On the surface, you seem to have it all together. Inside you feel stressed, overwhelmed, trapped, lost, and lonely. After achieving some of your goals you’re left wondering to yourself: now what? Maybe you’ve successfully made it through school and you into your early career, but it’s not what you were hoping for. You feel the pressure to be perfect and fix everything, but you don’t know how to stop doing that.
You’re excited to finally be “adulting” but the responsibilities like doing laundry, having to cook meals every day, keep your place clean, paying the bills, and the pressure to stay on top of everything doesn’t seem like a lot of fun. You find yourself wondering if this is as good as it gets, and then trying to figure out how you’re going to keep doing this for the next 50 years of your life. It feels like a huge let down - there has to be more to life than this, right?
Maybe you want a relationship but the idea of dating is petrifying, or perhaps you’re in a relationship but it’s not quite what you expected. Perhaps you worry if you’ll ever find “the right one” and if you can truly be happy in a relationship. You want to take a break from dating but you worry you’ll miss out on your future partner.
You’d like to have the confidence to say no and walk away from things people ask you to do for them, but you don’t want to upset anyone and cause any problems. You want to stop having to please people and start to take care of yourself but you don’t know how.
Something’s missing, but you’re not sure what it is. You’re not sure who to talk to other than your parents or friends that could help you figure things out.
Becoming A Young Adult
Emerging into young adulthood marks a new and sometimes challenging stage of life. During this phase, we are no longer considered a child and instead are held to a different standard by the people around us. Add in our own standards of who we expect ourselves to be, and our stress levels can shoot up very fast.
Sadly, living through the pandemic has made this already tough transitional time even harder. Many of us feel burned out and overwhelmed, like we’ve been running a marathon but we never get to the finish line.
The Pressure to Know Everything Can Be Intense
One of the biggest challenges we face is the pressure to figure it all out. Halfway through high school, we’re often expected to know exactly what path we want to take in life—everything from the career we want to pursue, where we want to live, and the relationships that we may want. We are expected to sort it all out quickly, successfully, and efficiently. It often feels like we have very little room to make mistakes or change direction midstream.
Sometimes, the pressure to prove ourselves and find ourselves in the adult world can feel paralyzing, making it harder for us to take any action or make decisions. When we get stuck trying to figure it out, we are left feeling embarrassed, disappointed, and ashamed. We feel like we are letting ourselves down as well as the people around us.
What makes our sense of isolation worse is when everyone on social media is seemingly living the “perfect” life. They seem to have figured it all out, and are living life and having tons of fun. With constant access to our phones, we can’t help but play the comparison game. But unfortunately, when we compare ourselves to others, we often end up thinking we’ve messed up and are doing something wrong.
What To Expect in Therapy for Young Adults in Cincinnati
In therapy that is customized for young adults, we want to get to know the real you—not the version that your parents or society tells you to be. We want to learn about your feelings, thoughts, the things that keep you up at night, and what you want to achieve for yourself.
One of our biggest parts of young adult therapy is to address the inner thoughts that run in your head all day long. It tells you what things you can or cannot do and the places you do and don’t belong. We want to make sure that you get out of your own way by pushing through any self-limiting beliefs you may have.
Our therapists offer practical and thoughtful feedback that will help you look at things objectively, helping you discover new perspectives and creative solutions.
Something else that we will discuss in therapy is the idea of boundaries. Healthy boundaries help us have relationships that are safe, respectful, and fulfilling. Good boundaries allow us to express ourselves to others and prevents toxic relationship from developing. It takes time to learn what boundaries are and how to set healthy boundaries, and learning more about this in therapy can help strengthen and improve your relationships with others.
We will also look at any unresolved issues that you may have from your past. No matter what stage of life you are in, any unresolved past issues can impact your functioning currently. When you get control of your thoughts and feelings, you will gain clarity about how your past is shaping your present. From there, you can start working towards a more genuine life.
You may be thinking about seeking counseling for young adults in Cincinnati, but still have some questions or concerns…
I know things are difficult for me right now, but do I really need therapy?
While some people still believe that you need to have a mental health illness to seek therapy, in reality, most people go to therapy to seek a better life. Counseling for young adults gives you the chance to deepen your relationships, better understand your thoughts and feelings, learn to effectively cope with stress, and set better boundaries with people. Essentially, through therapy, you can identify what it is that you truly want and need, explore strategies to help you achieve your goals and begin making impactful changes in your life.
How do I know therapy will help?
Therapy has been shown to be incredibly helpful to young adults as they transition to being an adult. One of the “secrets” behind why therapy is effective is that therapy allows us to share our thoughts and struggles with another human who is neutral. Just this alone is often helpful, as one of the biggest stressors is having to figure everything out by ourself. In addition, having another person know what you are struggling with allows them to share their own unique perspective on your situation, which can often help you change the way you think about things and thereby help you feel better.
All of our therapists also offer a free 15 minute phone consultation so that you learn more about us and how we can help. This will allow you to make an informed decision on whether or not to seek therapy.
I’ve heard counseling for young adults can be expensive.
When we consider how much counseling for young adults can help us move forward in life and help us change the way we are feeling, we can start to realize how the benefits of therapy can be invaluable. Put simply, there’s no dollar amount on living life stress free and feeling confident. It’s also important to recognize that the struggles you have now may very well continue as you get older. Investing in your own well-being and addressing your challenges now can provide relief and help you learn coping skills that you can use for the rest of your life. Lastly, we do take some insurance plans and can also help you get reimbursement for therapy payments from your insurance. Please reach out to us for more information.
How is speaking with a therapist different from getting help from family and friends?
Having support from friends and family is essential, however, it’s often hard to get non-biased and expert support from loved ones. The therapeutic relationship is different and unique for several reasons. First, a professional therapist has years of experience helping individuals just like you, and so when you talk about what is bothering you your therapist has expert knowledge about how to help you. Second, in a therapist’s office the focus is solely on you. When you speak about problems with loved ones there is a back-and-forth quality, meaning, you each discuss each other’s issues. You may censor yourself so as not to be judged, hurt your friend’s feelings, etc. Finally, therapy is confidential. You can feel free to speak your mind without wondering who else will hear about your personal concerns.
How often do I see you?
We usually start out seeing people once a week, assuming that works for you. As our work progresses, we will discover if we can move to a less frequent schedule, for example, every other week. Again, everyone’s situation is different, and you and your therapist will come up with an individualized plan when you meet for your initial session.
How Do I Get Started?
Simply visit our Contact Us page to set up an initial, free 15-minute consultation phone call. Following your consultation, we will schedule a time to meet for your first appointment.
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Our therapists that specialize in therapy for young adults
Sheldon Reisman
LISW-S
Liz Gray
LPC
Dorothy Rees
LPC
Hannah Armbruster
LPC