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Understanding Anxiety During Life Transitions: How It Develops, What Maintains It, and How Therapy Can Help

Anxiety during life transitions involves worry, fear, or uncertainty when facing significant changes, such as starting a new job, moving, ending or beginning a relationship, becoming a parent, or adjusting to retirement. While some stress is normal during change, transition-related anxiety becomes a problem when it interferes with decision-making, daily functioning, or emotional wellbeing.

People experiencing anxiety during life transitions may feel overwhelmed, stuck, or uncertain about the future. Understanding how this type of anxiety develops and persists can be empowering and is an important step toward managing it effectively.

What Is Transition-Related Anxiety?

Transition-related anxiety is characterized by:

• Worrying excessively about the future or potential outcomes
• Feeling tense, restless, or on edge
• Difficulty making decisions or taking action
• Sleep problems, irritability, or physical symptoms of anxiety
• Self-doubt or questioning one’s ability to cope with change

This anxiety is real and can feel intense, but it is often maintained by thought patterns, avoidance, and internalized self-criticism rather than by the changes themselves.

How Transition Anxiety Develops

Anxiety during life transitions often develops from a combination of temperament, past experiences, and beliefs about change. Factors that may contribute include:

• Early experiences of instability, unpredictability, or lack of support
• Previous transitions that felt overwhelming or unmanageable
• High personal standards or perfectionistic tendencies
• Fear of failure, rejection, or making “wrong” choices
• Tendency to overthink or over-plan

Over time, the nervous system learns to anticipate danger during change, making even minor transitions feel stressful or threatening. When couples take transition anxiety out on each other, it can negatively affect their relationship.

How Transition Anxiety Is Maintained

Transition-related anxiety is maintained through avoidance, overplanning, and internalised pressure to “get it right.” Common patterns include:

• Avoiding new roles or responsibilities to prevent discomfort
• Over-researching, overthinking, or seeking constant reassurance
• Self-critical thoughts that amplify worry
• Rumination about “what could go wrong”

These behaviours prevent learning that change can be tolerated, that mistakes are not catastrophic, and that one has the capacity to adapt.

Therapeutic Approaches for Transition Anxiety

Anxiety during life transitions is highly treatable. Therapy helps people reduce worry, increase confidence, and approach change with flexibility and self-compassion.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT helps clients understand how thoughts, behaviours, and emotions interact to maintain transition-related anxiety. Therapy involves identifying unhelpful beliefs, challenging catastrophic predictions, practising adaptive problem-solving, and reducing avoidance. CBT supports realistic thinking and helps people engage with change without being overwhelmed.

Schema Therapy

Transition anxiety may connect to long-standing schemas such as vulnerability to harm, defectiveness, or dependence. Schema therapy helps clients recognise these patterns, understand their origins, and update emotional responses. This builds self-trust and reduces the intensity of anxiety during change.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT supports clients in noticing anxious thoughts and uncomfortable feelings without trying to control them, while taking action in alignment with their values. Focusing on what matters most allows people to navigate change despite uncertainty, reducing avoidance and building resilience.

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

IFS views transition-related anxiety as arising from protective parts of the system that aim to keep the person safe during uncertainty. These may include anxious parts anticipating danger, avoidant parts encouraging withdrawal, or self-critical parts highlighting risks. IFS therapy helps clients approach these parts with compassion and curiosity, allowing greater internal safety and confidence to emerge.

Moving Through Change With Confidence

Anxiety during life transitions can feel destabilising, but it is highly treatable. With structured, evidence-based therapy, people can develop strategies to manage worry, trust their ability to cope, and embrace change with greater confidence. Gradual practice and self-compassion allow nervous system retraining and a smoother adaptation to new stages of life.

If transition-related anxiety is affecting your life, therapy can help you navigate change while maintaining emotional balance and resilience. Contact us today.

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