Life goes along in a manageable way much of the time. We’re able to handle problems when they arise, and that feels good.

Inevitably, though, there are stretches of rough water where the problems are unfamiliar, the stress is great, and even a well-adjusted person can benefit from professional help.

If you’re at such a point, be assured: it’s a normal part of the human biography.

Five key post-childhood phases
Most of us can recall well the drama of adolescence, when we struggle to become our own person through major physical and emotional changes.

As developmental psychology points out, this is only one of the phases that we pass through as we move from infancy to old age, each with its own fresh challenges.

For young adults in their 20s (and increasingly, their 30s), the shift from a nurturing environment to the competitive, largely indifferent “real world” is difficult. Some are at a loss about how to proceed; others make a start, only to feel growing doubts about their direction.

Couples who have married find they need to develop a mutually respectful and communicative intimacy that goes beyond romance. Without it, simple issues become emotionally-charged problems, and genuine problems become devastating.

Middle age is ideally a time of caring and competency. It can be troubled at any moment by the recurrence of earlier unresolved problems, however; these are triggered by crisis events such as divorce, job loss, or the death of a child, which peak during midlife.

Later adulthood has its own well-known problems, of course, plus a challenging opportunity – the opportunity to rededicate and renew oneself. Longer, healthier lives are making this possible for increasing numbers of Americans.

The universal need for support
There’s disagreement among psychologists about theories of development. The major stages are well-established, however. And they are predictable.

If we lived in a traditional society, one thing we would have is plenty of support at these turning points. Virtually all cultures throughout history have provided elaborate rites of passage to all their members from birth to death, while village life and extended families ensured that everyone had a role to play.

Today, individual freedom has replaced the mandatory collective. Innovation flourishes. Science has trumped myth. Those are good things. But the need for assistance in moving through the natural phases of life still remains.

That’s precisely what good counseling and psychotherapy offer.