Life Transitions Counseling in Marin County & San Francisco Bay Area | Tamara Pancoe, LMFT, PMH-C
If you’re navigating a major change and your emotions feel more intense than expected, you’re not alone. Life transitions counseling can help you make sense of the uncertainty, identity shifts, and overwhelm that often surface during pivotal moments. I’m Tamara Pancoe, LMFT, and I support women moving through seasons of transition, whether it’s a career shift, becoming a mother, changes in relationships, healing old patterns, or redefining who they want to become. In our work together, we slow things down so you can hear yourself again, tune into your body, and understand what this moment in your life is really asking of you.
What is life transition counseling?
Life transition counseling is a supportive therapeutic space that helps you navigate moments of change with more steadiness, clarity, and emotional regulation. These transitions can be planned or unexpected career shifts, pregnancy and postpartum, relationship changes, loss, identity evolution, or simply sensing that one chapter of your life is closing and another is beginning. This type of therapy helps you understand your emotional reactions, explore the beliefs or fears that surface during change, and develop tools to meet this season with confidence rather than overwhelm. It’s a space to feel held as you navigate new roles, shifting priorities, and the uncertainty that naturally comes with transition.
Common challenges during life transitions
Life transitions can activate a wide range of emotional experiences. You may notice:
- Heightened anxiety or worry about the future
- Grief for the version of you or your life that is changing
- Difficulty making decisions or trusting your instincts
- Feeling disconnected from your sense of identity
- Overwhelm with new responsibilities or expectations
- Increased stress or tension in relationships
- Moments of doubt, fear, or emotional reactivity
These responses are normal your nervous system is adjusting to something new. Therapy helps you understand and regulate these internal shifts with compassion and intention.
How do I know If I need life transition counseling?
You might benefit from life transitions counseling if you find yourself wondering:
- Why does this change feel so heavy, even if it’s positive?
- Why is my confidence suddenly lower than usual?
- Why am I feeling so emotional, reactive, or uncertain?
- Am I losing myself in this new chapter?
- Why does this transition feel harder than it “should”?
- How do I move forward when I’m grieving what I’m leaving behind?
If these questions resonate, therapy can provide grounding, clarity, and direction.
How I support life transitions in Marin County & San Francisco Bay Area
My approach to life transitions counseling is grounded in emotional attunement, somatic awareness, and understanding the deeper patterns that shape how you move through change. Together, we will:
- Explore how your body responds to uncertainty and stress
- Identify old narratives or expectations influencing your decisions
- Practice tools that support regulation, clarity, and internal stability
- Strengthen your ability to trust yourself and your needs
- Process the emotional layers, grief, fear, excitement, confusion of this transition
The goal is not to rush your process, but to help you move through it feeling supported, grounded, and connected to yourself.
Topics we can explore together in life transitions counseling
- Rebuilding identity and self-trust during change
- Navigating emotional overwhelm or uncertainty
- Processing grief attached to transitions
- Developing boundaries in new roles or relationships
- Understanding attachment patterns activated by change
- Managing stress and nervous system reactivity
- Adjusting to motherhood or shifting family dynamics
- Building confidence in decision-making
How it works
Setting the Foundation
This step helps us create a supportive framework that reflects your needs and intentions.
Building Awareness and Understanding
Together, we will explore where certain reactions come from and begin to understand what has been keeping you stuck.
Creating Change and Cultivating Growth
As therapy progresses, we will focus on developing practical tools and new ways of responding that align with your goals.
Life transitions specialist in Marin County & San Francisco Bay Area
As an LMFT specializing in life transitions counseling, I support women experiencing pivotal moments of change from career shifts to motherhood, relationship changes, or identity transformations. I offer a therapeutic space where your emotional experience is deeply respected, and where you can explore who you are becoming with honesty, gentleness, and clarity.
Tips & resources for navigating life transitions
- Pause and check in with your body: Notice where tension sits, place a hand there, and breathe into that spot to signal safety to your nervous system.
- Create small rituals to anchor your days: Gentle routines like a morning stretch, a short walk, or lighting a candle can help you feel steady when everything else is shifting.
- Name what you’re feeling without judgment: Saying things like “I feel uncertain” or “I feel overwhelmed” helps reduce intensity and brings clarity to what needs care.
- Let yourself ask for support: Whether it’s a friend, partner, or therapist, staying connected helps prevent isolation and reminds you that you do not have to hold everything alone.
- Give yourself permission to move at your own pace: Transitions unfold slowly. You don’t have to rush clarity or force decisions before you feel ready.
Hi, I’m Tamara. I’m so glad you’ve found your way here.
I am a licensed therapist dedicated to helping my clients heal and find hope while navigating the waves of life.
Therapy investment
I help women who feel anxious, depleted, or emotionally stretched thin find steadiness, clarity, and a deeper sense of self-trust.
Whether you’re navigating anxiety, a major life change, or simply trying to keep up with the demands of daily life, therapy with me offers a soft place to land and feel supported.
$200 per 50 minute session
FAQ
What kinds of life transitions can therapy help with?
Life transitions counseling can support you through any moment of change, including shifts in identity, becoming a parent, career transitions, relationship changes, moving to a new place, or simply realizing that the life you had no longer fits who you are becoming. Therapy gives you space to process the emotional impact of these changes with more clarity and support.
How long does life transitions counseling usually last?
The timeline depends on what you are navigating and the pace that feels right for you. Some women seek short term support to move through a specific transition, while others continue therapy longer as they adjust to new roles, expectations, or emotional landscapes. There is no set timeline and we go at a rhythm that feels supportive and steady.
Is it normal to feel both excited and scared during a transition?
Yes. Mixed emotions are a completely normal part of change. Excitement, grief, fear, relief, and uncertainty can all coexist. Therapy helps you understand these emotional layers so they feel less overwhelming, and supports your nervous system as you move through them.
Can therapy help if I only feel unsettled but cannot pinpoint why?
Absolutely. Many people come to therapy with a sense that something is shifting internally even if they cannot clearly name it yet. Life transitions counseling helps you tune into your body, your emotions, and your internal signals so you can understand what feels “off” and what this moment in your life may be inviting you to explore.
How does life transitions counseling support decision making?
Therapy helps you slow down enough to hear yourself. Together we explore your values, emotional needs, and the patterns that influence your choices. By understanding what is happening in your mind and body, it becomes easier to make decisions from clarity rather than urgency, pressure, or fear.
