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This episode may be uncomfortable for some parents to hear.

If your adult child is in their 20s or 30s and still living at home, not working, not studying, not contributing, or showing little direction for their future, you may have asked yourself:

“What can I do if they don’t want to change?”

If you’re parenting an adult child who is struggling with independence, motivation, responsibility, confidence, or launching into adulthood, you may also be dealing with enabling, rescuing, tolerating, making excuses, being disrespected, of living in fear and of doing things for them they can do for themselves.

This episode takes a closer look at what happens when parents reach this point and begin wondering what they can do next if they really want their adult child to launch.

But be warned: this one may hit a nerve. 🐦

It's official! The Journey to Independence by itself is no longer available. 

We are now offering a more robust parenting course appropriately called, The LAUNCH Program.

You'll be hearing more about it in the upcoming newsletter.

If you think your adult child is struggling with Failure to Launch, 

please grab the FREE Failure to Launch Checklist here:  

🗣️One-on-One Consultations are still available. Click here!

Email me if you have any questions at: [email protected]

🎙️Remember to hit the SUBSCRIBE button so you never miss an episode. 

Shari can be found on Instagram & TikTok Search @sharijonaslifefx

YouTube has all of the interviews available to watch! CLICK HERE...

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For parents of adult children who are struggling to launch, support can quietly turn into enabling and enabling becomes disabling.

If you have an adult child living at home, not working, not in school, or not moving toward independence, you've probably told yourself you're being supportive. Paying bills. Managing setbacks. Handling stressful situations for them. Sending job postings. Giving them space. Avoiding uncomfortable conversations. Letting them do whatever they want - even when it's unhealthy: like endless hours of YouTube, gaming all night, sleeping all day, eating poorly, never leaving the house. If you're not doing anything about it, you're supporting it.

In this episode, we explore the difference between support and enabling for parents of adult children in their 20s and 30s and what happens when support turns into a pattern that keeps them in place instead of moving them forward. We talk about fear-based parenting, boundaries with adult children, and how to tell whether the support you're offering is actually about your child, or about managing your own emotions.

By the end, you'll have a clearer, more constructive way to think about what real support for a struggling adult child looks like - one that moves them toward feeling confident, capable, and independent.

Joining me today is Amanda Hill, a licensed mental health counselor, college professor, and the founder and clinical director of Connections of Hope, a therapy practice with multiple locations across Central Indiana, where she leads a team of more than 12 licensed therapists. She holds a Master's in Counseling Psychology and brings nearly 20 years of experience as a practicing psychotherapist. In 2025, she was named one of Time Iconic's Top 10 Powerful Women Championing Hope & Impact.

Contacting Amanda Hill:

Podcast:  https://connectionsofhope.com/podcast/mental-health-with-amanda

Amanda's book: Making Sense of Dysfunction

Get in Touch: https://connectionsofhope.com/

Thank you for listening!

It's official! The Journey to Independence by itself is no longer available. 

We are now offering a more robust parenting course appropriately called, The LAUNCH Program.

You'll be hearing more about it in the upcoming newsletter.

If you think your adult child is struggling with Failure to Launch, 

please grab the FREE Failure to Launch Checklist here:  

🗣️One-on-One Consultations are still available. Click here!

Email me if you have any questions at: [email protected]

🎙️Remember to hit the SUBSCRIBE button so you never miss an episode. 

Shari can be found on Instagram & TikTok Search @sharijonaslifefx

YouTube has all of the interviews available to watch! CLICK HERE...

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A surprisingly large percentage of parents have asked themselves this question: should my adult child pay rent? Or at least contribute, if they’re working? What if they're not? Am I being fair or   too harsh? Will it teach them, prepare them or upset them and hurt our relationship? What’s the right amount? What are others doing?

This episode will make you think about your Adult child living at home. Why won’t they work? And if they are, why can’t they pay a share? 

This is one of the most searched, most argued-about questions parents face  and this episode, I don’t hold back. Then again, I’m never do. 

