Help for parents of struggling young adults

A 4-session course for loving parents:
Guidance on changing maladaptive patterns with struggling young adults

The Helpful Parent and Struggling Young Adult

Many loving, caring parents do tasks for their children that they believe are helpful:

  • Making calls, scheduling appointments, and arranging opportunities for education or employment
  • Pre-emptively changing the family schedule and parenting routines to relieve pressure from the adult child
  • Lowering or removing family expectations to relieve stress on a struggling adult child
  • Providing financial support beyond initial expectations and potentially outside of means

Sometimes these well-intentioned actions end up becoming a barrier to the adult child’s growth and independence. We often hear, “But if I don’t [make the meal, schedule the doctor appointment, etc.], my kid will never do it on their own.”

These parents often feel stuck and frustrated. They don’t know what to do (or what NOT to do) to make meaningful changes at home for themselves or their child.

QUESTIONS & REGISTRATION
call (216) 544-1321, ext. 2010
or email intake@cebtohio.com

Details

When:
  • Classes are held online via Zoom, from 12-1 pm (Eastern) on Tuesdays
  • Course runs monthly or every other month, depending on demand, beginning the first Tuesday of the month.
  • Parents not ready to attend on Week 1 will wait until the next series begins.
Fee:
  • $500 for one or two parents for all four sessions

About the course

Space TreatmentCEBT has developed a program for parents of struggling adult children that offers evidence-based education on the dynamics between parents and children. Informed by SPACE treatment and Dialectical Behavior Therapy, these sessions teach the principals of accommodation while offering concrete skills to manage the stress of parenting a vulnerable child.

We know you are loving and caring parents who are doing the best you can. Our education and support groups teach parents:

  1. How maladaptive patterns come about in the first place, and ways to redefine how you provide support.
  2. How to interact with your children with less contention and manage the stress that comes with changing expectations
  3. How to establish or change household expectations that are within reason for each family member.
  4. How to take actions that encourage both support and independence.

This four-week foundational class provides the key components needed to identify, strategize, and execute changes in parenting patterns. The sessions are cumulative and guide parents toward a concrete plan of action at the end of the four-week cycle.

Each week covers a different topic:

  • Week 1: Understanding Accommodation
  • Week 2: Validation versus Agreement
  • Week 3: Expectations and Preparation
  • Week 4: Deliberate Planning and Next Steps

QUESTIONS & REGISTRATION
call (216) 544-1321, ext. 2010
or email intake@cebtohio.com

Additional Classes and Coaching

After completing the 4-week course, parents may elect to meet one of our expert parenting therapists for individualized planning and support. Parents are also eligible to attend one of the ongoing weekly meetings:

Parents of Struggling Young Adults:  A weekly support and educational group for parents of young adults struggling with the transition to adulthood. These young adults may also struggle with additional psychiatric issues such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, and personality and eating disorders. The group offers ongoing education on Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills as applied to parental accommodation, and provides a forum for real life support from fellow parents

Orthodox Jewish Parents of Multi-diagnostic Eating Disordered Children: A culturally informed weekly support and education group for Orthodox Jewish parents of teens and young adults who are struggling with multi-diagnostic eating disorders (eating disorder plus other psychiatric issues such as severe depression, self-harm, PTSD, and/or anxiety). The group offers ongoing education on Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills as applied to parental accommodation, and provides a forum for real life support from fellow Orthodox Jewish parents.

These weekly meetings provide two key components to lasting change:
  1. An expanded curriculum of skills that include observing and managing urges to accommodate ineffective parenting, tolerating and accepting what can’t currently be changed, addressing and changing strong emotions and thoughts, and setting appropriate limits and expectations with the child.
  2. Dedicated space for fellow parents to share accomplishments and manage the challenges in supporting their vulnerable child. Participants receive valuable feedback and support from each other and the facilitators. Designed to be highly interactive, these groups give members an opportunity to learn and practice new skills in a supportive way.

Facilitator:

Amy Kalasunas, LPCC-S, CCMHC, DBT-LBC Certified Clinician
Chief Operating Officer and Director of DBT Training and Services

Kalasunas has worked with parents in individual and group settings for decades, helping them tackle and successfully overcome difficult dynamics with their children.