Quarterlife Center - Counseling for Young Adults

  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 reaching for your phone to text th...

  Grief has many causes and many faces. Losing a loved one, and then feeling alone in your grief can feel devastating.  Grieving is never easy, but the grieving process for young adults (quarterlifers) is particularly rough .  With a few exceptions, a young adult doesn’t expect to face the death of a loved one. Because grieving a death is non-normative during this phase of life, a grieving quarterlifer is apt to feel like 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.” The following poem captures this feeling and illuminates the most important way in which you can help a young adult who is grieving: “Elephant in the Room” by Terry Kettering “There’s an elephant in the room. It is large and squatting, so it is hard to get around it. Yet we sque...

  Are you in your twenties or thirties and grieving the death of a loved one? If you are, you already know that this is a particularly difficult time of life to grieve the loss of someone you love. Grieving a loss as a young adult is challenging for several reasons: 1) Experiencing grief during the quarterlife phase of life is an “off-time” life event, meaning that it is not expected to occur during that phase of life. We do not expect that young adults will have to experience the death of a friend or sibling, so it’s a non-normative event. It is expected, however, that a quarterlifer would experience the death of a grandparent, and this expected event is called an “on-time” or normative event. Off-time events have been found to be harder to cope with because they often feel unjust and unexpected. Because grief during the quarterlife stage of life is non-normative, quarterlifers who are mourning are likely to feel alone because peers don’t share and understand their experience. 2) ...

A 4-Week Group for Grieving in Your 20s and 30s 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. We also offer a grief support group “Grief Group for...

Pronouns: she/her Christine, Founder and Director of the Quarterlife Center, is a licensed clinical social worker with extensive experience working with quarterlife clients. At age 24, she experienced her own quarterlife crisis. It motivated her to closely examine who she was and how she could create a fulfilling life for herself and be a positive influence on her loved ones and community. This journey inspired her to help others successfully navigate the changes, challenges, and exciting experiences of young adulthood. She enjoys helping quarterlifers thrive and live more intentionally as they make important choices about relationships, careers, and their place in the world. In addition to helping her clients, Christine enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, playing tennis, and taking a good power nap. Education: PhD in Clinical Social Work, New York University MS in Social Work, Columbia University Spanish studies, Universitat de Barcelona BA in Psychology, Haverford Colleg...

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...

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...

Our team at QLC has designed several online support groups as a way to meet quarterlifers’ need for connection and socialization, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our online support groups meet for  4 weeks  and are provided in a  small-group format (4-6 people) via Zoom . They are facilitated by a QLC therapist*, are confidential, and require registration. Our groups are being offered for a reduced fee during the pandemic. * Your group leader will chat with you individually before you join the group in order to familiarize you with the format and to answer any questions you have. Dating Today In this group, we’ll focus on dating as a quarterlifer, especially in the context of a pandemic. TedTalks and articles will be used to explore central themes. What are current trends? What is working for you? What isn’t? We’ll explore questions like, “What am I looking for in a partner?” What do I want people to see, and not see, about me? How do I bring up topics...