Quarterlife Center - Counseling for Young Adults

  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...

  Nervous that you haven’t figured out what to do with your life? Worried that you’re getting left behind as your peers move on? Lacking motivation or direction? Trying to find your passion? Thinking about starting graduate school? Struggling in a relationship? Feeling pressure to get married and settle down? Relying on your family for financial support more than you’d like? Feeling overwhelmed by all of the options available to you? If you answered yes to any of these questions, meeting with a therapist can help you figure these things out.  Our therapists   are compassionate and dedicated to supporting you as you make some of the most important decisions of your life. They are skilled at listening and providing feedback about challenges you’re facing and ways to resolve them. It’s common to feel nervous when beginning the therapy process. Our  professional and caring counselors   will work with you to help you feel comfortable opening up about yourself and you...

  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...

While both  premarital counseling   and  couples counseling   help couples connect and communicate, they differ in their structure, style, and goals. During the course of therapy, the two might look identical in a specific moment, but the overall course of each type of counseling looks very different. Premarital Counseling Premarital counseling   is ideal for couples who are planning to be married or who have decided to make a lifelong commitment to each other.  At  QLC ,  this  type of counseling is short-term (4-6 sessions) and focuses primarily on the couple’s future together. We help premarital couples improve communication skills and create good habits. Although premarital counseling is tailored to the specific needs and goals of the couple, it usually includes some structured exercises, like creating a vision statement for your marriage. Importantly, it addresses topics that are common triggers for conflict in long-term relationships. O...

  Dorin is a licensed professional counselor with extensive experience working with  quarterlife   clients particularly from the LGBTQ+ community. At age 25, he encountered his personal quarterlife crisis which propelled him to authentically face himself and make meaning of his existence. As a result, he began to actively take responsibility for creating a meaningful life while engaging mindfully and intentionally those he encounters. The journey of becoming himself continues and motivates him to come alongside other fellow sojourners through this stage of life. Dorin seeks to join quarterlifers in a therapeutic process of facing challenges and removing obstacles that block them from going deeper and further in their own personal journey of meaningful living. He enjoys working with  individuals ,   couples   and groups as he facilitates purposeful insights that will allow them to live their life more poignantly and reach their desired change. In addition to...