Adjustment to Illness and Injury
Living with an illness or injury can change more than your body. It can affect your confidence, identity, relationships, work, sleep, mood, and sense of control.
At Us Therapy, we understand that recovery is not only physical. You may also need space to process fear, frustration, grief, uncertainty, or the pressure to “stay positive” when life feels different from before.
What does adjustment to illness and injury mean?
Adjustment to illness and injury refers to the emotional and practical process of adapting to a new health condition, diagnosis, injury, or change in physical ability.
This can include adjusting to:
- A new medical diagnosis
- Chronic illness or long-term symptoms
- Pain, fatigue, or reduced mobility
- A sports injury or accident
- Surgery or medical treatment
- Changes in appearance, independence, or daily routine
- Fear of relapse, re-injury, or worsening symptoms
Adjustment does not mean “accepting defeat”. It means learning how to live with what has changed, while still making space for hope, meaning, and personal choice.
Research shows that how people understand their illness can affect emotional wellbeing, coping, and quality of life. More threatening illness beliefs, such as “my life is over” or “I have no control”, are often linked with higher anxiety and depression.
Why can illness or injury feel so emotionally heavy?
Illness and injury can interrupt the life you expected to have. You may feel like your body has become unpredictable, or that you are no longer able to do things that once felt easy.
You may experience:
- Shock or disbelief
- Anger at your body or situation
- Sadness, grief, or numbness
- Anxiety about the future
- Guilt about needing help
- Frustration with slow recovery
- Fear of being a burden
- Loss of confidence or identity
These reactions are common. A new chronic illness diagnosis can feel like a crisis because it may bring fear, anxiety, depression, anger, and uncertainty.
Pain, fatigue, and sleep difficulties can also make emotional coping harder. When your body feels uncomfortable, exhausted, or unable to rest, it can be more difficult to think clearly, regulate emotions and feel hopeful.
How do I know if I am struggling to adjust?
You may be struggling to adjust if your thoughts, emotions, or behaviours feel stuck, overwhelming, or hard to manage.
Some signs include:
- Constantly worrying about symptoms, scans, tests, or medical appointments
- Avoiding activities because of fear
- Feeling disconnected from your body
- Feeling angry or resentful most days
- Withdrawing from family, friends, or work
- Feeling hopeless about recovery
- Struggling with sleep, appetite, or motivation
- Comparing yourself harshly to who you were before
- Feeling like your illness or injury has become your whole identity
Some people also develop health-related anxiety, where they become very preoccupied with bodily sensations or the fear of serious illness. This can be distressing even when medical reassurance has been given.
Support can be especially helpful when worry, pain, fatigue or sleep problems begin to affect your quality of life, relationships, work or rehabilitation.
Why do I feel like I have lost myself?
Illness and injury can affect your identity. You may ask, “Who am I now?” especially if your body, routine, work, sport, or independence has changed.
This can be especially hard if you used to see yourself as active, capable, independent, or always “the strong one”. When your body needs rest, care, or treatment, it can feel like you are no longer yourself.
Therapy can help you separate who you are from what happened to you. Narrative Therapy, for example, helps people avoid seeing themselves as “the problem” and supports them in rebuilding a more compassionate story about themselves.
When To Seek Help
You do not need to wait until things feel unbearable before seeking support.
You may benefit from therapy if illness or injury is affecting your:
- Mood
- Sleep
- Appetite
- Confidence
- Relationships
- Work or school
- Daily routine
- Motivation
- Sense of identity
- Ability to follow medical advice or rehabilitation
You may also want to seek help if you notice:
- Persistent anxiety about symptoms or recovery
- Fear of moving, exercising, or returning to activity
- Ongoing sadness, anger, or numbness
- Avoidance of medical appointments
- Feeling hopeless about the future
- Difficulty accepting help from others
- Feeling like no one understands what you are going through
Therapy is not only for crisis moments. It can also support you while you are adjusting, rebuilding, and learning how to cope with change.
If you are experiencing thoughts of self-harm or suicide, please seek urgent support immediately. In Singapore, you can contact emergency services at 995 or reach out to SOS at 1767.
How Can Us Help You?
At Us, we understand that healing from these traumas is not a standard method; we work to provide you with a safe, non-judgmental space to process your experiences and work towards recovery.
