Finding Clarity During a Career Pivot

Whether you’re thinking about leaving a job that you no longer enjoy, reentering the workforce after taking time off to care for your family, or pursuing a dream job, changes can often feel overwhelming and anxiety-provoking. In my work as a therapist in Washington, DC, I’ve seen how powerful it can be to approach career pivots using concepts from a type of therapy called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people live a life that is aligned with their values, even when things feel uncertain. Rather than trying to get rid of difficult thoughts or feelings, ACT helps you make space for them so they no longer get in the way of making meaningful life choices.

When you're facing a career change whether it’s planned or unplanned you might question your decisions, worry about failing, or feel pressure to be at a different place in your career. That’s where ACT can be helpful.

Below, I’ll outline the key processes from ACT that can help you during this time of change so that you can feel more fulfilled in your life.

1. Clarify What Matters Most (Values-Based Living)

ACT begins with values. When making a career change, it’s easy to get swept up in the logistics, worry about what others will think, or compare your career to friends or colleagues. By grounding yourself in your values, you can begin to feel greater alignment in your daily life.

Some questions that my clients and I often explore include:

• What kind of person do they want to be at work?

• What kind of work creates value for them, their company, or organization?

• What do they want to contribute to the world, and how are their interests and expertise aligned with this?

You might realize that flexibility, leadership, creativity, or autonomy are core values that haven’t been honored in your current role. By asking yourself thoughtful questions, you can create your own mission, and your values can act as your internal compass guiding you toward your next career step.

2. Make Room for Difficult Emotions (Acceptance)

Career changes often bring up anxiety, self-doubt, or even embarrassment. ACT invites you to make space for these feelings rather than push them away.

You might say to yourself:
“I notice I’m feeling scared about looking for a new role. That makes sense, job searches are challenging for everyone.”

Acceptance is a willingness to feel what you feel without letting those emotions dictate your actions. By accepting your thoughts and feelings, painful emotions that arise during a job search can feel more manageable. Clients often report that this acceptance helps them become less overwhelmed by their thoughts or emotions and enables them to take action toward what is important to them.

3. Defuse from Unhelpful Thoughts (Cognitive Defusion)

Cognitive defusion in ACT is the process of creating space between you and your thoughts so you can observe them without automatically believing or reacting to them. Instead of getting caught up in thoughts like “I’m a failure,” defusion helps you see it as a mental event “I’m a failure” is just a thought, not a fact.

You might think:

• “I’m too old to switch careers.”

• “I’ll never find something better.”

• “If I fail, I’ll regret even starting to look for a new job.”

Do these thoughts sound familiar?

ACT reminds us to defuse from these thoughts and to see them for what they are: just thoughts, not the truth. You might try adding the phrase:
“I’m having the thought that…”

So instead of “I’ll never succeed,” it becomes:
“I’m having the thought that I’ll never succeed.”

At first, this may sound strange, but the more you practice, the easier it becomes to recognize that thoughts are not facts. This will help you take steps toward career changes that are based on your values instead of believing thoughts that prevent you from achieving your goals.

A client who had spent most of his career in leadership roles in the tech sector shared that he couldn’t stop thinking, “I’ve invested too much time in this field to start over.” Through defusion work, he began to see that thought as just that—a thought and not a reason to stay stuck in a job he didn’t enjoy. This shift helped him take steps toward a role in research, which better aligned with his interests and also removed him from managing people which was a component of previous roles he did not enjoy. 

4. Be Present (Mindfulness)

It’s natural to think about past mistakes or worry about what your future holds during any career change. Instead of overthinking a poor performance review from five years ago or predicting that you'll struggle in future interviews, ACT encourages you to return to the present moment because we can’t change the past or predict the future. The present moment is the only place where you can make decisions.

There are many guided meditations apps - Insight Timer is my favorite (and has many free guided meditations). Often clients report to me that meditating is initially quite challenging but hang in there the more you practice, the easier it will become! You can also focus on your breathing or follow the simple prompt below:

Take a deep breath and notice your feet on the floor. What does each part of your foot feel like on the ground? As you shift back and forth, where does your weight move? Bring your awareness back to your current reality. From the present you can take the next step in your job search or career exploration.

5. Take Committed Action

ACT is ultimately about taking action on what is important to you. These actions are rooted in your values. These don’t have to be huge actions or changes, but what matters is taking consistent steps in the direction of what matters to you.

For the purposes of reentering the workforce, applying for a new job, or pivoting into another sector or function that might mean:

• Scheduling an informational interview or speaking to a mentor

• Signing up for a course to sharpen your skills in an area that would support you in your career

• Updating your resume

Each of the above actions helps you move toward the life you want to live even when you are experiencing anxiety or feeling overwhelmed.

Final Thoughts

Career pivots aren’t just about changing jobs or reinventing your identity, they're about aligning your life with what feels true and meaningful.

If you’re feeling stuck or overwhelmed, therapy can offer support not just with career decisions, but with the patterns and dynamics—like communication, confidence, or stress that show up in both work and personal life. Together, we can clarify what matters most to you and move toward a future that feels more grounded and fulfilling.

Stay tuned for my next post, where I’ll walk you through a real-life example of how a former client used ACT to guide her career pivot.