Quarterlife Center - Counseling for Young Adults

Loss, Grief, and Mourning: Which Stage Are You In? Are you grieving the loss of a loved one? Have you been considering grief counseling? While the symptoms of grief are part of a normal recovery process, it can be difficult to go through the process of mourning over days, weeks, months, or years. Grieving the loss of a loved one is  particularly hard on quarterlife young adults for several reasons .  In this post, we’ll discuss the symptoms that accompany grief and the stages, and associated tasks, of the grieving process. What are the symptoms of grief? These are some common symptoms of grief. Following a loss, you will need time to heal. Guilt Fear Irritability Headaches Changes in appetite or sleep Fatigue Sadness Numbness Denial Anger Stage 1: Accepting the reality of the loss The first stage of mourning involves both an intellectual and emotional acceptance of the loss. Grappling with the thought that our loved one has died is hard to handle, and you may find yourself rea...

What am I doing with my life? Why don’t I feel motivated? Am I ready to settle down and get married? Why are my relationships so difficult? Should I go to graduate school? How am I supposed to support myself? If you are asking yourself these types of questions, You may be experiencing a quarter life crisis. Your twenties and thirties are an exciting time of life, but transitions during these years can be overwhelming– like graduating from college, moving to a new place, getting engaged, or ending a relationship. Much of our happiness and satisfaction depends on how we navigate these times of transition. The quarter life crisis is real and should NOT be ignored. A quarterlife crisis, which occurs in your twenties or thirties, is a time when you feel stressed out and have doubts about how to transition into adulthood. It is often accompanied by worry that you won’t make the “right” choices. You are facing many of these issues for the first time, like transitioning from school to a full-t...

Are you thinking about taking your relationship to the next level? Have you started talking to each other about marriage? Are you already engaged and planning your wedding? As you prepare for your future together, our QLC counselors are here to support and guide you toward a successful, satisfying marriage. Our premarital counseling typically is 3-6 sessions, depending on the needs of the couple. While there are common topics that we address in premarital counseling, the sessions will be tailored to your specific needs and goals. These are some of the areas that we’ll help you explore in premarital counseling: Emotional intimacy and connection Communication Love languages Conflict resolution Sexuality Finances Building Trust Childrearing Religion/Spirituality Relationships with In-laws Relationships with Friends Career and work-life Balance If you’re interested in scheduling an appointment or you’d like more information, please  contact us .

QLC Founder Christine Greer O’Connor was interviewed by Adam Long on the WUSA9 evening news recently. The interview focused on post-pandemic mental health and was sparked by Naomi Osaka’s recent announcement that she’s withdrawing from the French Open and taking time off from tennis, citing struggles with depression and social anxiety. Dr. Greer O’Connor discussed the impact of the pandemic on mental health and provided tips for people as they return to in-person work and social activities post-pandemic. Watch her interview  here !

Meet Caroline Hicks, Ph.D. Pronouns: he/she/they Quarterlife is marked with heavy decisions. Making choices in order to live authentically is difficult in this world of conflicting norms and expectations. Caroline views therapy as a compassionate space to explore your experience, and experiment with what it means to live authentically. Having worked in university counseling center settings, Caroline has extensive history working with quarterlifers who are navigating life transitions. Their areas of expertise include, but are not limited to, sexual orientation and gender identity development, relationship issues, depression, anxiety, and academic concerns. Social justice and multiculturalism are at the core of their approach. In addition to working with clients, Caroline enjoys camping, hiking with their dog, watching psychological thrillers, and traveling. Education: Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology, University of Northern Colorado BS in Psychology, South Dakota State University Licenses...

Being in your twenties and thirties as a quarterlifer is an exciting time full of transitions, firsts, and, of course, plenty of questions and unknowns. For many millennials, the questions and unknowns overtake and drown out the excitement, leading to feelings of being lost and having no direction. A great first step toward finding your way is to create a personal vision statement. From that basic, but critical first step, you can build the life YOU want. Moving forward without one is a lot like trying to get somewhere you have never been without Google Maps or WAZE. Moving forward WITH one can improve happiness for millennials. A vision statement should capture your values, goals and priorities for your life. Refer back to it, edit it as needed over time, and rely on it to stay focused on what really matters to you. Use this as a tool to guide your choices about romance, friendship, family, and career. How do you begin? You must think about the life that YOU want, NOT the life that ot...

Sexual orientation is one of the major classifications of identity. We hear it discussed in everyday conversation and gone are the days that sexual orientation fits neatly into a dichotomy. In this blog, we’ll discuss sexual orientation overall, all the different ways people may identify, and why it is important to understand sexual orientation. What Is Sexual Orientation? Let’s start with the basics. Sexual orientation refers to how a person characterizes their sexuality. Sexual orientation is comprised of three distinct components: Identity Behavior Attraction Your identity is how you define yourself; for example, “I am gay.” Your behavior is how you act on your identity; for example, “I have sex with the same gender.” Your attraction is who you are sexually or romantically attracted to; for example, “I’m sexually  attracted to  the same gender.” Some people may or may not experience sexual attraction but they do experience a romantic attraction to the same or different gend...

Are you undecided about your career path? Trying to find your purpose? Looking to explore new possibilities for the future and find new inspiration? QLC’s Career & Life Design Group is great for people who want to find more clarity about their career and life, while being supported in a group with others on a similar journey. In this deep dive group, you’ll gain more clarity about where you are, and where you want to go both personally and professionally. In this 4-week online group, we’ll use design thinking, which is all about finding new ways to frame problems to generate new solutions. Through experiential exercises and group conversation, you will gain new insight about what’s next and leave with a plan to move towards your goals. You’ll receive group support as well as one individual coaching session with QLC’s Certified Career Coach,  Caitlin Magidson . Clients will need to purchase the  Designing Your Life Workbook   by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans (available o...

With a few exceptions, you probably didn’t expect to face the death of a loved one when you were in your twenties or thirties. Because grieving a death is non-normative during this phase of life, a grieving quarterlifer is apt to feel like their peers don’t understand. Additionally, it can be challenging to find  resources   and help for grieving young adults. As a 25 year-old grieving client expressed, “ my friends don’t know how to handle my sadness. I feel so alone . . . like everyone is tiptoeing around me. Experiences with grief can be multi-layered and complicated. Grieving the death of someone close to us, whether from COVID-19 or another cause,  poses unique challenges during young adulthood and the quarterlife period . In grief counseling at QLC, you will work 1:1 with an experienced grief counselor as you learn about the grief process and the tasks of mourning. In addition to grief counseling, we also offer an online grief support group called  “Grief Durin...