Hopelessness and despair can rob us of energy, motivation, and the ability to plan and set goals. Feelings of despair can impact our life choices by bringing in negative thought patterns that can include self-blame or shame. Therapy can help us recognize the roots of the sadness and the negative thoughts that follow. Through a feeling of connectedness, we can begin to understand the reasons for these emotions and begin to challenge how we make sense of them in our life.

Excessive worry and negative thoughts can lead to avoidant behavior where we begin to retreat from our life. This can show up in regret of the past or concern about the future. We can experience a lack of control over our thoughts which can impact our decision making. Therapy can help us recognize our reactions to feelings of being overwhelmed and out of control and develop techniques for working through the anxiety.

Experiencing a loss of connection and belonging in a relationship can be traumatic and difficult. We can begin to lose confidence in our ability to be authentic in the partnership and as a result feel a disconnection from our true self. Some may jump into people pleasing, others may withdraw from the relationship as the sense of belonging dissipates. Therapy can help us understand how to communicate our needs and to listen to what the other person is expressing, helping to find a connection back to an authentic relationship.

A sense of loss over someone or something can produce feelings of overwhelming longing and sadness. These feelings can impact our thoughts, behaviors, and our physical and spiritual health. As these feelings persist our daily living can be impacted by our withdrawal from activities, relationships, and decisions we make. Through therapy we can tell our story of not only loss, but of the importance of who or what we lost played in our life. Together we can find the meaning and carry that memory forward to assist us in re-engaging with our life.

Feelings of fear and extreme vulnerability typically accompany our reaction to trauma. An extreme bad event can lead to unpredictable emotional responses that can hijack our thoughts. Excessive negative thoughts, reliving the traumatic event and repeatedly revisiting the pain impacts our ability to feel safe in our present moment, even if the trauma is over. Through a therapeutic telling of our story, we can clarify our relationship to what happened to us and begin to alter our negative thoughts and behaviors.