Career Direction Guidance - Live Life Now
Find Your Path
Not knowing what you want is normal. We help you clarify what matters & make choices that fit.
When Career Feels Unclear
Career confusion affects more people than you might think. The idea that everyone should have a clear five-year plan is unrealistic. Most people figure it out as they go.
Not having a plan feels like failure. You watch others move forward with certainty while you’re still figuring out what you want. You feel behind, lost, or stuck. Everyone seems to have it together except you. This comparison makes confusion feel like personal inadequacy.
Values shift over time. What mattered to you at 22 doesn’t matter at 35. You chose a career path based on old priorities. Now those priorities have changed but you’re locked into a trajectory that no longer fits. Changing direction feels risky or impossible.
The gap between what you do & what you want widens. You took a job for practical reasons: money, stability, location. But it doesn’t fulfill you. You’re competent at work that doesn’t mean anything to you. You’re successful by external measures but empty internally.
Too many options paralyze you. Every path has pros & cons. You can see yourself doing several different things. But committing to one means closing doors to others. So you stay stuck, unable to choose, watching time pass.
Fear of making the wrong choice keeps you frozen. What if you leave a stable job & regret it? What if you invest in training for a field you end up hating? What if you’re no good at the thing you want to try? Fear of failure prevents any movement.
Practical constraints limit options. You have financial obligations, family responsibilities, geographic limitations. The career you want isn’t available where you live. Or it doesn’t pay enough. Or it requires education you can’t afford. Your ideal doesn’t match your reality.
Lack of clarity about strengths & interests muddles decisions. You’re not sure what you’re good at. You’ve been doing the same type of work so long you can’t imagine alternatives. You don’t know what would actually energize you versus what sounds good in theory.
External pressure influences choices. Family expects you to follow a certain path. Your field has a clear hierarchy you’re supposed to climb. Friends question why you’d leave a “good job.” These voices drown out your own sense of what’s right.
Burnout makes everything unclear. You’re so exhausted you can’t think clearly about what you want. You know you need change but can’t access the energy to figure out what change makes sense. Decision-making requires resources you don’t have.
Identity gets tangled with career. Your job has become who you are. The thought of changing careers feels like losing yourself. You’ve invested years building expertise. Walking away from that investment feels wasteful.
The job market feels impossible to navigate. You don’t know what’s available. You don’t know how to position yourself for different work. You don’t have networks in fields you’re curious about. The logistics of switching careers seem overwhelming.
You’re waiting for clarity to arrive. You think you need to figure it all out before taking any action. But clarity often comes from trying things, not from thinking about them. Waiting for certainty keeps you stuck.
This confusion is normal. Career paths aren’t linear. Most people change directions multiple times. Not knowing exactly where you’re headed doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. It means you’re human.
Our Career Guidance Approach
We don’t give you answers. We help you find your own answers through a structured process of exploration & clarification.
Clarifying Your Values
comes first. What actually matters to you now? Not what should matter, not what mattered five years ago, not what your family values. What do you value? We identify your core values & examine how your current work aligns with them. Misalignment between values & daily work creates dissatisfaction.
Mapping Your Energy
reveals important information. What activities energize you? What drains you? Energy is data. Work that consistently drains you isn’t sustainable long-term, regardless of how much it pays or how impressive it looks. Work that energizes you is work you can sustain. We track where your energy goes & what restores it.
Identifying Strengths
means looking at what you’re actually good at, not just what your job title says. You have skills that don’t appear on your resume. You have natural abilities that feel effortless to you but difficult for others. We uncover these strengths & consider how they might apply to different types of work.
Exploring Interests
involves getting curious about what draws your attention. What do you read about? What do you volunteer time to? What would you do if money wasn’t a factor? These interests point toward meaningful work, even if the connection isn’t immediately obvious.
Testing Assumptions
about career options reveals what’s true versus what you’ve imagined. You think you want a certain career, but do you know what the day-to-day actually involves? We examine assumptions about different paths & find ways to test them before committing.
Experimenting With Small Steps
builds information without requiring major commitments. You don’t need to quit your job to explore other options. You can take a class, volunteer in a field, interview people doing work you’re curious about, take on a side project. These experiments provide real data about what fits.
Addressing Fears
that keep you stuck is necessary work. We name the fears clearly. We examine which are realistic & which are catastrophizing. We develop plans for managing real risks. Fear doesn’t disappear, but it becomes manageable enough to move forward.
Looking at Constraints Realistically
means acknowledging what’s actually fixed versus what you’ve assumed is fixed. Some constraints are real: financial obligations, health considerations, caregiving responsibilities. Others are negotiable. We distinguish between the two & find creative solutions within real limitations.
Making Values-Based Decisions
grounds your choices. When you’re clear on values, decisions become easier. Not easy, but clearer. You can evaluate options against what matters most to you. This doesn’t eliminate difficult trade-offs, but it provides a framework for making them.
Creating Action Plans
translates insight into steps. Clarity without action doesn’t change anything. We build specific, manageable steps toward your goals. These steps account for your current resources, constraints, & capacity. Plans that don’t fit your reality don’t get implemented.
Managing Transitions
involves practical & emotional support. Changing careers is disruptive. We work on managing the learning curve, building new skills, dealing with identity shifts, & handling others’ reactions to your choices.
