What Your Struggling Emerging Adult Needs Most (And It’s Not Control)
Aug 04, 2025
One of the most common, and heartbreaking, patterns I see in parents of struggling emerging adults is this: they don’t trust themselves anymore.
When your son or daughter is facing mental health challenges or substance use issues, it’s easy to get swept up in fear. You question your instincts. You walk on eggshells. You avoid hard conversations. And you start to believe that maybe if you just say the right thing, do the right thing, or control the situation tightly enough, things will finally get better.
But here’s the truth: your child doesn’t need more control.
They need your calm, clear, confident leadership.
The Real Problem: A Confidence Crisis
What I’ve found again and again is that it’s not a lack of love holding parents back, it’s a lack of confidence.
When you’re constantly second-guessing yourself, you start to react instead of respond. Your emotions take the lead. And that creates a dynamic where your emerging adult feels either smothered or disengaged.
They don’t need perfection. They don’t even need you to have all the answers. They need you to be steady. They need to feel that you believe in your ability to lead them through this, even when things are messy, uncertain, or hard.
It’s Time to Reclaim Your Role
I recently spoke about this exact topic on a powerful episode of the Launch Podcast with Shari Jonas. We dove into why so many parents of struggling emerging adults lose their confidence, and what to do about it.
We talked about how to:
- Lead without micromanaging
- Respond without spiraling
- Set boundaries without guilt
- And rebuild the kind of parent-child relationship where your emerging adult can grow instead of staying stuck
If you’ve been feeling unsure, reactive, or lost in the day-to-day challenges of parenting an emerging adult with anxiety, depression, addiction, or emotional shutdown, this interview is for you.
You can listen to the full conversation on the Launch Podcast right now by clicking here. After you listen, drop a comment and I’ll personally respond to every single one.
