Work with me
Ignite your individual purpose in times of major life change.
Throughout the two phases of our work together, the Strategic and the Manifest, we will explore this major life change together and plot a course to the largest vision you have of yourself.
Here are a few of the major life changes I help people navigate.
Career Shifts
When it comes to our work life, each of us seems to be searching for something different. Some are chasing an ambitious professional role, some are hoping to be part of an interesting team confronting a specific problem in the world, and some are starting or ending their work life. Others are looking for a stress-free job to feed the bottom line while they pursue creative talents. And so, while the objective is different, the goal is the same: to flourish in our lives by pursuing a purpose that has meaning.
Each of us has a unique process for sorting out what's next and how best to go about it. Some of the questions you may be asking yourself are:
What's next for me, now that I've achieved this big career goal?
How do I reflect on whether I want to take this new promotion, and if I don't - what then?
If I choose the promotion, how do I line up the rest of my life so that I can succeed in this new role and stay in balance with my whole life?
If I'm just starting my career, how do I master what I don't know if I don't know what I don't know?!
If I'm retiring, how can I contribute in a different way and find meaning in this next phase of life without suffering the same stressors I endured at work?
In your work with me, we'll explore your areas of self-knowledge and resilience.
You'll develop a keener awareness about your habits of mind, your strengths, and your personal sources of meaning.
We'll generate more career possibilities for you to consider and then you'll follow a unique decision-making process to ensure you make realistic and feasible choices.
Then, as we plot your course through this change, you'll develop an ability to discern what you need to stay aligned with your values and priorities.
This work will empower you to respond to any surprises along the way with integrity and resilience.
Illness & Loss
Facing the impermanence of life, whether it's because of a chronic pain, a debilitating injury, a terminal illness, or the loss of a loved one is one of the most difficult challenges we must meet as humans. Some of the questions that arise in my work around illness and loss with clients include:
If I have lost my loved one, how do I move on?
How do I maintain a rich and rewarding relationship with my spouse who is healthy at a time when my chronic illness is becoming more limiting?
How can I be of service and still honor my body's limitations?
If I am terminally ill, how can I make sure that my family is properly situated to cope with my loss, both emotionally and financially?
If I live alone or don't have family, how do I plan for the end of my life?
Given my diagnosis, how do I decide if I'm going to pursue aggressive medical treatment?
How do I navigate the bureaucracy and red tape of the medical system when I think mistakes might have been made in my medical treatment, but no one will talk to me?
Learning how to find your ground during times like this can provide a sense of peace and comfort. Together, we will discuss the loneliness and isolation that characterize these moments in your life. You will be supported as you gather your courage, call on your strengths, and meet this moment with integrity.
Relationships
Sometimes the challenge in making a major life change is not with the change itself but how it will impact important relationships in your life.
Here are some of the common relationship questions that my clients bring to our work:
How do I make an important life decision that will bring about big change in my partner's life? My children's lives?
As I grow with this change, how can I address a missing aspect of intimacy (i.e., emotional, spiritual, sexual, or intellectual) with my partner?
How do I decide whether to move closer to my aging parents?
If I get a divorce, how can I make sure that I don't repeat old patterns?
Strategy sessions are not therapy: I don't address why clients feel the way they do. Instead, I focus on what you're feeling and how to work with this awareness to skillfully negotiate the challenging, disconcerting, sometimes frightening, and perhaps exhilarating process of moving through change and how it impacts the relationships in your life.
Relocating
Each of us has a basic human need to have a home in which we feel safe, loved, comfortable, and, most importantly, able to carry out our private life.
Sometimes we’re required to relocate for business or for personal reasons, and this can come with a host of challenges: perhaps you’re moving further away from your family, or perhaps you’re moving closer to family with whom you’ve had persistent conflict. Perhaps your partner doesn’t want to move, and they’re struggling with the idea. Moving is expensive, and you may be moving to an unfamiliar area; perhaps you have children and need to find the right schooling and childcare to fit their needs. You’ll leave behind your network of friends and regular hangouts, and you’ll have to learn a whole new transportation system. And it’s possible you’ll experience culture shock in your new destination.
With all of the anxiety that can accompany relocation, it can help to have an outside perspective to answer the critical questions:
How can I be sure that if I choose to make this move, it will prove to be a realistic and positive opportunity for me given all my options?
How will I let go of what I'm leaving behind both physically and emotionally?
How can I support my partner, children or close friends if I make a decision to move?
What can I do to get settled in my new destination and how can I start to build a new network of friends and colleagues?
If I'm moving for career reasons, are there strategies that will ensure my success in this new work environment?
If I'm moving for personal reasons, how do I check in with myself to ensure that I'm not overextending myself?
Throughout our time together, we’ll look deeply at your personal goals and values and where your life feels out of balance. We'll establish a clear blueprint for what the next week, month, six months, and year will entail, and you’ll develop strong coping mechanisms to support yourself through the inevitable changes that will come throughout the moving process. Step by step, you’ll become more aware of your habits of mind, your strengths, and the sources from which you draw comfort.
Questions?
If you are going through a major change and would like to choose how you are going to respond, I would love to speak with you.
I offer a free, no-obligation 60 minute consultation. Request your free consult above.