Quarterlife Center - Counseling for Young Adults

  Are you a parent, grandparent, friend, or loved one of an adult quarterlifer? Quarterlifers are individuals who are in their twenties or thirties. They’re the millennials or Gen Zers in your life who you may notice are struggling right now. Whether they’re back home living with you, suffering from unemployment, generally lacking motivation, sleeping a lot, socially isolating themselves, or just not opening up to you about it, then you may wonder… What can I do to help? If you think someone you know is having a quarterlife crisis, you can help. Here’s what we suggest. What should I do if I think my loved one is having a quarterlife crisis? If you know a quarterlifer who is struggling, you’re not alone. We often hear from family members or other loved ones who believe that their child or friend is suffering. This is what you can do. 1. Recognize the symptoms Symptoms of a quarterlife crisis include: Lack of motivation Irritability Tearfulness Anxiety about the future Difficulty mak...

  Are you thinking about starting therapy? Not sure how to choose the right therapist? You may have questions about what it’s all about. People often want to know what therapy is really like and what to expect. In this post, we share  12 common questions  that we receive at QLC.  The following information will simplify the process of finding the right therapist for you.  If you have additional questions, please contact us at  QLC . 1. Why go to therapy when I can just get advice from friends and family? Leaning on friends and family certainly can be helpful. That said, therapists are professionally trained to help you explore and discuss your difficulties and develop solutions to your particular problems. They have expertise in helping you express and evaluate your feelings, focusing entirely on you without bringing their own needs into the mix. Psychotherapy is a treatment process that is often very useful in helping people cope with their problems. Meetin...

  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...

  If you’re a parent of a quarterlifer, you may be looking at your son or daughter in distress. These 20- or 30-something Millennials and Gen Z-ers are at a pivotal point in their lives, and along with everything else going on, the last couple of years haven’t been easy on them. Yet, as much as you want to help, sometimes your actions may be making the situation worse (doesn’t every parent love to hear that!). In this blog, we’ll discuss the top 3 mistakes that parents of quarterlifers make and how you can redirect your energy and actions to actually improve their situation. 1. You offer too much help We all know these types of parents — and you might be one of them. Those that are overbearing and micromanaging. Of course, they mean well and want to help their child. It’s difficult to see your child struggling, and as a parent, you want to do anything you can to help them. However, now that your children are emerging adults, they’re developing independence and autonomy. This is the...

  If you’re new to therapy, you probably have some questions about how it works. One of the  most common questions   we get at  QLC   is “what should I talk about in therapy?”  Here are 5 helpful ideas to get you started. 1. Talk about how you decided to begin therapy. Did something happen recently that led you to seek counseling? What have you been struggling with? Have you been thinking about doing this for a long time? Did a friend or family member encourage you to begin therapy?) 2. Share your feelings about beginning therapy. Are you excited, nervous, ambivalent, angry, distracted? How does your body feel? Are you thirsty, hungry, tense? 3. Share how you feel now that you’ve arrived to your counseling session. Were you stressed out trying to find the office? Did you arrive on time? Where you rushed? Is the appointment how you thought it would be? Are you feeling more nervous or less nervous now that you’re there? Are you physically comfortable in the o...

  The quarter-life crisis is real .  It is an identity crisis (experienced by some as an existential crisis) that occurs as a quarter-lifer (in their twenties or thirties) struggles with the transition to adulthood. If you are facing a quarter-life crisis, here are 3 things you need to know. 1) It’s ok not to have life figured out as a quarter-lifer. If you are unclear about who you want to be and how you want to live your life, try to see this as an opportunity to explore options and experience new adventures. You may feel pressure to have more certainty about where you’re headed in your life, but it’s ok not to have it all figured out–too much certainty can be a bad thing, if it prevents you from taking appropriate risks to grow and move out of your comfort zone. 2) You are not alone. Often, the quarter-life crisis is exacerbated by a perception that your friends have it all figured out already. You may worry that friends are moving forward with their lives while you’ve gott...