College to career…. Mental Health Issues and How Career Counseling Connecticut can help your child

Parents of pending college graduates: CONGRATULATIONS! Good news: Your pride is well earned.  Many young adults are not finishing college and are struggling mightily. Bad news: You might have expected that your financial obligations to your children are now over.  This does not seem to be the case with the majority of parents, some of whom contact Career Counseling Connecticut with the realization that their “work” as parents is not finished. They usually call – or at least the Moms do :)! – worried about the mental health of their children. The transition into the “real world” is challenging.  Indeed, it’s an underrated challenge.   The challenge is both practical and psychological. Career Counseling Connecticut has served our career-seeking clients in the very practical endeavor of finding careers/jobs that make our clients happy and successful. Given my deep immersion in psychology/philosophy, it’s not surprising that some parts of my practice have also led to clients noting unexpected benefits: “I’ve been in my head so long. It was wonderful to open up.” So said a UCONN grad from 2020.  He had graduated during the pandemic.  That gave him an excuse for why he didn’t have a job.  He feels he no longer has that excuse and has been torturing himself about his failures. Many spouses who encouraged their partners to get career counseling help have written me to say that their husband/wife has been so much happier since our meetings. Many parents who encouraged (and often funded) their drifting twenty-something children to get career counseling help have expressed profound gratitude regarding their child’s mental health upswing after our meetings. This has been the case pre-pandemic and post-pandemic.  Now it has become a critical part of our mission. Psychological counseling matters but, for many, finding a job that provides happiness and satisfaction will bolster both the practical and psychological life of your child.   That’s where we can help.