We all experience psychological impasse. This feeling of uncertainty about your next moves in life might come at predictable moments: the loss of a job, the end of a romance, an empty nest as your child heads for college, or the death of someone who has long helped you feel recognized, loved, and appreciated. It might also come at unpredictable moments: when the career of a lifetime somehow loses its juice, when you ache for intimacy but can't seem to find the right partner, when you find yourself longing to renew a sense of life's adventure.

Predictable or not, psychological impasse brings with it the sense of being stuck or paralyzed. At the office, you feel stale or unchallenged. In your personal life, you feel agitated, deflated, or downright bored. You know that something must change - and you're desperate to contribute at work, find a reinvigorated role in your family, and dive back into the current of your own life.

Though uncomfortable, impasse is necessary. It's the only place