Feeling Stuck? The LIKEMIND Approach to Moving Forward

There’s a particular kind of stuck that doesn’t look dramatic from the outside.

You’re functioning. You’re showing up. You’re doing what you’re supposed to do. But internally, something isn’t moving. You keep circling the same decision, the same conversation, or the same question. And no matter how much you think about it, nothing seems to shift. You can’t quite move forward.

If that feels familiar, you’ve probably been sitting with it for a while. At LIKEMIND, this is where a lot of our work begins.

Where This Started

People sometimes ask what makes LIKEMIND different. What it would actually feel like to sit down with one of us. It's a fair thing to wonder when you're looking for someone you hope will become a safe space. Someone you can open up to about whatever's been on your mind, the good and the bad.

LIKEMIND was founded in 2017 and, from the beginning, the clinicians who came together here had something in common. Not the same background or the same therapeutic approach, but the same instinct about how to be with people. Curious. Respectful. Willing to sit with something – an issue, a puzzle, a complication – before trying to fix it.

We eventually started calling that approach: Being LIKEMINDed.

What It Actually Means

Being LIKEMINDed isn't a technique. It's more of a philosophy – an attitude or a way of showing up. It might look like:

• Sitting with a question instead of rushing toward an answer

• Letting a thought fully unfold before trying to interpret it

• Not assuming you already know why you feel the way you do

It means respect – which, in practice, often looks like slowing down. Letting someone finish a thought. Not deciding what something means before you've really heard it.

And it means welcome. Creating the kind of space where you don’t have to edit yourself or “get it right” before you speak. Where it's okay to be uncertain, or frustrated, or not have it all figured out yet.

There's also a dash of humor in there. Because even in the middle of something hard, a moment of lightness can help you breathe again.  

Why You Might Feel Stuck

When we’re overwhelmed, our perspective tends to narrow. We fall into patterns. We react quickly, often before we've had a chance to fully process what’s happening. Then we try to solve the problem from that same narrowed place and end up right back where we started.  

Young adulthood tends to amplify this. There are more decisions, more life transitions, and more pressure than at almost any other point in life – figuring out career, relationships, identity, and finances, often all at once, often without a clear roadmap. And there’s often an unspoken expectation that you should already know what you’re doing. The version of "having it together" that everyone around you seems to project is largely fictional. But it doesn't feel that way when you're in it. 

What we’ve seen, again and again, in working with young adults and adults through their 20s and 30s, is that most people don't need someone to tell them what to do. They need room to think. They need a space where slowing down is actually possible. Where someone is genuinely interested in understanding their experience and not rushing toward a solution.

It's Not About Having the Right Answer

Here's something we come back to a lot:

It's not about having the right answer. It's about staying in the conversation long enough for something new to emerge.

Most of us are taught to solve things. To figure it out, decide, move on. And when we can't do that quickly, we start to interpret the stuckness we feel as a personal failure. Something must be wrong with us. We should be further along by now.

But what if being stuck isn't a sign that something's wrong? What if it's just a signal that your current way of looking at something has run its course?

Being LIKEMINDed is the reframe. It isn’t about forcing positivity or "thinking differently" in a superficial way. It’s about gently widening your perspective. Sometimes that starts with a simple question: 

• What have I missed?

• What might I not be taking into account?

• Could there be a more balanced way to see this?

These aren’t meant to fix the problem instantly. They're not trying to make you feel better by forcing a silver lining. They just create a little space – and that space is often where movement begins.  

What This Looks Like Over Time

Change isn’t always dramatic. It doesn’t always come in big, obvious moments. Sometimes it's:

• Realizing that the decision you've been agonizing over isn't as permanent as it felt;

• Noticing a pattern you hadn’t seen before;

• Understanding that something you took personally was never really about you.   

Those shifts can be subtle, but they matter. They create options where things once felt fixed. 

What to Do When You Feel Stuck

If you’re in that place right now, you’re not behind and you’re not broken.  

You're a person dealing with a genuinely difficult stretch in a world that doesn't always make space for that.

Sometimes what helps most isn't more advice. It's having someone sit with you – someone who’s genuinely interested in how you’re making sense of things, and not in rushing toward an answer.  

That's what we aim to offer at LIKEMIND. 

If you’re wondering whether this kind of approach might be helpful,we'd love to hear from you. We’re always open to starting a conversation.

Written by Tessa Hayes, LICSW, founder of LIKEMIND Mental Health & Wellness, a group practice in Worcester, MA specializing in therapy and support for young adults and adults navigating life transitions.