Life Transitions Counseling

TRANSITIONS

By Deborah S. Kaufman, LCSW

When in April the sweet showers fall That pierce March’s drought to the root and all And bathed every vein in liquor that has power To generate therein and sire the flower When Zephyr also has with his sweet breath Filled again, in every holt and heath, The tender shoots and leaves, and the young sun His half-course in the sign of the Ram has run, And many little birds make melody That sleep all through the night with open eye (So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage) Then folk do long to go on pilgrimage, And palmers to go seeking out strange strands To distant shrines well known in distant lands.

(Modern translation of Chaucer’s Prologue to The Canterbury Tales)

With the coming of spring, the time of rebirth and renewal, we can reflect on the changes we experience in our lives here in Southwest Florida. And we do not even need to wait until April to experience the mild weather and the sired flowers. For those of us who have relocated from the more northern parts of the country, this change is not nearly as dramatic in terms of weather and foliage as what we experienced before moving here. Emotionally, the change of moving can be very dramatic. Like any pilgrimage, we are filled with hope and anticipation and also fear about the unknown. For many women, this transition raises questions about forming new relationships, finding work, establishing a new home with and for their families and fitting in to a new community.

It has been over 10 years since I transferred my psychotherapy practice from New York to Florida and many of the people who seek my assistance have relocated from another part of the country too. So it is not surprising that a significant part of my work has been to help people explore the issues that arise with the change of relocating, changing jobs and careers, changing relationships, changing one’s place in the world. I help people to access their inner strength, their connection to inner wisdom and to take the power that is born from such strength and wisdom out into the world to reestablish them in a new place whether literally, figuratively or both.

Revised from an article printed in the North Port Sun Herald February 2005.