Therapy For Students and Young Adults
Young adulthood is fraught with uncertainty, decision making, relationship changes, and frequently, loneliness. I specialise in this area.
Changing friends
Friendships at university can be tricky – sometimes it has been the first time we have been expected to make friends from scratch since we were at primary school. Any lingering insecurities can be triggered by trying to make new friends and feeling worried about how others see us. Changes in friendship circles can also be tough, as groups are made and broken, or everyone moves apart, leading to a sense of not belonging and sometimes that we are different in some way. Some people also realise that they find conflict in friendships challenging – you might worry that others are just walking over you.
Identity and decision making
Our twenties are also a critical time for identity formation and making life-defining decisions. Young adults often grapple with questions of who they are and who they want to become. Sometimes this is layered with issues around self esteem and feelings of trying to impress or please others.
Meanwhile, at this age we often have to make big decisions. The fear of making the wrong choice and regretting decisions later in life can be paralysing. Therapy can be helpful to have someone impartial to help you think through what you actually like, value, want to do, and what your options are.
Dating and relationships
The pressure to be in a relationship or at least be dating often surfaces in our late teens and twenties. Sometimes people end up worrying about being single forever, or that they will never find “the one”. Dating can elicit very strong feelings in us, as it can feel like an exercise in being judged and sometimes rejected, with apps creating scrutinising and judging perspective as we have to assess and somehow market both our appearance and personality. Meanwhile, messaging platforms and social media heighten anxieties and can lead to obsessive feelings.
I help people to think about how their previous history of both family and other relationships can impact on finding and maintaining a relationship, whilst normalising just how hard all of this can feel.
Loneliness and Isolation
Despite being more connected than ever, loneliness is a pervasive issue among those in their twenties. The pandemic intensified these feelings for many, disrupting the traditional start to university life and limiting social interactions. Life has not snapped back to where it was before, with young people socialising less than pre-pandemic. Such changes have had more impact on individuals with social anxiety, or low mood, who may find it doubly hard to make friends and feel included rather than left out. Therapy can help put these worries in context and start to understand how to reach out to others in a way that feels tolerable.
Whatever you are struggling with, therapy can help you to feel less alone, better understand your difficulties, and start to take steps towards change.
About Me
I work as an NHS therapist for Cambridge medical students, and specialise in working with students and young adults.
I use cognitive analytic therapy (CAT), EMDR, compassion focussed therapy (CFT) and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to work with anxiety, depression, and mood, relationship and trauma issues.