Adjusting to Illness

Receiving a life-altering health diagnosis can be one of the most challenging and scary things to face in life.  Suddenly, everything has changed and you are faced with having to adjust to your illness. Along with this might come loss of thing you were once able to do, fear and uncertainty surrounding the future, a disruption of your routine with doctor's appointments and medical treatments, a shift in priorities, changes in lifestyle, financial worries, anxiety, and depression.  

Adjusting to illness can sometimes feel lonely - whether you have a healthy support network surrounding you or not.  Complex and difficult emotions come up as we try to grasp a new reality, a new future, and perhaps a new identity? Anger, sadness, fear, and grief - all normal...How do we carry on in our relationships and navigate our career, school, or other obligations now that everything has changed? How do we cope and come to terms with a "new normal"?  How do we just carry on - doing things that might now feel unimportant and insignificant in the big picture? How do we cultivate the kinds of coping skills and mindset that will allow us to tackle this thing in the healthiest and most meaningful kind of way possible? These questions might be hard to answer on your own...but you don't have to deal with this alone. 

Working with a supportive therapist who specializes in adjusting to illness can give you the space you need to process your thoughts & feelings, gain new insights, and learn tools to cope.  Many of our therapists have been in this kind of helping role for many years, providing therapeutic support to individuals and families in the hospital setting who are dealing with very similar challenges.  They get it...and they can help.

Read our Article Featured in GoodTherapy: Overcoming Health Anxiety

If you are ready to schedule and get started, you can take a look at our therapists page to see if there is a particular therapist that you feel may be the best fit. Once you find the best fit, you can click "Request Appointment" on the therapist's individual page, where you will see their schedule to make an appointment. 

We are also happy to help you schedule your appointment! You can either simply fill out the form below, email us at counseling@floatoncounseling.com, or give us a call at 813-515-9602.

Lisa Barakat, Therapist, Anxiety Counselor
Lisa Barakat, MSW, LCSW
Olivia Luginski, Therapist, Grief and Anxiety Counselor
Olivia Luginski, MSW, LCSW