Career & Transition to Graduate School

Sometimes it is a struggle to select a career path. It’s also not uncommon to feel stuck or unfulfilled in a chosen career. It can be difficult to cope with situations like these and the difficulty may affect areas of life outside of work. At these times, meeting with a therapist to focus on the problem can be quite helpful. At the Psychological Clinic, our therapists work together with our clients to examine the situation closely, to generate new options, and to create a plan of action for making decisions. Therapy can help identify barriers to making important decisions, and help you to take the steps you need to bring about change. Therapy can also be helpful when problems occur in the workplace with co-workers or supervisors and may include discussing and/or practicing assertiveness or discussion of how to better perform work-related duties.

In addition to work problems, therapy can also help when someone is transitioning into a new academic program. When students are used to succeeding academically and then encounter the new challenges of graduate or professional training, they may have thoughts such as: “do I deserve to be here?”, “how did I get into this competitive program?”, “my peers are so much better than me”. These can be typical reactions to feeling really challenged, but they do not need to stop you in your tracks or create anxiety. Therapy can help explore these feelings and lead to an overall reduction of these thoughts, as well as help you regain confidence in your abilities. On the other hand, some students arrive at graduate school and feel as though their program or their line of study is not what they thought it would be. At these times, it can be helpful to talk with a therapist about whether the program is right for you. This can be especially helpful because often friends and family may be invested in you completing your program, even if it is something that makes you unhappy.

Contact us for help with career or academic transition issues.