Learning To Cope With Change

Learning To Cope With Change

Learning To Cope With Change

To some this word is more anxiety and stress-provoking than others, but it is something in our lives that is inevitable. To fear change is to fear life itself. As a mental health counselor in Orlando, learning how to cope with change is one area therapy sessions focus in on.

What does change look like?

Change can be as simple as a break up, or new relationship. It can also be as complicated as being laid off, or graduating school without a job lined up. It can be relocation or a mid-life career change. In counseling for life changes, it can be good or bad change that is impacting a person.

Why does change affect me?

As mentioned before, change can provide positive and negative side effects. The most common reason change can illicit negative side effects is because it can be beyond your control.

When a person is adapted to being in control, has a habit of overthinking their decisions, and wonders if they’re doing the “right” thing all the time, then any change can create anxious feelings. Especially if it is unplanned, leaving little time to prepare or adjust. If this sounds like you, there are many ways to seek help. In counseling for life changes, a mental health counselor will help better prepare you for the next big life change you may encounter.

Is stress from life changes normal?

As a life counselor, let me stress that anxiety and stress related to making big decisions is normal! I’ve found that in both my practice and personal life even changes that present themselves as negative end up becoming very positive forces in my life and others.

Stress related to acclimation happens to everyone, but it doesn’t have to necessarily be negative. What I teach my clients in anxiety therapy is how to be more mindful of their need for control. As a self-proclaimed type-A personality who loves to plan, I know first hand how it can feel when things are beyond your control. Learning to understand your thought patterns and use strategies that help you be more adaptable is key!

How do I learn to let go?

To assume you’ll have control over any circumstance is irrational, especially when something happened to us out of our control. We can not control what happened, but we can control the way in which we react. These skills can be learned, practiced and intentional. CBT, also known as cognitive behavioral therapy, can help you understand these patterns and find new thought processes and coping skills. We at Orlando Thrive specialize in utilizing CBT based skills for our clients.

What’s the best way to get help?

Finding a support system is critical when you are learning to handle life changes. This can include friends, church, partners, or a mental health counselor. Preparation for the future and acceptance are the big steps to a better understanding of life transitions and how they affect you.

I like to reference what I call positive and negative anxiety. How could anxiety be positive? Well when you feel that stress physiologically or emotionally, you track those feeling to its source, which can be: “I earned a new degree; I got a promotion; I started a new relationship”. All of these things cause different levels of stress upon everyone differently, but they come from a positive change. Help yourself understand that not everything you feel has to be negative! The source is still a feeling, and feelings as painful as anxiety, or as great as happiness are valid, normal and temporary.

Contact

For more assistance with life transitions, thought work and processing, or coping mechanisms, contact a Mental health counselor at Orlando Thrive Therapy today. To speak directly with the author of this article, send an email to Mallory.orlandothrivetherapy@gmail.com, and Thrive On!

Rise above any circumstance, for GROWTH, EMPOWERMENT, and better QUALITY of life!
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(407) 592-8997

216 Pasadena Pl
Orlando, Florida 32803
Heather Oller

Heather Oller is the owner and founder of Orlando Thrive Therapy, Coaching, and Counseling. She is a licensed counselor and a family mediator who has over 23 years of dedicated work as a professional in the mental health field. Through her company's mission, she continues to pave the way for future therapists, and their clients, who want a higher quality of life....and who want to thrive, rather than just survive. You can contact Orlando Thrive Therapy at (407) 592-8997 for more information.