Some transitions are bigger than the schedule they ask you to rearrange.
A career change, a relationship change, a loss, a diagnosis, a return to work, a return from a long stretch of caregiving, an empty nest, a midlife shift, becoming a parent for the first time or the third time, becoming a parent in a way you did not expect. Transitions are not just logistics. They are the slow renegotiation of who you have been and who you are becoming. The work I do in this territory is about giving you a thinking partner for that renegotiation, so you do not have to figure it out alone in the middle of doing it, whether or not parenting is part of the change.
Some of this might sound familiar.
Not a checklist to pass or fail. Just the shapes this tends to take, in case it helps to see them named.
The transition you are in is taking longer and asking more of you than you expected, and you do not have a good place to think about it out loud.
You can name what is changing, but you are not sure what to do with the feelings that come with it.
Or, you cannot name what is changing yet, and that is part of the problem.
You are in a transition you did not choose, and the work is partly about grieving the version of life that is not happening.
You are in a transition you did choose, and you are surprised by how disorienting it is anyway.
You want to come out of this transition more like yourself, not less.
You want help paying attention to that question while everything else is also asking for your attention.
If you see yourself in even one of these, you are in the right place.
What this might feel like
In their own words. Some of what people say, before they have a name for it.
I keep waiting to feel like I have arrived on the other side of this. I do not think I am going to.
I thought I would know what to do once I made the decision. The decision was the easy part. What comes after is the part I did not have a plan for.
How I work with life transitions
The work is paced around what is moving for you in the week we are sitting together, because the same transition can feel like five different things across five different weeks. We start with where you are right now, and we get curious together about what kind of transition this actually is, a change of role, a change of body, a change of relationship, a change of internal direction, or some combination, because the shape of the work depends on the shape of the transition. The methods I use are the same evidence-based modalities I use across my practice, Internal Family Systems, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, polyvagal-informed work, attachment-aware perspective, narrative therapy, adapted to whatever you are in the middle of.
One of the transitions we can sit with here is the move from being a healthy person to living with a chronic illness, your own or someone close to you. It rearranges your relationship to your body, your time, and the people around you, and it deserves the same room to make sense of itself as any other life transition. If chronic illness is at the centre of what is shifting, that is welcome here too.
You will not be rushed to know who you are now. You will not be sold a five-step plan to "figure it out." We will work at the pace your nervous system can hold, and we will be honest about what is clarifying, what is still in flux, and what may not be answerable yet at all.
Practical details
Sessions and format
50-minute sessions, virtual across Ontario or in person Tuesdays in St. Agatha.
Virtual sessions across Ontario or in person in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. We can talk through which format fits your life on the consult call.
Fees and insurance
A receipt is provided for insurance reimbursement under Social Work Services, and many extended plans cover sessions. You confirm your coverage with your insurer.
For full details on session fees and payment, visit the Fees & Insurance page.
Every new client starts with a free 15-minute phone consultation. Once we have spoken, we will book a time that works for both of us. There is no obligation to continue.
Starting does not have to be complicated.
Book a free consult
A free 15-minute phone call. We talk about what is going on and whether we are the right fit. No obligation to continue.
Find your footing
Once we have spoken, we will book a time that works for both of us. The first sessions are slower and reflective; we get clear on what you are carrying.
Do the work, together
We work at the pace your nervous system can hold, and check in often about what is shifting and what you need next.
Frequently asked questions
Often both, and the language is less important than the work. 'Life transition' is a useful umbrella because it captures the kind of thing that is bigger than a single problem you can solve but smaller than a full identity crisis. If you find yourself in a season where the answers you used to have do not fit your questions anymore, the label fits. We can figure out what kind of transition it is once we are working together.
Either, and we can talk about which fits best on the consult call. The parent-specific pages go deeper into the particular shape of the parenting transition you are in. This page is the umbrella for everything else, plus the parenting transitions that benefit from being framed as life transitions rather than parenting issues. If you are not sure where you fit, this page is a fine place to start, and we will route from there.
Related areas
Most life transitions touch more than one part of life. The pages below cover the most common adjacent experiences.
Ready to talk?
Every new client starts with a free 15-minute phone call. We talk about what is going on, what you are hoping for, and whether we are the right fit. No paperwork. No pressure.