Hitting the follow/subscribe button, sharing this episode, rating and giving a positive review, are simple requests that go a long way. 

Thank you for always listening in. I hope you walk away a little more educated and a lot more inspired.  

Sending you hugs and gratitude,

Shari

It's official! The Journey to Independence by itself is no longer available. 

We are now offering a more robust parenting course appropriately called, The LAUNCH Program.

You'll be hearing more about it in the upcoming newsletter.

If you think your adult child is struggling with Failure to Launch, 

please grab the FREE Failure to Launch Checklist here:  

🗣️One-on-One Consultations are still available. Click here!

Email me if you have any questions at: [email protected]

🎙️Remember to hit the SUBSCRIBE button so you never miss an episode. 

Shari can be found on Instagram & TikTok Search @sharijonaslifefx

YouTube has all of the interviews available to watch! CLICK HERE...

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In this episode of LAUNCH, I'm joined by the expert in adolescent psychology, Dr. Mark McConville, a clinical psychologist with more than 30 years of experience working with adults, adolescents, and families. 

Mark is the author of groundbreaking book; Failure to Launch: Why Your Twentysomething Hasn't Grown Up...and What to Do About It. It is the number one guide for parents with young adults who are struggling to move forward.

I'm so grateful to have Mark on LAUNCH. He packs this episode with so many important topics, and of course, we saved the best for the end!  

We talked about why so many young adults are failing to launch, what developmental skills they need to move forward, the role that parents play and perhaps most importantly, what you can do to help your adult children take ownership of their lives and move toward becoming responsible, relational, and interdependent. 

I'm thrilled to have spent so much time talking with the leader in this field. I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed interviewing Mark. 

To contact Dr. Mark McConville: https://markmcconvillephd.com/

To purchase his groundbreaking, timely book: Here on Amazon.com

Remember to share this episode, and as always ~ Thank you for listening!

It's official! The Journey to Independence by itself is no longer available. 

We are now offering a more robust parenting course appropriately called, The LAUNCH Program.

You'll be hearing more about it in the upcoming newsletter.

If you think your adult child is struggling with Failure to Launch, 

please grab the FREE Failure to Launch Checklist here:  

🗣️One-on-One Consultations are still available. Click here!

Email me if you have any questions at: [email protected]

🎙️Remember to hit the SUBSCRIBE button so you never miss an episode. 

Shari can be found on Instagram & TikTok Search @sharijonaslifefx

YouTube has all of the interviews available to watch! CLICK HERE...

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Did you every wish you knew what your adult child was thinking? They're struggling to launch into adulthood but they never want to talk about anything. Maybe you've tried, but it never amounts to anything. Except a door shutting and the silent treatment. You're not a mind reader or a therapist. You're just their parent, who feels like a stranger. How long can you handle this?

A little while back I began talking to young adults, after having conversations with parents. And it was really helpful. I discovered truths that Moms and Dads didn't know. 

In this episode, I share the 5 top things I've learned from talking to young adults who are struggling to launch into adulthood. These are thoughts and feelings that many parents have never heard from their own adult children.

You may learn something about why your adult child appears to be unmotivated, withdrawn, or unwilling to find their way out into the world.

I believe this episode will help you understand what may be happening beneath the surface, and what you can do to help your adult move forward towards independence.

LAUNCH Scripts is available here: https://parentingfx.com/LAUNCHscripts

Thank you for joining me today!

It's official! The Journey to Independence by itself is no longer available. 

We are now offering a more robust parenting course appropriately called, The LAUNCH Program.

You'll be hearing more about it in the upcoming newsletter.

If you think your adult child is struggling with Failure to Launch, 

please grab the FREE Failure to Launch Checklist here:  

🗣️One-on-One Consultations are still available. Click here!

Email me if you have any questions at: [email protected]

🎙️Remember to hit the SUBSCRIBE button so you never miss an episode. 

Shari can be found on Instagram & TikTok Search @sharijonaslifefx

YouTube has all of the interviews available to watch! CLICK HERE...

