Life Changes
Over the course of a lifetime, a person can expect to experience a significant amount of change. Some of these changes…are generally positive…[while others] may cause a significant amount of stress.”
—GoodTherapy
Actions for Now
Steps to Reduce Symptoms
- 10 Ways to Cope With Big Changes
Try this advice from Psychology Today - 7 Things You Need To Know To Deal With Major Life Changes
Make sure you’re emotionally prepared for your transition - Guided Meditation For Change
A half-hour meditation to help you move forward in life - Moving Forward Through Transitions
This worksheet was created by Lea Sloan, M Ed, LPC, BCC, to help you figure out your goals and strengths when moving through a transition
Health Changes
- 5 Tips For Dealing With A Life-Changing Diagnosis
Dr. Joel Young shares reliable ways to gain comfort and further information following a diagnosis - 5 Easy Ways to Reduce Stress and Increase Health As You Age
Scientifically-backed methods for coping with age-related changes in stress and overall wellbeing - Coping with a Terminal Illness
An end-of-life care guide, with attention to the emotional experiences that follow terminal diagnoses - Shopwell
Apps to help you navigate food purchases based on new dietary needs and restrictions - Habitbull
Receive incentives for engaging in personalized habits, from refraining from alcohol to walking to work to remembering to take your medication (An app) - SuperBetter
Play games that strengthen your emotional resiliency
Home Changes
- Moving Checklist
A thorough checklist for preparing your new home, packing, cleaning, and more - Pet Movers
Get support transporting your pet to your new location - The Big Moving Adventure
An app to teach your child what to expect in your next move - Various Apps
These apps are designed to help you find an apartment
Parenthood
- National Parent Helpline
Receive emotional support from trained counselors at this helpline (1-855-427-2736) - 8 Ways for New Parents to Get More Sleep
Parents share how they maximized their sleeping potential - Infant CPR
Learn how to perform CPR on your child - Top 10 Breastfeeding Tips
Advice for those getting used to breastfeeding - The New Parent Podcasts
This podcast from Hand in Hand Parenting talks about recovering from difficult births, developing good responses to your child’s crying, helping your baby with separation anxiety, and other important steps - How to Lobby for Employee Adoption Benefits
This article discusses how to advocate for parental benefits (paid adoption leave, etc) within your workplace. - Adoption Tax Credit
This online course explains how adoptive families can benefit from the adoption tax credit - Cloud Baby Monitor (App)
Turn your phone into a monitor with live video, noise, and motion alerts - Baby Feeding Log (App)
Track feedings, diaper changes, and sleep with this app - Bubble Wrap (App)
Entertain your toddler by letting them pop onscreen bubbles with this app - Redrover (App)
Find kid-friendly entertainment near you
Professional Changes
- What’s Next
Support for those searching to change careers, retire, start their own business, and more - Various Job Boards
Find and apply for jobs on websites like Indeed, CareerBuilder, and more. - Live Career
Build a resume and/or cover letter, become familiar with common interview questions, and perform a job search on this site - Jobcase
A job source for those searching for nontraditional and/or hourly work - Glassdoor
Check employee reviews of potential future employers (or write a review of your own organization) - Handbooks for the Long-Term Unemployed
Deloitte and the Rockefeller Center created these guides for employers, job-seekers, and community leaders to provide support to the unemployed - Get Five
This blog is filled with resources to help you on your employment search, with pieces on how to find a job when you’re relocating, looking for remote work, and more - When To Turn Down A Job Offer
The pressure is on to accept that new job—but could it be an unhealthy choice? - Reach (App)
Network with professionals in your area - LinkUp (App)
Find jobs that are still only listed on company websites
For Allies
Give the Best Support Possible
- How To Support A Loved One Through A Major Life Change
Advice for aiding the person you love as they experience a transition
Health Changes
- 18 Things You Can Do When A Person You Love Is Facing A Scary Diagnosis
Steps you can take to be a great source of support and love - 7 Ways To Support A Friend Or Relative With Health Problems
An overview of common forms of assistance, medical and emotional, that a loved one may need - Self-Care For Caregivers
Arielle Mesa, LICSW, examines how those caring for their loved ones can maintain their own health and happiness
Home Changes
- How To Adjust When Your Child Is Moving Out For The First Time
Figure out how to help both your child and yourself during this major transition
Parenthood
- 10 Ways to REALLY Help Someone With a New Baby
Help the new parent get some sleep, spend time with older children, or just do what they want for a little while - How to Help a New Mom
20 tips for helping a new mother or father get through their daily tasks. This article focuses on new moms, but this advice applies for new dads as well! - 10 Ways to Help a Pregnant Friend
From driving your friend to doctor’s visits to hosting a “babyette” (a bachelor or bachelorette party for a soon-to-be-parent), here are ideas for supporting your friend before they give birth - 4 Tips for Becoming a Grandparent
Make sure you and your family are on the same page as roles and expectations shift
Professional Changes
- How to Help a Friend Make a Career Change
Support and encourage your friend during this stressful process - How To Support A Friend Who Just Lost Their Job
How to be a good friend to someone who’s faced professional rejection
You’re Not Alone
Stories
- Talks to Remind You That Your Story Isn’t Over
These TED talks will inspire you to bounce back up after any setback
Health Changes
- Healingwell
An online chronic illness community - Cancer Support Groups
Online, telephone, and in-person support groups for those dealing with cancer - This is What it Feels Like to Live With Mental Illness
A video from Buzzfeed about different people’s experiences with depression, anxiety disorders, and other conditions - My Story of Being Diagnosed with Autism Late
Model Melissa Koole shares her story of being diagnosed with Asperger’s at age 19 - Feeling Like Old News”
