1
Join the Community
Reach out through our website or by phone. We verify your coverage and connect you with the right therapist.
Life transitions
Retirement, downsizing, a new chapter. Change asks a lot.
Leaving the work that defined you. Selling the house where you raised them. Moving closer to your kids. Becoming a grandparent, or not. Total Life therapists help older adults move through life's bigger transitions with their identity, relationships, and sense of meaning intact. Covered by Medicare. By phone or video. From home.
Lily is Total Life's AI wellness coach, here for everyday support and answers. She is not a medical provider and does not replace therapy.
Medicare-covered
Covered by Medicare and most major plans
You're not alone
What a hard transition can feel like.
- You wake up and aren't sure what you're supposed to do with the day.
- The first Monday of retirement felt nothing like you expected.
- You miss the rhythm of work, or the people, more than the work itself.
- Sorting through a house full of memories is heavier than you thought.
- A new neighborhood, even a nice one, doesn't feel like home yet.
- Friends from your old life have drifted, and new ones haven't shown up.
- Your spouse and you have more time together, and more friction with it.
- You're not depressed, exactly. You're just unmoored.
These are common experiences, not a diagnostic checklist. A licensed therapist can help you understand what you're feeling without rushing to label it.
Why this is different after 65
Why later-life transitions stack on top of each other.
In other phases of life, big transitions tend to come one at a time. In later life, they cluster. Retirement and a parent's death and a grandchild's arrival and a downsizing move can land in the same eighteen months. Each transition is also a small grief, and the cumulative weight can leave older adults feeling unsteady in ways they don't have a name for. Therapy is a place to put words to what you're feeling, build new structure for your days, and decide who you want to be in the next chapter.
10,000
Americans turn 65 every day
Source: U.S. Census Bureau population projections, 2020s
About 1 in 4
Recent retirees report a harder adjustment than they expected
Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute, Retirement Confidence Survey
How therapy helps
How therapy supports you with life transitions.
Name what you're actually losing
Most transitions involve a loss inside the change: identity, routine, status, the version of yourself that fit the old life. Naming the loss is the first step in moving through it, not around it.
Rebuild the shape of a week
When work, a house, or a partner organized your life, their absence leaves a vacuum. A therapist helps you design a week that fits who you are now, not who you were five years ago.
Decide what to carry into the next chapter
Not every habit, friendship, or expectation needs to come with you. Therapy helps you sort what's worth keeping from what was simply familiar.
How It Works
Getting started is simple.
2
Find Your Match
After a short conversation about your needs, we recommend an experienced counselor and schedule your first session.
3
Start Your Journey
On the scheduled date, your therapist reaches out by phone or video, and you begin working through what matters to you.
Why Total Life
Total Life vs. in-person therapy
| Total Life | In-person | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting started | Matched with a therapist within 24 hours | Often weeks on a waitlist |
| Where you meet | From home, by phone or video | Drive to an office |
| Specialization | Therapists who focus on adults 65+ | General practice, varies |
| Medicare | Covered by Medicare; most members pay $0 | May be out of network |
| Scheduling | Flexible times that fit your week | Limited office hours |
| Comfort | Talk from your own home | An unfamiliar waiting room |
All 50
States served
200+
Licensed providers
6+
Insurances accepted, plus Medicare
Meet Our Providers
Licensed therapists who specialize in older adults.
TA
Dr. Tanya Alonso
Licensed Psychologist
Licensed in your state, with a master's-level education or higher and specialized training in the mental health of older adults.
IR
Dr. Ian Rivera
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
Licensed in your state, with a master's-level education or higher and specialized training in the mental health of older adults.
PV
Dr. Preeti Vidwans
Licensed Psychologist
Licensed in your state, with a master's-level education or higher and specialized training in the mental health of older adults.
Why Our Clients Choose Total Life
Total Life has served over 10,000 adults and led over 100,000 sessions.
92% of members stay with their assigned therapist.
Dr. Tim Calvin has been a God Send. He is a kind, gentle and humorous man.
Read Reynold’s full storyShow less
Dear Total Life. Thank you for your wonderful service of therapy for the elderly. I had been searching for some time for therapy services for the elderly. I kept running into roadblocks until I ran across Total Life on the internet.
I had been an MSW/LCSW for 54 years and a BSW for 11 years before that. Yes, I will be 87 a few days from now. I just fully retired on March 31, 2026. I found myself drifting in the middle of Lake Michigan for some months until I found Total Life and realized there was a group of therapists reaching out to Medicare patients.
I was really fortunate I had not found someone before Total Life. I have been working on Erikson’s last stage of life and addressing the new life situations that “old age” has brought knocking. I find this a more pleasant experience compared to earlier therapy addressing the traumas and problems of growing up, plus the stress of relationships, children, addiction, financial, education and work.
A giant “THUMBS UP” for Total Life and Tim (Dr. Calvin).
Reynold Wolter
Total Life member · Working with Dr. Tim Calvin · MSW/LCSW (retired, 54 years) · Age 87
What Members Experience
Progress, session by session.
3
After three sessions
After three sessions a majority of clients have hope that their situation is improving.
6
After six sessions
After six sessions a majority of clients have reflected that actual change occurred.
Take the first step. We'll do the rest.
Covered by Medicare. Most members are matched with a therapist within 24 hours.
Common questions
Questions older adults ask about life transitions.
I just retired and feel worse, not better. Is that normal?+
Yes. The retirement transition is one of the most common reasons older adults begin therapy. Many people expect freedom and instead feel adrift, useless, or surprisingly irritable. It is a real adjustment, and therapy can shorten how long it lasts.
We're downsizing and I'm overwhelmed. Can therapy help with that?+
Yes. Sorting decades of belongings is rarely just logistical. It surfaces memories, choices, and questions about who you want to be next. Therapy can help you move through the process without it taking you down with it.
We're moving closer to our kids and I feel guilty about leaving our friends. What now?+
Mixed feelings about a good decision are common in later life. Therapy is a place to honor what you're leaving without changing your mind about where you're going.
Becoming a grandparent didn't feel the way I expected. Is something wrong with me?+
No. New roles in later life don't always arrive with the feelings people expect. Many grandparents quietly grieve the family closeness they imagined, even when the relationships are good. Therapy is a place to be honest about that.
I lost my driver's license and my independence feels gone. Where do I start?+
Losing a license is one of the harder later-life transitions, and most older adults underestimate it until it happens. Therapy helps you sort out the practical losses from the identity losses and rebuild your sense of agency.
My spouse and I aren't fighting, we just don't know what to do with each other now. Help?+
Common. Couples who built decades around work, parenting, and separate schedules can find retirement throws them off. Therapy can be one-on-one or as a couple, depending on what fits.
Is this just normal aging, or is therapy actually for this?+
Both can be true. Many transitions in later life are 'normal' and still very hard. You don't need a diagnosis to deserve support. Therapy is for the hard parts of normal aging, too.
Is therapy for life transitions covered by Medicare?+
Yes. Medicare covers behavioral health sessions with a licensed clinician as a Part B benefit, including support for major life transitions. Original Medicare covers 80%, and most members with supplemental insurance pay $0. Total Life is a Medicare provider.
Total Life is a Medicare provider. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or part of Medicare or any government agency.