Send us Fan Mail

For any parent of a young adult struggling with social anxiety, you know the debilitating effects are keeping your adult child isolated, cut off from relationships, missing career opportunities, and lacking the self-confidence to build a life of their own.  I know you worry constantly and wonder if they will have be free of it. 

Who can you talk to? Better still, who can they talk to? 

In this episode, I have a heartfelt conversation with Matthew Bowen who shares the steps he took to brake free from his severe social anxiety at age 22, after struggling with it his entire life. 

Yes, there is hope after all. 

If your son or daughter can not move forward because of their social anxiety, this conversation offers you real insight into what they can take to overcome it and what their life will look like once they do. 

Please share this episode with someone you love who needs to hear it.  

You can even contact Matthew for help. Please tell him that you heard his interview on LAUNCH. He'll be so pleased!

How to contact my guest Matthew Bowen

https://stan.store/matthewbowen

On Instagram: @matthewbowen464

Remember to hit the follow button so you never miss an interview and if you really love LAUNCH, please rate and review us so that other parents can find us!

It's official! The Journey to Independence by itself is no longer available. 

We are now offering a more robust parenting course appropriately called, The LAUNCH Program.

You'll be hearing more about it in the upcoming newsletter.

If you think your adult child is struggling with Failure to Launch, 

please grab the FREE Failure to Launch Checklist here:  

🗣️One-on-One Consultations are still available. Click here!

Email me if you have any questions at: [email protected]

🎙️Remember to hit the SUBSCRIBE button so you never miss an episode. 

Shari can be found on Instagram & TikTok Search @sharijonaslifefx

YouTube has all of the interviews available to watch! CLICK HERE...

Send us Fan Mail

Ever wonder why one of your adult children is struggling to LAUNCH while your other child (or children) seem to be doing  fine?

You parented them the same, right? Wrong.

The truth is, you couldn't have. 

Because your children didn't come to you the same. They're genetically different which means they experience the world differently, respond to challenges differently, and needed different things from you as they grew. 

Realizing this can completely change the way you understand your adult child

Some are biologically more sensitive to change, uncertainty, and the challenges of life. They need a new approach especially for launching into adulthood.

But understanding your adult child doesn't mean protecting them from every challenge. It means learning how to guide them in a way that helps them build confidence, resilience, and independence.

In this episode, you'll discover why some adult children struggle more than others to move forward and the three things you can do to help your sensitive adult child take the necessary steps.

Because the goal isn't to change who your child is.

The goal is to understand who they are and help them blossom (hint, hint) into the adult they are capable of becoming.

I'm excited for you to listen to this episode.

As always, thank you for joining me!

It's official! The Journey to Independence by itself is no longer available. 

We are now offering a more robust parenting course appropriately called, The LAUNCH Program.

You'll be hearing more about it in the upcoming newsletter.

If you think your adult child is struggling with Failure to Launch, 

please grab the FREE Failure to Launch Checklist here:  

🗣️One-on-One Consultations are still available. Click here!

Email me if you have any questions at: [email protected]

🎙️Remember to hit the SUBSCRIBE button so you never miss an episode. 

Shari can be found on Instagram & TikTok Search @sharijonaslifefx

YouTube has all of the interviews available to watch! CLICK HERE...

Send us Fan Mail

What if helping your young adult move forward didn’t require more rules, more demands or difficult conversations? What if it was actually simpler than that? 

In this episode, I’m joined by Geoff Owen, founder of Biologically Aligned Parenting and author of The Parenting Assumption. Geoff challenges one of the biggest assumptions we make as parents: that it’s our job to manage and control our children’s behaviour.

His perspective is both refreshing and surprisingly simple. He believes that when we stop trying to control our young adults, we create the conditions for connection to emerge naturally.

If parenting has become exhausting in your home, this conversation may completely change the way you think about helping your young adult move forward.

Maybe  the answer isn’t doing more, but doing less. Geoff’s message is simple: parenting doesn’t have to feel like a constant struggle.

Listen in and decide for yourself.

Contact Geoff Owen: https://geoffreyowen.com/

Thank you for listening! 

