The launching years – that critical period from senior year of high school through the first years of college – is when teens face the challenges of college applications, heavy workload, separation from home, and navigation of total independence while charting their future.

It’s a period of extraordinary stress. How teens manage that stress can mean the difference between success and failure. Are you worried about your child’s grades, friendships, choices, even stress, and do you “co-ruminate” with them? Despite best intentions, parents often have no idea how they contribute to the problem, a phenomenon clinicians have identified as “circular anxiety” which actually hinders a teen’s effective stress management. Successful launching is dependent on a positive and calm parenting style that helps your child deal with anxiety. Dr. Kastner will discuss the predictors of success during adolescence, offer parents strategies for enhancing these predictors and for making this difficult transition a fruitful one. She will also recommend ways to broach our parental worries in a skillful, encouraging manner.

Dr. Laura Kastner is a clinical professor in the Department of Psychology and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington. She is the author of five parenting books, numerous published academic articles and many news articles related to child-rearing. She also has a private practice in which she sees children, couples and families.

For more information about Dr. Kastner go to http://laurakastnerphd.com/