by wholeselftherapy | Oct 8, 2025 | Asheville, Therapeutic Services
Emotional Wellbeing in Your 60s and 70s: Finding Peace, Purpose, and Connection in the Next Chapter of Life
Many people imagine that by their 60s and 70s, life will have settled into an easy rhythm — that they’ll feel peaceful, confident, and content. But in reality, this stage of life often brings a new set of emotional and relational challenges.
Retirement, health changes, the loss of loved ones, or simply a quieter daily life can stir up unexpected feelings. It’s common to notice more loneliness, a sense of uncertainty, or questions about purpose and meaning.
As a psychotherapist in Asheville who works with adults across the lifespan, I’ve found that the senior years can be some of the most important times to focus on emotional well-being. Not because something is “wrong,” but because this chapter offers an opportunity for reflection, healing, and growth.
The Emotional Landscape of Later Life
Life transitions can bring both freedom and loss. Many older adults find themselves reflecting on questions like:
- Who am I now, outside of my work or family roles?
- How do I make peace with regrets or missed opportunities?
- Where do I find belonging and connection as my world changes?
These questions are normal and healthy. They reflect the mind’s natural process of integration — pulling together the experiences of a lifetime into a more whole and peaceful self.
How Therapy Can Help: Asheville Therapy for Older Adults
Therapy can be a steadying space to explore these questions without judgment. Talking with a therapist allows you to process emotions, navigate life’s changes, and reconnect with a sense of vitality.
In our work together, we might focus on:
- Strengthening emotional resilience in the face of change or loss
- Exploring identity and purpose after retirement or a lifetime of caregiving
- Looking at lifelong patterns that are keeping you stuck
- Managing anxiety, loneliness, or grief
- Building or deepening meaningful relationships
- Integrating body, mind, and spirit for a greater sense of balance
Because I work from an integrative lens, we might include practical coping tools, mindfulness-based approaches, or simple lifestyle shifts that support emotional and physical health together. Sometimes healing comes from talking things through — and sometimes from small, embodied steps that help life feel more grounded and meaningful again.
It’s Never Too Late to Grow
Emotional growth doesn’t end with age — in many ways, it deepens. Your 60s, 70s, and beyond can be a time of wisdom, creativity, and clarity. Therapy can help you reconnect with your inner strengths and bring a sense of peace to your life story as a whole.
If you’re an older adult in Asheville, or in the states of North Carolina or Florida, who’s ready to feel more connected, balanced, and at ease, I invite you to reach out for a therapy consultation. Whether you’re navigating loss, seeking a new purpose, or simply wanting to talk with someone who understands the emotional landscape of this life stage, therapy can help you feel more like yourself again.
You can learn more or schedule an appointment here
by wholeselftherapy | Oct 27, 2019 | Therapeutic Services
Lately I have had a lot of talks with brave souls, reaching out for support as they endeavor to get clarity and work on themselves. During my free consultation by phone these individuals have expressed some desire about the type of therapist they want.
“Are you the type of therapist that is… interactive?” they ask.
“I want someone who will talk with me, not just sit quietly the whole time.”
“Of course!” is my typical response. Of course you want to have a therapist who is active in the room, who is curious and present and wants to know more. Someone who is eager to understand things in the hopes of shining a light into the unknown parts of your psyche so that both of us can get clear about where things are stuck.
“I’ve only had experiences with counselors who say very little, and that’s really not what I’m looking for. I want feedback and direction. I actually swore off therapy for a long time because of these experiences, but I’m finally willing to give it another shot.”
Hearing stories like these makes me incredibly sad. I know the courage it takes to pick up the phone and say “hey, I am struggling here and I need help.” The courage it takes to go into a stranger’s office and spill the beans about the ways you’ve been doing things you don’t want to keep doing, the ways you are suffering or are clueless about how to remedy things in your own life takes guts. To go through all of that and find yourself feeling alone and without engagement can be deeply disappointing, at best. For individuals that are struggling with feeling isolated or have a long history of not feeling seen or heard, it can be re-traumatizing.
All therapists have their own unique style of relating. Some therapists use modalities that are very directive, such as in the case of cognitive behavioral therapists and dialectical behavioral therapists. Analysts typically say less and listen more. While I do not identify as a “directive” therapist per se, I would say that my style is engaging.
I want to know what’s happening in your life and what you make of it. I want to hear your reasoning and your motivations. I am curious about your thought processes and your belief systems. I am listening for the places your feel well and strong and clear and the places that you harbor fears, uncertainly and self doubt.
I have tools and skills to share when you are ready to begin to make changes and try something new.
As an engaging therapist, I very much want to connect with you and, together, do the important work of exploration and growth.
by wholeselftherapy | Mar 26, 2019 | Schema Therapy
According to Schema Therapy, all of the psychological problems we encounter as adults have their roots in childhood and adolescent experiences. Specifically, there are 5 Core Emotional Needs that all children have, and when those needs are not met, what results is any of a number of different long-standing beliefs and patterns of relating to others aka schemas, technically termed Early Maladaptive Schemas.
Schemas are thoughts, feelings, sensations, core beliefs, images and memories that serve as organizing principles to interpret information and solve problems. They create the condition that we go through life encountering the same types of relationships, or we repeat the same crappy scenarios again and again. Sound familiar? We’ve all got them. As is often discovered with some pain in adulthood, these schemas are dysfunctional and self-defeating.
Schema Therapy aims to increase psychological awareness, increase conscious control over the schemas, and reduce the frequency, intensity and duration of schema-triggers.
I’ll be sharing more about specific schemas including what they look like and how they work. In this post, I am sharing those 5 crucial childhood emotional needs.
