Why should you seek support with me if you are a young adult? Because I want to help you look at the following issues specific to your age group: (in addition to concerns you know you want to focus on)

Explore identity development

Take a moment to pause right now, and think about your current age.  How different are you now then you were a year ago, 2 years ago, or 5 years ago? 

As you are reflecting on that answer, I am going to guess that a number of factors would influence that answer for you. 

I am thinking about how your view of self has changed over time.  I am thinking about why changes in view of self have happened over time for you.   

I am thinking about and wanting to identify how childhood and teenage adverse events, relationships, and experiences have impacted your beliefs about self in young adulthood.

I am thinking about how any experiences with trauma have impacted your experiences in young adulthood.  These traumas can be physical, sexual, mental, emotional, spiritual/religious, and financial.  The types of trauma are not exclusive to the ones just mentioned, those are just some of the more identifiable traumas.  Sometimes we know right away when we have experienced a trauma and sometimes we don’t realize that we experienced something traumatic until a long time after.  Unfortunately, any experienced trauma will influence our identity development.  Therapy can help though in understanding and processing trauma.

I am thinking about friendships you have entered and how these friendships have changed over time for you over these time intervals.

I am thinking about how family relationships may have changed for you over time - including the addition of family members, the severance of family relationships (due to personal choice of you or someone else), or the death of a family member and the impact of that loss on you. 

I am thinking about how romantic relationships and what you have learned from these romantic relationships have influenced how you see yourself.  I am also taking into consideration how you may view yourself if you desire a romantic relationship for an extended period of time but have not had the opportunity to experience that connection with someone else.

I am taking into consideration your relationships with other people, specifically how other people behave and act toward you.  The way other people treat you influences how you treat yourself over time. 

I am thinking about educational changes for you over time during your young adulthood.

I am thinking about career changes for your over time in your young adulthood.

I am thinking about how increased understanding of your gender identity, sexual orientation, and racial/ethnic identity have impacted your views of self over time.

I am thinking about experiences with the law may have impacted your view of self during young adulthood. 

I am taking into consideration that you may have a relationship with substances – alcohol or drugs, that may have influenced your identity and sense of self over time.

-Based on how you have changed over the past 5 five years, 2 years, and 1 year: what hopes do you have for the future versions of yourself? 

If we have the chance to work together, these are just some aspects of your life we can explore together.

Examine how the individual is navigating major life transitions

Anyone who falls in the age range of 18-39 can be considered to be in young adulthood.  When one thinks about that age range, there are a number of major transitions that can take place.

In therapy, we have the opportunity to explore together what major life transitions have happened for you during young adulthood.  In my experience working with young adults, I find it very common that the client’s don’t fully acknowledge all of the life transitions they have experienced in the last year, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years, 10+ years of their life.

More importantly, I find that many young adults I work with have not had the chance to fully explore the meaning of major life transitions for them. 

You graduating from high school, or from a GED program, or college/university, or graduate or Ph.D. program is a big deal – and it represents multiple changes after that.  Likewise, dropping out of the pursuit of education at any of these levels also has a significant impact on your life. 

Your changes in jobs and your pursuit of a career in a particular field has many implications for your life.  So can deciding to switch a career field.  Jobs and career changes impact us financially, impact our work life/personal life balance, and influence our sense of self.  If you are in a job that feels unfulfilling, chances are that you might be unfulfilled or unhappy in other parts of your life as well.

As I mentioned in a previous section, changes in friendships, changes in family relationships, and changes in romantic relationships can be major markers in a person’s life.  I can speak from personal experience, the death of family members and changes in romantic relationships have significantly impacted different periods of young adulthood for me.  Help me understand how some of these changes in connections have impacted you.

Changes in mental health can also have dramatic impact on a person during young adulthood.  There are many mental health disorders that really only start to show during young adulthood.  For example, having experienced depression for the first time at 18 may look very different than if you have been chronically depressed from 18 – 21, 18 – 25, or 25-30.  Your view of self has been warped by this experience.  If you felt confident socially for a long time but then developed social anxiety during COVID (many people did), this is a major factor in your life and is creating a transition in your social identity.  Additionally, there was a significant increase in substance usage during COVID – that impacts mental health in a major way for individuals.    

The long-term ramifications of COVID have been numerous for clients I work with, especially for young adults.  How has COVID created some life transitions for you during COVID?

Changes geographically also represent major life transitions in young adulthood.  Someone growing up all their life on the west coast and then moving to the east coast at 18, or 21, or 25, or 30 – that is going to shape some changes in development over time for that person.  Someone one who moved from a different country to the US, there is going to be culture shock and it will take time to adjust to a new way of life. 

I could talk forever about different major life transitions.  The point is….these life transitions matter.  Better understanding these life transitions gives us a window into who you are now and who you want to be.

Exploration/seeking more meaningful connections

Connection with others is a driving force in our lives.  Understanding why we seek connection and what we need from connections is a very important part in knowing ourselves.    

You have a past dating history or you have had a desire for dating/relationships. 

If you want, we can explore each of those relationships and what you learned about yourself from each of those relationships.  We can also explore what it meant if you have not yet had the opportunity for dating experiences that would feel fulfilling and meaningful to you.

You have past friendships, current friendships, and potential future friendships that you may enter. 

What have you learned from past friendships?  What would you have done differently in those past friendships?  What are you doing well in your current friendships?  What are areas of improvement in your current friendships?  What do you want from future friendships?

Your family relationships have ongoing dynamics – some of these dynamics have not changed over time (ex. we don’t talk about our problems) and some ongoing family dynamics have changed over time (for better or worse).  Chances are at least one of the following might apply – you are happy with your relationship with one family member, you are very disappointed or dissatisfied with your relationship with one family member, and you want and need your relationship with one or more family members to change. 

You are not stuck to past patterns and dynamics that defined past connections with other people.  Let’s help you explore what you want and what you need from your friendships, current or future romantic relationships, and from family relationships.

I am excited to help you experience change in your connections!

I want to help you focus on moving toward changes in your life that can provide you a greater sense of meaning and purpose, help you experience more fulfilling connections with others, help promote your resiliency when faced with difficult challenges,  and that get your wants and needs met in ways that are healthy and bring you opportunities for pleasure and happiness. 

Let’s do it together!