Life transitions
Between who you were and who you’re becoming, there is a gap that deserves careful attention. Transitions aren’t just events, they are losses and openings at once.
Schedule a free consultation →Transitions are among the most psychologically demanding experiences we face, even, and sometimes especially, the ones we chose. The distance between who you were and who you are becoming can be genuinely disorienting. Old frameworks for understanding yourself, for knowing what to do next, often stop working precisely when you most need them. The sense of groundlessness this produces is not weakness; it is what transitions are.
This practice works with a wide range of transitions: career changes and professional identity shifts, the end of a relationship or the beginning of a new one, becoming a parent (or deciding not to), geographic moves that uproot an entire social world, leaving or questioning a religious or cultural tradition, and the subtler but profound transitions of midlife and aging. Each of these involves not just logistical change but identity change, the shedding and rebuilding of a self.
What unites these experiences psychodynamically is that they all require mourning: grieving what was left behind, even when you chose to leave it, even when the change is good. Psychodynamic therapy holds space for both dimensions simultaneously, the grief of what you are leaving and the anxiety and possibility of what you are becoming. This dual attention is what makes the work genuinely useful in transitions, rather than simply cheerleading the new direction.
Explore individual therapy →What people ask about this work
What kinds of life transitions do you work with?
Almost any significant change that requires a renegotiation of identity. Most commonly: career changes or professional burnout, relationship beginnings and endings (including divorce), becoming a parent or deciding to remain childfree, leaving a religious tradition, geographic relocation, midlife and aging, and grief over what could have been. If you are in a period of significant change and feeling unmoored, that is sufficient reason to start.
Can therapy help even when the transition was something I actively chose?
Yes, and this is one of the most underappreciated aspects of transitions. A chosen change can still be a loss. Choosing to leave a job, end a relationship, or move to a new city does not eliminate the grief of what you are leaving behind. In fact, chosen transitions can be harder to mourn because there is social pressure to simply be happy about them. Therapy makes space for the full range of what you are actually feeling.
How is transition therapy different from just processing with friends?
Friends provide comfort, validation, and perspective, all genuinely valuable. Therapy offers something different: a consistent, contained space to examine what the transition means to you at a deeper level, what it stirs up from the past, what patterns are being activated, what fears and desires are underneath the surface narrative. It is less about advice and more about excavation.
How long does life transitions therapy typically last?
It varies significantly. Some clients find 3–6 months sufficient to navigate a specific transition. Others discover that the transition opened a door to deeper work, patterns that predate the current change, and choose to continue longer. Dr. Claney will give her honest assessment after the initial consultation about what the work might realistically involve.
Articles on this topic
Rediscovering Passion: Your Guide to Midlife Career Changes
Read the article → GeneralNavigating the Societal Pressures of Choosing a Childfree Life
Read the article → TherapyNew to Therapy? Starting Therapy for the First Time
Read the article →If this resonated, let’s talk.
A free 15-minute consultation is the first step. It’s a chance to ask questions, share what you’re carrying, and see whether this practice feels like the right fit.
Schedule a free consultation →