With the help of the DSM-5, clinicians will review the criteria to check whether your circumstances meet the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis.
However, even if an individual does not meet the exact criteria for a diagnosis, they can still receive treatment for their symptoms. We work alongside evidence-based techniques and will collaborate with you to determine what works best for you and your unique journey.
Experienced Therapists
Our processes and quality assurance is led by Dr.Emma Waddington, a UK-trained senior clinician psychologist and Founder of Us Therapy, with over 20+ years of experience in helping individuals in Singapore.
Holistic & Personalised Approach
Our clinicians draw from various therapeutic models to create a holistic approach. At Us, we have seen hundreds of clients and we recognise that each individual is unique. Our approach is tailored to you but always includes customised treatment plans and integrative techniques.
Thorough Assessment
At Us, we pride ourselves on our comprehensive assessment processes. We will undergo a thorough assessment process with you in your first sessions before we come up with a plan for your therapy.
Our Therapists
Therapy Approaches
Many people with BPD see significant improvement with the right support:
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, can help you notice patterns between your thoughts, feelings, body sensations, and behaviours.
For example, after an injury, you may think, “If I move, I will make it worse.” This may lead to fear, avoidance, and loss of confidence. CBT can help you test these thoughts gently and rebuild a sense of control.
CBT can also support the practical side of recovery. This may include recognising unhelpful cycles, such as pushing through on better days and crashing afterwards, avoiding activity out of fear, or becoming more anxious at night when your mind has space to worry.
Your therapist may help you build more balanced routines, develop pacing strategies, manage health-related worry, and respond to symptoms with less fear and self-criticism.
CBT is often used to support people experiencing anxiety, low mood, health-related fears, and adjustment difficulties.
Acceptance And Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps you make room for difficult feelings while still moving towards what matters to you.
This can be helpful when symptoms, uncertainty, or limitations cannot be fully removed. ACT does not ask you to like what happened or force yourself to “think positive”. It helps you live with more flexibility, meaning, and choice.
When recovery feels unpredictable, it is natural to spend a lot of energy fighting your symptoms, comparing yourself to who you were before, or waiting until you feel “better” before living again. ACT helps you relate differently to discomfort, tiredness, fear, and frustration, while still taking small steps towards your values.
A simple way to understand ACT is: open up, be present, and do what matters. This can help you live with greater vitality, even when life does not look exactly the way it did before.
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, or EMDR, may be considered when an injury, accident, medical procedure, or health event feels stuck in your mind and body.
This approach can help some people process distressing memories, especially when the event continues to feel present or overwhelming.
For example, you may find yourself reacting strongly to reminders of the accident, feeling panicked before medical appointments, avoiding rehabilitation, or struggling to rest because your body still feels on alert. EMDR may help reduce the emotional intensity of these experiences, so they feel less overwhelming in the present.
EMDR does not erase what happened. It aims to help your brain and body process distressing memories in a way that feels safer and more manageable.
Your therapist will first assess whether EMDR is suitable for you. They will also help you build grounding and coping skills before processing distressing memories.
Narrative Therapy
Narrative Therapy can help you explore the story you have started to tell yourself after illness or injury.
Instead of seeing yourself as “broken”, “weak”, or “a burden”, therapy can help you reconnect with your strengths, values, and identity beyond the diagnosis or injury.
This can be helpful when symptoms have changed the way you see yourself. For example, needing more rest does not mean you are lazy. Moving more slowly does not mean you have failed. Having difficult days does not erase your progress.
Narrative Therapy can support you in building a more compassionate and realistic view of recovery, especially when illness or injury has affected your body, confidence, or future plans.
Support for Couples, Families and Carers
Illness and injury can affect more than the person directly experiencing it. Partners, family members, and carers may also feel worried, helpless, frustrated or unsure how to support you.
Therapy can help with communication, boundaries, role changes, and emotional support within relationships. This may be helpful if illness or injury has affected:
- Household responsibilities
- Intimacy or closeness
- Family routines
- Communication
- Caregiving roles
- Future plans
- Feelings of guilt, resentment or helplessness
The aim is not to blame anyone. It is to help everyone feel more understood and supported.
What To Expect
Initial Consultation – A Space to Be Heard
The first session is all about getting to know you. It is a conversation—one where you can share what is been on your mind, what has been feeling difficult, and what you would like support with. Your therapist will ask questions about your background, experiences, and goals, but there is no pressure to answer any questions—just a safe space to begin.
