relationships or disenchantment with career path
  • Feeling bored and needing change and adventure
  • Feeling disconnected from yourself and others
  • Becoming overly nostalgic for a time gone by

Our counselors can help you:

 ①   Making Sense of Emotions

Sort through your confusion and distressing feelings

 ②   Explore Your Deeper Self

Increase self-awareness, discover and find alignment with your authentic self

 ③   Live in the Present

Let go parts of the past that keep you from being happy in the present as well as find more gratitude and joy

 ④   Acquire Helpful Skills

Gain tools to help you to feel more in control and make decisions

⑤   Process Your Inner Emotions & Conflicts

Cope with difficult feelings that come with uncertainty and uncomfortable change

 ⑥   Know What Lies Ahead

Gain reassurance, direction and greater meaning

 ⑦   Have a Plan of Action

Create a solution focused plan for your immediate and long term change

⑧   Align Values With Goals

Help you examine and identify your values and strengths to make realistic future goals