Our Failure to Launch Programs

Getting a Solid Foundation for Your Young Adult at Icarus Nevada

Do you have a young adult son or daughter who seems uninterested in developing the life skills needed to thrive independently? Are they behind significantly compared to other young adults when it comes to “leaving the nest?”

If performing simple tasks like keeping a clean living space, washing their clothes, and holding down a steady job aren’t included in their agenda—and talking about these things triggers contempt, anxiety, or panic—it could potentially point to underlying mental health issues.

Treating failure-to-launch syndrome requires early intervention to build a solid foundation for long-term success.

At Icarus Behavioral Health Nevada, we offer Failure to Launch programs focused on helping young adults and adult children claim their independence, teaching them life skills while assisting with underlying mental health concerns.

In this article, we focus on failure-to-launch syndrome, how to identify it, and finally, how to obtain the mental health needed to overcome these hurdles.

Understanding  Failure to Launch Syndrome

Failure to launch syndrome is a relatively new term used in the field of mental health to describe a young adult who shows little interest in developing life skills and taking the steps required to become independent.

First deployed in the 1980s, failure-to-launch syndrome identifies underlying mental health issues for many young adults who display the warning signs.

Requiring a more empathetic and understanding approach, this diagnosis replaces the notion that late teens and early 20-somethings who fail to segue into the pool of independent, working-class adults are lazy or careless.

Those who receive a diagnosis of failure to launch syndrome often exhibit the same symptoms as individuals with major depressive disorder. Some of the telltale signs include:

• Lack of motivation
• Difficulties being social
• Inability to hold down a job
• Withdrawing from family and friends
• Sleeping for extended periods
• Odd sleeping patterns or bouts of insomnia
• Overly-reliant on parents

Many experts believe that failure to launch syndrome is just a more prominent symptom of a more severe case or a variety of several different mental health disorders. In the next section, we focus on the potential causes of failure to launch syndrome in young adults.

Why Is My Adult Son or Daughter Experiencing Failure to Launch Side Effects?

If your young adult son or daughter is exhibiting signs of failure to launch syndrome and lacks the appropriate life skills needed for their age group, there could be a more serious underlying cause.

Many of the individuals we’ve treated at our failure to launch program struggle with substance abuse.  This includes alcohol in addition to many types of chemical substances, as the potential drug of choice isn’t limited to one drug or category of drugs. In addition, many family members claim their adult child exhibits symptoms that align with the following:

Depression

When a young person suffers from failure-to-launch syndrome, we often see depression as a driving factor. The two share many of the same symptoms, including:

• Distancing themselves from family members
• No interest in learning life skills
• Self-esteem and personal growth challenges
• Difficult to overcome failure
• Sleeping for extended periods

Anxiety

You might find a mental health professional pinpoint anxiety as a root cause for failure to launch problems. A young person struggling with anxiety or panic disorder often exhibits extreme difficulty functioning in social situations, holding down a job, and managing multiple responsibilities at once.

For many young adults, simply navigating societal pressures and challenges of adulthood can lead to substance abuse issues and the development of depression or anxiety. In a world where the demand for enhanced effort is required to manage the rising costs of bills and living expenses, just the simple thought of entering adulthood can trigger the side effects of failure-to-launch syndrome.

Building a Solid Foundation with Failure to Launch Programs

One of the most important elements of treating young adults with failure-to-launch programs is establishing a solid foundation for success. Instilling confidence and security in young adults preparing to exit the home is one of the critical components of any failure-to-launch program.

Being fully prepared for mental, emotional, and life skills training is essential for young adults struggling with leaving the home.

At Icarus Behavioral Health Nevada, our expert staff is prepared to enhance a young adult’s ability to cope with low self-esteem, manage mental health problems, and learn how to live independently.

The types of therapy deployed within our failure-to-launch programs play a vital role in your young adult’s success. By using a combination of one-on-one methods, in addition to family therapy, we can help you take a leading role in your child’s success.

Before entering our failure-to-launch program, there are many actionable steps you can take to help prepare your child to hit their goals.

