When the emerging adult in your life is struggling, helping feels like the most natural thing in the world. You make the phone call they’ve been avoiding, cover the bill because they’re short on money, remind them about the appointment, wake them up for work, or smooth things over when they’ve misse...

Here’s an uncomfortable truth I think some parents need to hear: if you repeatedly tell your emerging adult there will be a consequence you know you won’t follow through on, they probably know it too.

Maybe during an argument you’ve said, “If this keeps happening, you’re going to have to move out.”...

Can we stop calling a struggling 19-year-old a “failure to launch”?

I understand why parents use the phrase. Your son or daughter may be sleeping most of the day, gaming or scrolling late into the night, using marijuana regularly, and showing very little interest in making plans for the future. Fro...

How do you have an important conversation with an emerging adult who would rather avoid you completely? And what do you do when bringing up money, work, school, mental health, or responsibility almost always ends with them shutting down or exploding?

For many parents, these conversations have becom...

Parents ask me some version of this question all the time: What is the appropriate consequence for my 20-something who isn't doing what they need to do?

Maybe they won't fill out the job application. Maybe you've been talking about going back to school for months, but the application still hasn't b...

One of the most frustrating experiences for parents is trying to have an important conversation with an emerging adult who simply won't engage.

You bring up money, and they leave the room.

You ask about work, and they go quiet.

You mention the condition of their room, and suddenly the bedroom doo...