Overview
The APS is pleased to host Dr Randy Paterson live from Vancouver.
This 3-part webinar series will address an increasingly reported phenomenon that appears to be prevalent in most developed countries: Young adults struggling with independence and responsibility.
For these young adults, development toward self-reliance stalls or regresses - usually in the early 20s, though signs of the problem are typically evident earlier. These young adults typically rely on family for financial support, housing, and assistance with even the most basic activities of daily living (shopping, housecleaning, transportation, meal preparation, housing).
More often male, they typically lead isolated lives, seldom leave home, are underemployed or severely underemployed, have few friends or romantic contacts, and spend most of their time online, sequestered in their room. Parents find that they are offering the level of care they would normally give to a much younger child and usually report little to no progress toward independence. In some instances, a previously attained level of self-reliance (e.g. attendance at a distant post-secondary institution) has been lost and the individual has regressed inward.
Webinar 1: Wednesday 15 July 2026, 9:30am-11:00am AEST: Non-emerging adulthood: Nature, risk factors, and epidemiology
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orientation to the emerging problem of failure-to-launch amongst young adults (with discussion of related concepts including hikikomori, NEET, Generation Ni-Ni, N-Po, lying flat) in developed countries,
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apparent risk factors (including cost of living, rise of the internet, gaming, mental health concerns, the online promotion of myths about adulthood, and shifting family dynamics), and
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measures and resources for young adults and their parents.
Webinar 2: Wednesday 22 July 2026, 9:30am-11:00am AEST: Helping stuck young adults attain independence
What do we do when a young adult finds their way into therapy?
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the core concepts in assisting young adults re-establish forward momentum,
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de-triangulation from parental/societal expectations, and
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thoughts/concepts regarding adulthood, identification and amelioration of skills deficits, exposure therapy, personal goal setting, voluntary relinquishment of obsolete supports, and e-dichotomization of dependence/independence.
Webinar 3: Wednesday 29 July 2026, 9:30am-11:00am AEST: Launchpad parenting: Helping families support independence
Often it is the parents who are most motivated for change, and clinicians often find that working with parents as primary clients is as or more effective than working with their offspring (e.g. Lebowitz' SPACE-FTL). If one member of the family is accepting unnecessary support, it is axiomatic that another is providing it - and wondering when it will no longer be expected.
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strategies for working with parents to gently, consciously, and with careful planning, shift some of their actions away from support for incapacity toward support for independence, and
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strategies for ramping down blaming/nagging/advice giving and cooling the atmosphere of strain within the family (GPR: Graduated Parental Retirement).
Level of Learning
Foundational. This activity is targeted to those new to the topic.
Duration of access
This webinar will be recorded. Access to the recording and presenter slides is for 12 months from the date of confirmed registration.
APS CPD-Approved
This activity has been assessed against the APS Standards for CPD activities and approved for its education quality. Learn more about the APS CPD Approval process.
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