Preparing for Our Failure to Launch Programs

The preparation stage of our failure to launch program plays a vital role in the progress of your young adult. Start with the following actions to help your child prepare for treatment and, ultimately, independent adulthood:

• Practice time management, as our program emphasizes the importance of using your time wisely.
• Positive reinforcement is an essential component of success. Practicing the steps to become a source of encouragement in your child’s life before treatment helps to lay a strong foundation.
• Focusing on your child’s emotional well-being should be one of your main goals. Attention toward any underlying mental illness is a critical component of our treatment programs.
• A strong focus on physical health significantly boosts their self-esteem and overall wellness.
• Additional family involvement can instill additional confidence and encouragement as close family members play key support roles.

Being adequately prepared provides a head-start before treatment—but what does the actual therapeutic process look like? The following section outlines an example of our failure to launch a program.

What to Expect from Our Failure to Launch Program at Icarus Behavioral Health

Treatment for failure-to-launch syndrome consists of multiple therapeutic methods combined to provide relief from mental health challenges and build essential skills needed for adulthood.

One of the primary elements of treatment is Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions, a program otherwise known as SPACE.

The SPACE Program

Many parents prefer the SPACE program because it provides further education on how you can work directly with your child’s development and learn the most efficient ways to respond to underlying issues.

We’ll help you develop strategies for motivating your young adult, setting realistic expectations, and coping with the power struggle that takes place.

One-on-One Strategies

One-on-one counseling sessions are also a preferred option, as goal-focused methods of therapy help establish expectations for independent living.

Generally, the go-to techniques for one-on-one treatment include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Exposure Response Prevention (ERP), otherwise known as Exposure Therapy.

During CBT, counselors work closely with young adult clients, helping them identify the negative thoughts and habits that prevent them from progressing. The primary goal is the development of more appropriate, positive responses to negative thoughts or situations. CBT teaches that negative thoughts are often out of our control. However, we can control our responses, shaping the outcome when uncertain.

ERP is known as Exposure Therapy due to the gradual and repetitive unveiling of the elements that trigger adverse reactions. During Exposure Therapy, clients develop an exposure chart, listing their most significant fears from the least to most important.

By learning how to face their fears, clients ultimately discover the result of their exposure isn’t as harmful as they previously imagined.

These elements of treatment help manage the underlying conditions clients deal with that lead to failure to launch syndrome. Another critical component is helping them prepare for independent adulthood through skill-building.

Learning to Manage Adult Responsibilities

Learning to manage adult responsibilities is vital to any failure to launch program. Without hands-on experience, many young adults find it unrealistic to step into an adult role.

By placing clients in real-life scenarios that require adult-level skills, clients obtain direct expertise to prepare them for managing a life of independence. Skill-building treatment focuses on the following elements:

• Financial management. Clients learn how to save money and create a budget, helping them become efficient at managing financial responsibilities month in and month out.
• Learning about regular exercise and a balanced diet. Managing their health is equally as crucial as financial independence. Meal preparation and budgeting for groceries are critical areas of focus.
• Developing social skills is crucial for any young adult. Having an active social life and learning to foster personal and professional relationships is healthy. Clients learn critical elements for social situations in a personal and business environment. This includes learning to fill out resumes, dealing with the interview process, and maintaining healthy social connections with friends and family.

Are Failure to Launch Programs Covered by Insurance?

In many cases, the answer to this question is yes, as such programs are deemed medically necessary when addressing diagnosable mental health and substance use disorder conditions that often occur alongside failure to launch.

Our additional resources offer more specific details on the cost of failure to launch programs and also reviews the opportunity costs of an adult child going without such support.

Encourage Independence with Icarus Behavioral Health

If your young adult child is having challenges developing the necessary skills to become independent young men or women, our evidence-based treatments at Icarus Behavioral Health provide relief and instill the confidence needed for success.

Working directly alongside parents, we’ll help you learn coping and relationship management skills and strategies to encourage your child correctly. Positive reinforcement is crucial to managing failure-to-launch syndrome, and your participation is vital.

Each day lost to failure to launch syndrome is a day lost for a brighter future. Contact Icarus in Nevada today to help your child make meaningful moves toward success.