Therapy for Chronic Health Conditions, Diabetes & Mental Health

Supporting the emotional side of living with a chronic health condition

Living with a chronic health condition can affect far more than your physical health. Managing symptoms, appointments, medications, lifestyle changes, and uncertainty can take an emotional toll and may affect your relationships, work, routines, and overall sense of well-being.

Whether you are living with diabetes, another chronic health condition, or the emotional challenges that can accompany changes in your health, therapy can provide a space to talk openly about what you're experiencing.

You don't have to separate your physical health from your emotional health. Both are part of your experience as a whole person.

When physical health affects mental health

Living with a chronic condition can bring challenges that aren't always visible to other people. You may feel overwhelmed by the ongoing demands of managing your health, frustrated by limitations or changes in your life, or worried about what the future may hold.

Therapy may be helpful when you're experiencing:

• Anxiety or worry related to your health

• Stress and burnout associated with managing a chronic condition

• Feelings of frustration, sadness, or discouragement

• Difficulty adjusting to a diagnosis or change in health

• Changes in identity, independence, or daily life

• Relationship or family challenges related to illness

• Feeling overwhelmed by the ongoing demands of healthcare

• Difficulty balancing your health needs with other parts of your life

• Emotional exhaustion or burnout related to chronic illness

Diabetes and behavioral health

Diabetes can bring unique emotional and behavioral challenges. The daily responsibilities of managing diabetes is demanding, and the experience of living with a condition that requires ongoing attention can affect mood, relationships, and quality of life.

I have specialized training in diabetes-related behavioral health and work with adults and families affected by Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Additionally, my son was diagnosed with T1D at age 4, so I am intimately familiar with this particular set of challenges.

Therapy can provide a place to explore the emotional experience of living with diabetes, including stress, anxiety, adjustment, relationships, and the challenges of managing a chronic health condition over time.

The focus of therapy is not on providing medical treatment for diabetes. Instead, we can work together on the psychological and emotional aspects of living with your condition.

A mind-body approach

My approach to therapy recognizes the connection between physical health, emotional well-being, thoughts, behaviors, and relationships.

When you're living with a chronic health condition, it can sometimes feel as though your health has become the center of your life. Therapy can offer an opportunity to step back, reconnect with the other parts of yourself, and consider how you want to live alongside your health challenges.

Our work may include developing greater awareness of the relationship between stress and well-being, exploring patterns that may no longer be serving you, and finding ways to respond to difficult emotions with greater flexibility and self-compassion.

Your experience is unique

There is no single emotional experience of living with chronic illness. Two people with the same diagnosis may have very different experiences, concerns, and needs.

I take a collaborative and individualized approach to therapy. Together, we can identify what is most important to you and develop a treatment approach that fits your circumstances, values, and goals.

You don't have to minimize what you're going through simply because someone else may have it harder. Your experience deserves attention and support.

Support for the whole person

Your physical health and mental health are connected, but your identity is not defined by a diagnosis.

Therapy can be a place to make room for the full range of your experience—to acknowledge the difficult parts while also identifying sources of meaning, connection, resilience, and possibility.

If you're looking for psychological support related to diabetes, a chronic health condition, or the emotional challenges that can accompany changes in your health, I welcome you to reach out to learn more about working together.

Contact Dr. Lisa Lively to learn more about scheduling an appointment.