The Lifeworks Group, Inc.

By: Christine Hammond, LMHC, NCC Chuck knew he was a jerk. He cheated on his wife several times, put his work before his family, rarely went to his kid’s activities, drank heavily on the rare occasions that he was home, and verbally berated anyone who challenged him. And yet, he was a highly successful businessman, intelligent about a wide range of topics, had numerous friends, and was charming (when he wanted to be). Nonetheless, despite getting his way most of the time, Chuck was miserable. He toyed with counselors in the past, going only when needed to preserve his marriage, but not putting any real effort into changing. Instead, he would strategically turn the counselors against his wife over many sessions, leaving her a bigger mess than when they began. He was proud of his ability to manipulate situations that normally would be to his detriment into his benefit. This precise skill was used in business as well to make him far more successful than his natural abilit...

By: Christine Hammond, LMHC, NCC By the mid-40’s certain aspects of a person’s personality become very apparent. One of these things is work productivity. While there can be socioeconomic reasons for underperformance, after twenty years, a person is able to rise above even the most difficult of times. There is a warning however, being productive and being successful are not the same, so this not about accomplishment. Nor is this about a teenager or someone in their twenties. For them, underperformance may simply be lack of motivation or inspiration. But by a mid-age, some things should have been resolved. Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development identifies Generativity vs. Stagnation during this period which can result in a mid-life crisis. So this is intentionally about a person who is still underperforming or in the stagnation stage by mid-age. Here are some of the possible reasons: 1.        Entitlement. Many wrongly believe that ju...

By Chris Hammond, MS, IMH You can almost mark the date because everything changed.   The person you thought you knew became entirely different and not for the better.   It is almost cliché that with a mid-life crisis comes the impractical sports car, the extramarital affair, late nights at bars, new friends who are twenty years younger, hipper clothes or a dramatic career change.   While you never thought it would happen to you or your spouse, you find yourself in exactly that place.   How did you ever get here? Erik Erikson defines his seventh psychosocial stage as Generativity vs. Stagnation which occurs in the late thirties until the mid-sixties.   This time period in an adult life encompasses the mid-life crisis years which can begin and end anytime in between.   So what is a mid-life crisis?   It is when an adult evaluates where they are in life compared to the dreams and goals they once had for themselves, to the status of others the...

By Dwight Bain, Nationally Certified Counselor & Certified Life Coach The middle years of life create massive changes for men and women. Both go through a major shift physically, spiritually and psychologically. Women face more of a physical change as they go through menopause, while men face more of a psychological change during the time commonly referred to as the middle years, or simply, mid-life. The Bridge of Mid-life is not always a crisis Every man goes through a predictable series of physical and psychological changes. So it's helpful to view this process as a series of bridges that men have to cross at different stages of life, beginning in youth and going all the way to the senior adult years. All men will cross a bridge in the middle years of life, (somewhere in the 40’s or 50’s for most), but not all men will experience a crisis because of it. This bridge is positioned halfway through life, so it’s a time to mature into more of an elder statesman, family patriarch...