(HS Wehrenberg, Grodzki 150827 2026)Retirement Anxiety: Practical Clinical Tools for Working with Ambivalence and Transition

Course overview

Retirement is not a single moment but a process--a developmental stage that can evoke both anticipation and anxiety. Clients have spent decades building a meaningful career, developing skills and expertise, and creating a professional identity rooted in a sense of competence and connection - only to face the unsettling tasks of letting it all go. Many therapists are challenged by not knowing how to guide clients as they contemplate this transition and may feel pressured to provide "the right answers" about when and how to retire. In this session, Margaret Wehrenberg, PsyD and Lynn Grodzki, LCSW, MCC - renowned experts and co-authors of Letting Go of the Work You Love - offer a clear, clinically grounded, evidence-based roadmap that you can use immediately with your clients or for yourself. You'll learn: Evidence-based approaches to ease retirement-related anxiety Strategies for gently expanding identity beyond professional roles Tools to help clients define and assess their legacy