The goal isn’t finding the one right answer. It’s making choices aligned with who you are now & what you value now. Your path can change again later. That’s allowed.
What Sessions Cover
We explore your motivations, values, & energy patterns. Then we develop actionable steps forward. This is self-discovery with direction, not endless navel-gazing.
Early sessions focus on assessment. Where are you now? What’s working & what isn’t? What matters to you? What are you good at? What energizes you? We gather information about you & your situation.
Middle sessions involve exploration. We look at options, test assumptions, & experiment with possibilities. You might interview people in fields you’re curious about, try a side project, or research training programs. You gather real information about potential paths.
Later sessions focus on decision-making & action. You’ve gathered information. Now you need to make choices & take steps. We develop your plan, address obstacles, & support you through the transition.
Sessions last 50 minutes, typically every week or two. Career exploration doesn’t rush. We move at a pace that allows for real reflection & experimentation between sessions.
You’ll have homework that involves both thinking & doing. You might journal about values, research career options, have conversations with people in different fields, or try something new. The work between sessions is where insights develop.
This process requires honesty with yourself. If you’re not willing to examine what’s really going on, progress is limited. If you’re committed to certain narratives about what you can or can’t do, we’ll bump against those. Growth requires looking at things you might have been avoiding.
Common Questions About Career Guidance
Do I need to know what I want to do?
No. That’s what we’re figuring out together. Most people come in without clarity. That’s the point of guidance.
Is this career counseling or therapy?
Both. We address emotional blocks: fear, shame about not having it figured out, identity issues tied to career. We also work on practical decisions: researching options, building skills, making changes.
How long does it take?
Most people gain clarity within 6-8 sessions. Some need more time, especially if exploring multiple options or making major changes. Clarity develops at different paces for different people.
What if I have financial obligations that limit my options?
We work within real constraints. A career change doesn’t always mean starting over at an entry-level salary. Sometimes it means shifting within your field. Sometimes it means a temporary financial sacrifice. Sometimes it means finding creative solutions. We look at what’s actually possible given your situation.
What if I'm too old to change careers?
You’re not. People change careers at every age. Different considerations apply at different life stages, but age alone doesn’t prevent change. Experience & maturity are assets, not liabilities.
Will you give me career tests?
Assessments can provide useful information, but they don’t give you answers. We might use tools to explore personality, strengths, or interests. But the real work happens in conversation & experimentation, not from test results.
Align Your Career with Your Life
Purpose comes from knowing what matters to you & structuring your work around it. This looks different for everyone. For some people, work is central to identity. For others, work funds the life they want outside of work. Both are valid.
Career clarity develops through action, not just thinking. You won’t figure everything out by sitting & pondering. You figure it out by trying things, noticing your responses, & adjusting based on what you learn.
Your first session involves exploring where you are & where you want to go. We’ll discuss your work history, current dissatisfaction, values, & what you’re curious about. From there, we build your exploration process.
You don’t need to have all the answers to start. You just need willingness to explore & commitment to the process. The answers develop as you go.
Client Testimonials
“I was skeptical about therapy. I had tried a few therapists in the past and didn’t feel seen. But here, I found someone who really got it. We talked about my anxiety around work performance, but also about being a Black man navigating stress and expectations. It’s been a game-changer. I don’t just cope—I’m growing.”
“What stood out to me was the empathy and skill of my therapist. I’ve struggled with perfectionism and shame for most of my adult life. Through therapy and the skills lab sessions, I finally learned how to soothe my inner critic. I feel like I can breathe again. Therapy didn’t fix me—it helped me meet myself with kindness.”
“Therapy helped me understand patterns I was blind to—especially in relationships. I used to push people away before they could hurt me. Now I see how fear was driving me, and I’ve started building real, open connections. I didn’t expect to feel so supported. I’m grateful I gave this space a chance.”
“I began therapy because I felt constantly overwhelmed and unsure of my place in the world. My therapist helped me make sense of my anxiety and gave me real tools to cope. The mindfulness work we did together shifted how I relate to myself. I no longer feel broken—I feel human.”
“I came in feeling numb and disconnected. Years of pushing down emotions had left me empty. Through therapy, I started to understand my emotional world for the first time. I even learned how to talk about feelings with my teenage son. That’s something I never thought I’d be able to do.”
“I work in a helping profession, so I thought I should have it all figured out. But therapy showed me that even caregivers need care. I loved the blend of compassion and structure my therapist brought. The two-hour sessions were particularly transformative—they gave me time to unpack and rebuild.”
“For years, I thought my relationship issues were just bad luck. But therapy helped me understand attachment styles, boundaries, and my own patterns. I learned to stop chasing unavailable people and start showing up for myself. It’s been deeply healing.”
“I never thought I’d be someone who goes to therapy. But I hit a wall and couldn’t keep pretending everything was fine. From the first session, I felt a deep respect and safety here. We unpacked years of suppressed grief and stress. I’ve come out stronger, not just mentally, but emotionally and spiritually too.”
“As a young woman dealing with depression and identity confusion, therapy gave me a place to speak freely. I no longer feel like I’m faking confidence. I’ve found my voice, and for the first time, I actually feel like I belong in my own life.”
