Transitioning to Independence
Overcoming Overwhelm: Find the Right College for You
Whether you are a first-time freshman, transfer student, or a potential graduate school student, you will be faced with the question of how to find the RIGHT college for you. With the large number of schools throughout the United States, our diverse staff of education professionals, therapists, life coaches, and independent living specialists at Optimum…
Read MoreOvercoming Failure to Launch with Music
“Music is the Universal Language.” This may be true, but why is it? I, being an English speaker, may listen to Tristan Und Isolde, an opera by German composer Richard Wagner, and miss the whole point because I don’t understand German. Even if the opera is performed in English, part of the message may be…
Read MoreFailure to Launch: Finding Hope for Struggling Young Adults
Hope means possibility – possibility for change, possibility for happiness, possibility for something better than what currently is. Hope can be a driving force to create change, it can increase motivation, and it can be the very thing that turns stagnation into movement forward and possibly lasting change. Many of our participants have lost hope…
Read MoreFailure to Launch: Discovering Your Personal Path
Once there was a little girl who had dreams of becoming a doctor, a ballet dancer, and the president all at the same time. What she didn’t know at that age was that she would need skills, successes, and support to help her achieve those goals. Fast-forward eighteen years, and this little girl is now…
Read MoreDefining Success & Failure to Launch
“You’re a loser!” “You’re pathetic!” “You can’t do anything right!” Negative self-talk often accompanies a lack of self-confidence. Lack of self-confidence can result from any number of stimuli, and one of the more common of these is a perceived lack of success. Perceived lack of success and failure are basically the same with one critical…
Read MoreFailure to Launch Syndrome: Overcoming a Lack of Clear Direction
There was probably a time in your life when you had a lack of a sense of direction. You had a general idea of what you wanted but needed that extra push to get there. Whether it was school, career, or even volunteer-wise, you knew what general direction you wanted to head but didn’t have…
Read MoreYou Are Your Choices, Even the Ones You’re Afraid to Make
As I attempt to expand on psychologist Barry Swartz’s work on the ‘Paradox of Choice,’ I am aware that you could spend the next three minutes online reading about any topic you could imagine. Entering those three words quoted above into a search box, I am met with 3.7 million results right at my fingertips;…
Read MoreValidating the True Self: Failure to Launch & Residential Treatment
We can all recall a time when we decided to not be our true selves. Similarly, we can all think of a moment when we chose to do what we were meant to do, validating and reinforcing our true self. For me, I remember I had the opportunity to take advanced placement courses in high…
Read MoreGap Year: Reframing Time Spent In Treatment & the Opportunity for Exploration
One of the biggest challenges that our participants face while in treatment is what to say when someone asks where they have been and what have they been doing. While some are comfortable sharing their personal stories, most are not ready to disclose this information to prospective employers, college review boards, and even close friends…
Read MoreFailure to Launch: Should You Take a Gap Year between High School and College?
Certainly, the transition from high school to college is challenging enough. Add to it a possible complication and distraction of depression or anxiety, a learning or a psychiatric disability, and a young adult and his or her parents often will need additional support. The young adult may be experiencing what is referred to as a…
Read MoreAvoidant Personality Disorder as a Cause for Failure to Launch Syndrome
Avoidant personality disorder (APD) is classified by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as showing obvious avoidance of relationships and interactions with other people due to an extreme fear of being rejected. It is often accompanied by feelings of inferiority, low self-esteem, and feeling like they cannot trust others, per the Encyclopedia of…
Read MoreShould You Let Your Adult Son or Daughter Move Back Home?
Currently, nearly 14 million young adults are still living at home with their parents, according to Dr. Phil. Determining whether or not you want to be — or should be — part of that statistic is tricky, and if you aren’t careful, feelings can be hurt. More often than not, the reasons a grown child…
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