As January comes to a close, it is normal to reflect on the goals or resolutions you set at the start of the year. If you are feeling tired, behind, or discouraged, you are not alone, and it does not mean you have failed. Many people start the year with hope and good intentions, but by the end of January, that energy can feel harder to sustain. Maybe your goals do not fit anymore. Maybe life stayed heavy. Or maybe you never had the energy to start fresh at all. None of that means you have failed. It means you are human.

The beginning of a new year often comes with pressure to reset, refocus, and become a better version of yourself. But real life does not pause for the calendar. January can bring ongoing stress, burnout, grief that did not disappear with the holidays, anxiety about what is ahead, or emotional exhaustion from long term effort. If you have been carrying trauma, loss, or chronic stress, this month can feel more like survival than renewal and that makes sense.

Starting counseling can feel like a vulnerable step, especially if life has left you feeling worn down, fractured, or unsure of yourself. At Restored Vessel Counseling, I believe that healing does not mean returning to who you once were, but becoming whole in a way that honors what you have endured.

I’m Courtney Schmidt, MS, LPC Associate, and I founded Restored Vessel Counseling to offer a space where healing is thoughtful, compassionate, and grounded in clinical care. The name Restored Vessel is inspired by the idea that even when life causes cracks through trauma, stress, grief, or major transitions, those places do not disqualify us from wholeness. Often, they are where growth begins.