The writer of “Dear Melanoma” shares how it feels to still need support 3 years after her initial diagnosis - My Hubby
The husband of a cancer patient shares his experience as his wife’s number one supporter - Real Women
Women share their stories with heart disease
Home Changes
- Moving: This American Life
This radio show looks at people who were forced to move by circumstances out of their control, and how they handled the transition - Expat Forum
An internet community of people who have moved or are hoping to move abroad
Parenthood
- 5 Twin Birth Stories: Variations of Normal
A collection of five different experiences with twins, including IVF, C-section, and more - Parenting with PTSD: There Are Good Days and Bad Days
One mother opens up on the added challenge of caring for her children while dealing with symptoms of trauma - From Traumatic Cesarean to Postpartum Depression
One mother shares her story - 8 Ways for New Parents to Get More Sleep
Parents share how they maximized their sleeping potential - Choice Moms
Community and resources for those who choose to become single mothers
Professional Changes
- 8 Inspiring Stories of How People Really Got the Job
Hiring stories from LinkedIn job searchers, people over 40 looking to change their career, and even the founder and CEO of Nasty Gal - 6 Inspiring Stories From People Who Unexpectedly Lost Their Jobs
From being fired to watching their company go bankrupt, these stories examine the hardships—and unexpected upsides—of losing your position
Master the Subject
Health Changes
- Mayo Clinic
The Mayo Clinic’s website offers information about the causes, symptoms, and treatments of hundreds of physical and psychological conditions - National Institutes of Health (NIH)
The USA’s official medical research agency - Chronic Illness News
The latest news regarding conditions like heart disease, lower back pain, Parkinson’s, and more from Science Daily - Invisible Illness or Chronic Illness? What’s the Difference?
Is your illness chronic or “invisible?” What does that mean? - Chronic Babe
An online blog and forum designed for women coping with chronic illnesses like HIV/AIDS, fibromyalgia, arthritis, and more - Dealing with a Mental Illness Diagnosis
Advice for adjusting to and accepting your mental health diagnosis - American Heart Association Support Network
Connect with others, hear survivor stories, and access resources related to heart health - Newly Diagnosed: Diabetes
Information on causes and treatment for diabetes, aimed towards those newly diagnosed.
Home Changes
- The Art of Happy Moving
Ali Wenzke, who once moved 10 times in 11 years, created this blog and resource center to ease the moving process for others - Top 10 Emotions When Moving House
Common emotional experiences when transitioning to a new home - Minimalist Moving: Decluttering For a Lighter Load and New Home
Tips for determining what you’ll really need in your new home - Moving Elderly Parents
Advice on helping senior parents transition to a new home - How to Move to a New City with No Money and No Prospects
How to get by when your slate has been wiped totally clean
Parenthood
- New Parent
Advice and resources for parents - Healthy Children
Learn more about parenting children of all ages from this website, sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics - The National Parenting Center
Dedicated to providing advice for parents from pregnancy to their child’s teen years - Parents
Safety tips, recipes, shared parenting stories, and more - Maternity Monday: The Reality of Postpartum Depression
This blog post defines postpartum depression and offers advice for supporting yourself and/or loved ones - New Mom Guilt: Why You’re Not Failing as a Mother
This blog post tackles the common fear that we’re failing as parents - Top 10 Breastfeeding Tips
Advice for those getting used to breastfeeding - Music Therapy Can Comfort and Soothe Premature Infants and Parents
A review of the therapeutic benefits of music - Postpartum Support
Education and resources for parents suffering from postpartum depression
Professional Changes
- How to Move Into a New Career Without Starting From the Bottom
For those looking to change career paths without starting their professional paths all over - Too Busy To Change Careers? Not With These Techniques
How to apply for a new job even when other life requirements have you feeling stressed - How to Handle Getting Fired
Coping with being let go from your job - 6 Effective Ways to Deal With Criticism
This webpage describes how to productively take in negative feedback - Thriving During a Major Job (or Life) Transition, ft. Lea Sloan, M Ed, LPC, BPC
Former career consultant Lea Sloan offers advice on how to successfully manage a life or career-related transition - How to Survive and Thrive in an Unhealthy Work Environment
Tips for getting by in a dysfunctional and/or difficult workplace - Beating Workplace Burnout
Advice for getting over natural periods of burnout
Advocate
Health Changes
- MentalHealth.Gov
Created by the US Department of Health and Human Services to benefit those coping with mental health issues - National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
The US’s largest grassroots mental health organization - Cancer Support Community
Dedicated to empowering all people impacted by cancer through knowledge, action, and community - American Heart Association Support Network
Connect with others, hear survivor stories, and access resources related to heart health - Kaleidoscope Fighting Lupus
Education, inspiring stories, organized events, and more for those living with lupus - The John A. Hartford Foundation
This foundation is dedicated to improving elder care across the US
Home Changes
- National Association of Senior Move Managers
This organization specializes in working with older family members during this major transition
Parenthood
- National Parent Helpline
In addition to a phone helpline, this organization offers online resources designed to support the emotional health of parents across the nation - National Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
Dedicated to engaging and empowering families to advocate for children’s education - The National Parenting Center
Dedicated to providing advice for parents from pregnancy to their child’s teen years
Professional Changes
- Social Services
Government programs designed to help those struggling economically - Hiring Our Heroes
A nationwide initiative to find employment for US veterans