Emptying The Nest

How to launch your young adult toward success and self-reliance.

Brad E Sachs Ph.D.

How to Manage the Certainty of Uncertainty

Part 2: When young adults are exiled back home due to the shuttering schools and disappearing jobs that resulted from COVID-19, both generations experience instability and need to adapt.

What Happens When COVID-19 Suddenly Fills the Empty Nest?

With countless young adults returning home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, both generations must adjust to an unanticipated state of family captivity.

Holding Your Fire: Try Not to Shoot Down a Trial Balloon

Focusing on the fact that your young adult is creating a vision for her future, rather than on the vision itself, raises the odds that her future will be bright.

Born to Run, Born to Return: The Paradox of Freehold

A legendary musician helps us to understand that true freedom requires us to honor the forces that keep us in captivity.

The Real FOMO: "Fear of Moving Out"

Your young adult may be experiencing more fear about leaving home than s/he acknowledges—either to you or to him/herself. Here are some common "tells" and how to respond to them.

10 Rules for Engagement...and for Disengagement

Frustrated by the imbalance of responsibility carried by you and your young adult? Here is a straightforward framework that can help to re-balance this crucial commodity.

In and Out of Love...With Your Young Adult's Love Life

Are you struggling to come to terms with your young adult's intimate partnership? This may say as much about you as it does about your child.

It's All Relative...Sometimes

Haunted by family ghosts that interfere with your changing relationship with your young adult? Being alert to the presence of the past lays the groundwork for a better future

Meet Your Family's Future at a Family Meeting

Even when children approach adulthood, reflecting on your family's past and present lays the the groundwork for a richer and more satisfying family future—for both generations

Why You Feel Helpless When Your Young Adult Won't Help

Frustrated by your young adult treating your home like a boarding house? Careful consideration of your expectations and how you express them can make living together more livable.

How a Parent's Darkness Can Light the Child's Way

Are you having difficulty understanding your young adult's struggles? Some thoughtful reflection may result in better understanding, both of your child and yourself.

How Does It Feel? Finding Freedom In and From Our Family

Thoughts on grief and growth upon my father's passing

How You Might be Enabling Your Adult Child's Inertia

Does your young adult seem unwilling to overcome obstacles? Perhaps your generosity is getting in the way.

What Parents Have Trouble Admitting About College Admissions

Are you becoming overly preoccupied with your high school senior's college plans? Paying close attention to the underlying issues may help you and your child survive and thrive.

Getting Unstuck

Which is more important to your young adult child—making you proud or keeping you worried? You and your child might be surprised by the answer.

Bottom of the Ninth

What happens when we make the time to think about time?

Leaving Home for "Infinity and Beyond!"

The Family Force Field

A Guitar Hero Finds a Way to Leave Home