LAUNCH: Parenting Tips for Raising Adult Children & Building Better Relationships · Shari Jonas - Parenting Consultant, Educator and Author

#50: What Young Adults Need Most From Their Parents: A Heartfelt Conversation With a 25-Year-Old

·1 hr 14 min

1. Launch episode 50 centers on what young adults need from their parents, with Shari Jonas interviewing Andy, a 25-year-old who is completing a master's in counseling and psychotherapy. 2. Shari Jonas is the host of Launch, and Andy is a qualifying registered psychotherapist who volunteers with Kids Help Phone Crisis Support and NEDIC. 3. The episode asks how parents can support independence, mental health, and trust without overstepping. 4. Andy says she works as an intern, does coursework, and volunteers as a live chatter on Kids Help Phone and the National Eating Disorder Information Center. 5. She explains that her parents are divorced, that she lives alone, and that her parents help with rent and some bills while expecting a job and a budget. 6. Andy says she first moved out at 17 for Western, which was two and a half hours from home, because she wanted independence and privacy. 7. After transferring to York, she moved back in with her parents for a period, then moved out again when her parents had separate lives and she was ready. 8. She describes learning household responsibilities during her parents’ divorce, including grocery shopping, meal planning, cooking, cleaning, and laundry. 9. During COVID, she says isolation, fear, and anxiety hit hard, especially because her father was considered elderly and the family worried about getting him sick. 10. She says that period was the first time she really felt anxiety and that she “lost myself” during the uncertainty. 11. Andy says she would not want to live permanently with either parent again, even though she loves them, because everyone has built separate homes and routines. 12. She says her mother is her “rock,” while her father relationship feels more like a friendship now than it did before. 13. Andy says she prioritizes dinners, lunches, errands, and weekly check-ins with her parents because they do not live in her city all year. 14. She says high school was the time she turned to friends instead of parents, which she says is common when young people want to become their own person. 15. When Shari asks about therapy, Andy says the first therapist is not always the right fit and that people should keep looking until they feel a connection. 16. She advises parents of anxious or depressed young adults not to leave them alone in their room, but to offer listening, validation, and options like therapy, doctors, support groups, or support lines. 17. Andy highlights self-care tools such as the five senses routine, journaling, exercise, gratitude, and self-compassion. 18. She explains the Circle of Security as a framework where children need a secure base for exploration and a safe haven for comfort, safety, and reassurance. 19. The conversation is interview-based, personal, and practical, with Shari repeatedly pausing to translate Andy’s examples into guidance for parents. 20. Parents of young adults and listeners interested in therapy, attachment, and independence are likely to connect with this episode, while people looking for entertainment-heavy content may skip it.

As heard by us

A practical anniversary episode on what young adults need from parents, framed through secure attachment and healthy boundaries.

An anniversary episode uses the 50th show to put the podcast's first young adult guest in direct conversation about what young adults need to know about their health, their needs, and what they want from parents.

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Why you'd press play

If you want a steadier way to support a young adult without crowding them, start here.

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