In this series I explain the steps families need to follow in order to best help their troubled adult-child. To review the previous articles, here are the steps you need to follow in order to best help your adult-child in trouble. You need to be able to understand your child’s condition and begin a process of taking responsibility for your part. You need to help your child find a terrific mentor/therapist who is not part of the family and can engage the child in a process of self-discovery. You need to become involved in the treatment as a family. The purpose of this is not to fix your child, but to learn how to listen to your son or daughter and to recognize what you can do is heal and change yourself.
Once the family is involved in treatment and the youngster starts feeling good about the new way that their parents are engaged, we come to the next stage. In this part, we will learn how to create an action plan with your grown-child. In order to do this, first we must understand how change happens. That will be the focus of this article.