It's official! The Journey to Independence by itself is no longer available. 

We are now offering a more robust parenting course appropriately called, The LAUNCH Program.

You'll be hearing more about it in the upcoming newsletter.

If you think your adult child is struggling with Failure to Launch, 

please grab the FREE Failure to Launch Checklist here:  

🗣️One-on-One Consultations are still available. Click here!

Email me if you have any questions at: [email protected]

🎙️Remember to hit the SUBSCRIBE button so you never miss an episode. 

Shari can be found on Instagram & TikTok Search @sharijonaslifefx

YouTube has all of the interviews available to watch! CLICK HERE...

Send us Fan Mail

Failure to Launch is one of the most widely used terms to describe young adults who are not progressing toward independence, but what does it really mean, who does it apply to and where did the term come from?

In this episode, I talk deconstruct Failure to Launch, as I take you through the history of it, from early research in Europe during the 1980s to Japan’s phenomenon of hikikomori and the rise of the term in popular culture. 

You’ll learn why Failure to Launch is not a permanent label, why terms like “lost” and “stuck” may not accurately describe what’s happening, and why this challenging stage for young adults has existed for decades.

I also highlight the work of psychologist Dr. Mark McConville, author of Failure to Launch: Why Your Twentysomething Hasn’t Grown Up...and What to Do About It, whose book became an important contribution to understanding this growing conversation. I’m excited to have Dr. McConville joining me on a future episode where we’ll explore this topic even further.

Most importantly, I’ll share 5 practical tips to help your adult child move forward, including how to change the dynamic of your relationship, stop enabling, set healthy consequences, and become the parent they need now.

If you’ve ever felt stigmatized by the term Failure to Launch, wondered what you can do to help them move through this stage, this episode is for you.

Remember to hit the follow button, share this with a friend, and leave a review if you really love listening to LAUNCH.

Thank you for being here!

It's official! The Journey to Independence by itself is no longer available. 

We are now offering a more robust parenting course appropriately called, The LAUNCH Program.

You'll be hearing more about it in the upcoming newsletter.

If you think your adult child is struggling with Failure to Launch, 

please grab the FREE Failure to Launch Checklist here:  

🗣️One-on-One Consultations are still available. Click here!

Email me if you have any questions at: [email protected]

🎙️Remember to hit the SUBSCRIBE button so you never miss an episode. 

Shari can be found on Instagram & TikTok Search @sharijonaslifefx

YouTube has all of the interviews available to watch! CLICK HERE...

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My guest today is Dr. Isabela Granic, a professor, psychologist, and developmental researcher with 25 years of experience studying what young people need to thrive. She’s also a parent of two young adult children and the founder and CEO of Liminal Learning, an innovative program designed to help young adults develop the social skills, confidence, responsibility, and a sense of purpose they need to navigate adulthood.

Even though we're talking about the program at the start, Dr. Granic offers incredible suggestions for parents to reconnect with their adult children and help them to thrive. As always, it's closer to the end of the episode. Please don't miss this invaluable advice. You'll leave feeling as though you can do something.

I'm really excited to share this conversation with you because I believe Liminal Learning is incredible, and so is Dr. Granic. 

If you're interested in knowing more, here's Dr. Granic's website:

https://liminal-learning.com/

Remember to hit the follow button, share the episode and rate/review if you love listening to LAUNCH.

As always, thank you for joining me! 

It's official! The Journey to Independence by itself is no longer available. 

We are now offering a more robust parenting course appropriately called, The LAUNCH Program.

You'll be hearing more about it in the upcoming newsletter.

If you think your adult child is struggling with Failure to Launch, 

please grab the FREE Failure to Launch Checklist here:  

🗣️One-on-One Consultations are still available. Click here!

Email me if you have any questions at: [email protected]

🎙️Remember to hit the SUBSCRIBE button so you never miss an episode. 

Shari can be found on Instagram & TikTok Search @sharijonaslifefx

YouTube has all of the interviews available to watch! CLICK HERE...