What is the deal with children who won’t grow up? Who are in their 20’s but find it perfectly reasonable to continue living off their parents without moving forward in life towards employment, schooling or long-term relationships.

Today’s twentysomethings do not have the lives their parents had. And that seems perfectly fine with them. They go to school longer, delaying marriage and children, jump from job to job and from one friend’s apartment to another friend’s couch. They also move back home after a few years to save money, traveling to faraway places to work and generally take “me” time to decide what they want their futures to be.

Some sociologists say this is a new phase of life that covers a gap between adolescence and adulthood. The traditional adulthood need to achieve independence and responsibility is becoming more a thing of the past. There is a sharp decline in the percentage of young adults who have finished school, left home, found long term partners, had a child and reached financial independence.

So what is ‘grown up’?

Because of a better scientific understanding of how the brain completes development at age 25 and how social development can take a bit longer than that, we now consider adolescent development to be completed at around age 26. But that’s no excuse for delaying the necessity to grow up and develop character.

Mark Giesbrecht has extensive training and experience treating adult children ages 19 – 30 who are reluctant to grow up and take full responsibility for their lives. It involves careful attention to many potential underlying mental health issues as well as practical skill development and support to make new choices in living and follow through.

Contact Mark Giesbrecht to make a plan on how to deal with the problem of extended adolescence.