Questionnaires & Onboarding Surveys – Understanding the Full Picture
To help tailor therapy to your needs, you may be asked to fill out some brief questionnaires before or after your first session. These can give insight into things like mood, stress levels, relationship patterns, or coping strategies. They are not tests—just tools to help your therapist understand how best to support you.
Individual Therapy Sessions – Your Journey at Your Own Pace
Each session is a step forward in your journey. Therapy is not just about talking—it is about discovering new ways to navigate life’s challenges, make sense of emotions, and feel like you are getting the most out of your life. Depending on your needs, sessions may focus on:
- Exploring patterns of thought and behavior
- Understanding past experiences and their impact on the present
- Developing practical coping tools
- Strengthening emotional resilience
Feedback Sessions – Reflecting and Adjusting
After the first few sessions (or after assessments), a feedback session provides space to reflect on how therapy is going. This is a chance to talk about what has been helpful, what you would like more of, and how therapy can continue to best serve you.
Intervention – The Heart of Therapy
Intervention is where meaningful change happens. Every therapy journey is unique, and the approach will be shaped around what works best for you. Some common approaches include:
🌱 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – Helping to identify and shift unhelpful thought patterns, reduce anxiety, and develop healthier ways to cope and new patterns of behaviour.
🧠 Schema Therapy – Deep, transformational work to uncover long-standing patterns that might be keeping you stuck, often rooted in early life experiences.
💙 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) – Learning to handle difficult emotions with self-compassion and move towards what truly matters in life.
🌊 Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) – A powerful approach for healing trauma and distressing memories, helping the brain reprocess them in a way that feels less overwhelming.
🧘 Mindfulness-Based Approaches – Building self-awareness, grounding techniques, and ways to manage stress and emotions with greater ease.
Fees
Individual Counselling Rates
Clinician type
Fees and Duration
Clinic Founder
$310
Principal Psychologist
$290
Senior Clinical Psychologist
$262
Educational Psychologist
$262
Clinical Psychologist
$236
Counsellor
$170
Expressive Arts Therapist
$170
Associate Psychologist
$130
Phone calls / Emails
Clinicians rate pro-rata (10 Mins)
FAQs about Adjustment to Illness and Injury
Is it normal to feel sad or angry after an illness or injury?
Yes. Sadness, anger, fear, and frustration are common responses to major health changes. You may be grieving the loss of your previous routine, confidence, independence, or sense of safety.
These feelings do not mean you are ungrateful or negative. They mean that something important has changed.
What if other people think I should be over it by now?
Adjustment does not follow a fixed timeline. Some people feel better emotionally once their symptoms improve. Others continue to feel anxious, fearful, or disconnected long after the physical injury has healed.
Your pace is valid. Therapy can help you understand what is keeping you stuck and what support you may need next.
Can therapy help if my condition is permanent or long-term?
Yes. Therapy cannot always remove the illness, injury, or symptoms. It can help you cope with the emotional impact, make practical changes, communicate your needs, and reconnect with meaning in your life.
For long-term conditions, therapy may focus on acceptance, pacing, identity, relationships, self-compassion, and quality of life.
Can therapy help with fear of re-injury?
Yes. Fear of re-injury is common, especially after sports injuries, accidents, or painful recovery experiences.
Therapy can help you understand the fear, reduce avoidance, and rebuild confidence gradually. This may work best alongside guidance from your doctor, physiotherapist, or rehabilitation team.
Do I need a diagnosis before starting therapy?
No. You do not need a formal diagnosis to seek therapy.
You can come to therapy because you feel overwhelmed, scared, stuck, angry, or unsure how to cope. Your emotional experience is enough reason to ask for support.
Can therapy work alongside medical treatment?
Yes. Therapy can complement medical care by supporting your emotional wellbeing, coping skills, and adjustment process.
Your therapist will not replace your doctor or medical specialist. Instead, therapy can help you manage the psychological impact of what you are going through.
When should I seek professional help?
You may want to seek professional support if your illness or injury is affecting your mood, sleep, confidence, relationships, work, school, or daily routine.
You may also benefit from therapy if you feel stuck in fear, grief, avoidance, anger, hopelessness, or constant worry about your health.