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Postsecondary isn’t just a milestone for students; it’s a transition for the entire family system.

While they are discovering greater independence, you’re learning a new way of being there for them.

Supporting your emerging adult is about helping them trust themselves while knowing you’re in their corner.

When our children are little, there's a guidebook for almost everything, from helping them sleep and make friends to learning to read and handling big emotions. Then one day they're preparing for university, college, or an apprenticeship, packing up their room for residence, and heading into their first year away from home, and the guidebook disappears.

There are orientation sessions, campus tours, and academic advisors to help them adjust into student life and greater independence, but who prepares the parents, supporters, and families who love them?

While this is one of the biggest transitions of their life, it's also one of the biggest transitions for the family system. We spend so much time preparing students for this next chapter that we rarely acknowledge what it's like for the people cheering them on.

Beginning post-secondary is a big developmental transition for young people that brings incredible opportunities and also new academic, social, and emotional challenges. Students are learning how to manage a workload they've never experienced before, build new friendships, recover from setbacks, ask for help, and balance freedom with responsibility. At the same time, families are adjusting too.

Some things to expect after sending them off to post-secondary:

The house feels quieter. It’s not just the empty bedroom you pass by; it’s the empty chair at the........

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