Quarterlife Center - Counseling for Young Adults

Meet Desiree Pearson, Ph.D. Being a young adult in the quarterlife stage can present challenges in self-identity, relationships, career, family and lifestyle. Are you struggling with major life transitions as you navigate the demands of adulthood and find that it’s impacting your mood, motivation, decision-making or overall functioning? Listening to your distress and seeking therapy is a sign of strength. Desiree has extensive clinical and research experience working with young adults in the quarterlife stage. Areas of expertise include but are not limited to relationship issues, depression, anxiety, trauma, academic and motivational difficulties, parenting issues, PTSD, ADHD/ADD, family conflict, body image issues, identity, cultural, sexuality and perinatal/postpartum mental health issues. Desiree strives to facilitate a sense of self-awareness, personal growth, development and self-agency in an open, supportive and safe environment. Education Ph.D. Clinical Psychology,...

Meet Joanna Strait, LICSW Joanna is experienced in providing individual and group therapy to those struggling with grief and loss, perinatal mood disorders, and those struggling to overcome anxiety and depression. She is passionate about empowering her clients so that they feel they are able to overcome quarter-life challenges and can lead fulfilling, healthy lives. Joanna’s approach is very collaborative, and she provides a calm, safe and empathic space for clients to explore possibilities for healing and growth. In addition to her work, Joanna enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and reading true crime. Education MSW, Virginia Commonwealth University BA in Biological Anthropology, Scripps College Advanced Training Maternal Reproductive Mental Health Grief & Loss (Including Infertility and Pregnancy Loss) Hospice & Palliative Care Licenses Licensed Clinical Social Worker Washington, D.C., LICSW Maryland, LCSW-C Languages English H...

Meet Molly Milgrom, LICSW ! Molly is a licensed clinical social worker in Washington, D.C., where she works with quarterlifers and other adults. Her specialties are college and graduate students, young professionals, career-changers, expatriates, and adult third culture kids. She values collaborative relationships with her clients in which they leverage each client’s unique strengths and life experiences to help create a more satisfying and fulfilling life. Having made a significant change in her own career to become a therapist, Molly understands firsthand what it is like to explore various career options. She has spent significant time studying and living abroad, and these experiences have enhanced her work with international clients. Education MSW, Catholic University of America BA, Whitman College Advanced Training The Washington School of Psychiatry Licenses Licensed Clinical Social Worker Washington, D.C., LICSW Virginia, LCSW Languages Spanish En...

What Is A Quarter-Life Crisis? If you are having one, you probably already have a sense of what a quarterlife crisis feels like. No two are exactly alike, however. Often, one feels lost—trying to identify what is missing or what to do next. Not knowing what to do can be crippling and sap motivation. For others, a path has already been chosen, and navigating the transition has proven to be overwhelming. A quarter-life crisis, which occurs in your 20s or 30s, is a time period 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. We Understand Where You Are While being in your 20s and 30s can be an exciting time of life, it can also feel overwhelming. This is often the time when you are experiencing so many things for the first time, like transitioning from school to a full-time career, deciding whether to go to graduate school, moving to a new city, ending a relationship, gett...

What is Remote Therapy? You may have heard it called any of these things: telemental health therapy, video therapy, online therapy, Internet-based therapy, remote counseling, virtual therapy, or e-therapy…but what is it exactly? Remote therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which a professional therapist provides counseling services via phone, video, or sometimes even text, rather than conventional in-person therapy. At QLC, we offer remote therapy for our clients in order to ensure continuity of care, even when clients are unable to come into the office for in-person appointments. We understand how busy our clients are, and we are committed to making therapy accessible and convenient. Research has found that remote counseling is becoming increasingly popular and effective, especially among young adults in their twenties and thirties. As our lives are becoming busier, there is an increasing need for mental health support and even less time to schedule in-person office appoin...

Let’s Talk About Sex There are many myths about sex that persist even today. Here are several of the myths: Men think about sex all of the time. Men are always ready and willing to have sex. Nice girls don’t want sex. Good girls, especially wives and mothers, don’t get freaky in bed. These are untrue, and unhelpful, cultural myths that we continue to perpetuate. It is socially accepted, and expected, for men to complain to their friends that their wives don’t “give it up” enough, and for women to talk with one another about their husbands pressuring them for sex. But we rarely hear women complaining that their husbands turned them down again for sex or men telling their friends that they feel guilty for not wanting sex more. And yet, the reality is that there are many couples in which  the man is less interested in sex than the woman . Unfortunately, most of them are struggling with this alone. So why aren’t people talking about it more? Why do couples hesitate ...

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 ...