Val Sutton Psychology-

Retirement Lifestyle Counselling

Most programs for retireees involve financial planning, which is very important, but what about all the other issues? How will you fill your time? How will you maintain your self esteem if you have largely defined yourself in terms of the work that you did? How will you learn new skills? How can you use the vast wealth of knowledge and skills you have built up over the years to keep contributing to society? How will you keep up with your grandchildren and with new technology?

In retirement it is easy to slip into purposelessness and the general loss of self esteem that goes with finding that you no longer have a workplace to belong to or to put structure into your days.

It is often only when we are no longer working that we realise that work is about so much more than money. Why do people work? (Apart from the money!) We work because it gives us something meaningful to do, it gives us somewhere to go to, it provides us with a group of people or a concept that we belong to. It partly defines us.

In retirement, it is important to replace all these things in order to remain young and energetic and outward looking. An in depth assessment will help you to identify the things that are important to you and how to achieve them. It will help to generate practical ideas. You will also be supported in carrying out your action plans, especially if you need a little boost - such as if you decide to go to university.

The Process

An initial assessment will identify your unique requirements. Together we will work out a program that suits you. The number of sessions may vary from one to five or six sessions. This process can be done individually, or with your partner. It is recommended that each partner has an individual session, and then a joint session.

References

"Val gently helped me to realise that I could still do many of the things I had only dreamed about and even forgotten that I had dreamed about before."

"The structured process enabled my partner and I to communicate our dreams and fears and we worked out a plan that suited us both."