LAUNCH: Parenting Tips for Raising Adult Children & Building Better Relationships
Shari Jonas - Parenting Expert, Family Educator and Author

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91 episodes
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This episode may be uncomfortable for some parents to hear.
If your adult child is in their 20s or 30s and still living at home, not working, not studying, not contributing, or showing little direction for their future, you may have asked yourself:
“What can I do if they don’t want to change?”
If you’re parenting an adult child who is struggling with independence, motivation, responsibility, confidence, or launching into adulthood, you may also be dealing with enabling, rescuing, tolerating, making excuses, being disrespected, of living in fear and of doing things for them they can do for themselves.
This episode takes a closer look at what happens when parents reach this point and begin wondering what they can do next if they really want their adult child to launch.
But be warned: this one may hit a nerve. 🐦
It's official! The Journey to Independence by itself is no longer available.
We are now offering a more robust parenting course appropriately called, The LAUNCH Program.
You'll be hearing more about it in the upcoming newsletter.
If you think your adult child is struggling with Failure to Launch,
please grab the FREE Failure to Launch Checklist here:
🗣️One-on-One Consultations are still available. Click here!
Email me if you have any questions at: Shari@ParentingFX.com
🎙️Remember to hit the SUBSCRIBE button so you never miss an episode.
Shari can be found on Instagram & TikTok Search @sharijonaslifefx
YouTube has all of the interviews available to watch! CLICK HERE... - Send us Fan Mail
For parents of adult children who are struggling to launch, support can quietly turn into enabling and enabling becomes disabling.
If you have an adult child living at home, not working, not in school, or not moving toward independence, you've probably told yourself you're being supportive. Paying bills. Managing setbacks. Handling stressful situations for them. Sending job postings. Giving them space. Avoiding uncomfortable conversations. Letting them do whatever they want - even when it's unhealthy: like endless hours of YouTube, gaming all night, sleeping all day, eating poorly, never leaving the house. If you're not doing anything about it, you're supporting it.
In this episode, we explore the difference between support and enabling for parents of adult children in their 20s and 30s and what happens when support turns into a pattern that keeps them in place instead of moving them forward. We talk about fear-based parenting, boundaries with adult children, and how to tell whether the support you're offering is actually about your child, or about managing your own emotions.
By the end, you'll have a clearer, more constructive way to think about what real support for a struggling adult child looks like - one that moves them toward feeling confident, capable, and independent.
Joining me today is Amanda Hill, a licensed mental health counselor, college professor, and the founder and clinical director of Connections of Hope, a therapy practice with multiple locations across Central Indiana, where she leads a team of more than 12 licensed therapists. She holds a Master's in Counseling Psychology and brings nearly 20 years of experience as a practicing psychotherapist. In 2025, she was named one of Time Iconic's Top 10 Powerful Women Championing Hope & Impact.
Contacting Amanda Hill:
Podcast: https://connectionsofhope.com/podcast/mental-health-with-amanda
Amanda's book: Making Sense of Dysfunction
Get in Touch: https://connectionsofhope.com/
Thank you for listening!
It's official! The Journey to Independence by itself is no longer available.
We are now offering a more robust parenting course appropriately called, The LAUNCH Program.
You'll be hearing more about it in the upcoming newsletter.
If you think your adult child is struggling with Failure to Launch,
please grab the FREE Failure to Launch Checklist here:
🗣️One-on-One Consultations are still available. Click here!
Email me if you have any questions at: Shari@ParentingFX.com
🎙️Remember to hit the SUBSCRIBE button so you never miss an episode.
Shari can be found on Instagram & TikTok Search @sharijonaslifefx
YouTube has all of the interviews available to watch! CLICK HERE... #89: The Question Almost Every Parent Wants to Know: Should My Adult Child Pay Rent?
09/02/2026 | 12 mins.Send us Fan Mail
A surprisingly large percentage of parents have asked themselves this question: should my adult child pay rent? Or at least contribute, if they’re working? What if they're not? Am I being fair or too harsh? Will it teach them, prepare them or upset them and hurt our relationship? What’s the right amount? What are others doing?
This episode will make you think about your Adult child living at home. Why won’t they work? And if they are, why can’t they pay a share?
This is one of the most searched, most argued-about questions parents face and this episode, I don’t hold back. Then again, I’m never do.
Hitting the follow/subscribe button, sharing this episode, rating and giving a positive review, are simple requests that go a long way.
Thank you for always listening in. I hope you walk away a little more educated and a lot more inspired.
Sending you hugs and gratitude,
Shari
It's official! The Journey to Independence by itself is no longer available.
We are now offering a more robust parenting course appropriately called, The LAUNCH Program.
You'll be hearing more about it in the upcoming newsletter.
If you think your adult child is struggling with Failure to Launch,
please grab the FREE Failure to Launch Checklist here:
🗣️One-on-One Consultations are still available. Click here!
Email me if you have any questions at: Shari@ParentingFX.com
🎙️Remember to hit the SUBSCRIBE button so you never miss an episode.
Shari can be found on Instagram & TikTok Search @sharijonaslifefx
YouTube has all of the interviews available to watch! CLICK HERE...#88: Why Your Adult Child Isn't Launching: What Parents Need to Know with Psychologist Dr. Mark McConville, Author of Failure to Launch
08/25/2026 | 1h 4 mins.Send us Fan Mail
In this episode of LAUNCH, I'm joined by the expert in adolescent psychology, Dr. Mark McConville, a clinical psychologist with more than 30 years of experience working with adults, adolescents, and families.
Mark is the author of groundbreaking book; Failure to Launch: Why Your Twentysomething Hasn't Grown Up...and What to Do About It. It is the number one guide for parents with young adults who are struggling to move forward.
I'm so grateful to have Mark on LAUNCH. He packs this episode with so many important topics, and of course, we saved the best for the end!
We talked about why so many young adults are failing to launch, what developmental skills they need to move forward, the role that parents play and perhaps most importantly, what you can do to help your adult children take ownership of their lives and move toward becoming responsible, relational, and interdependent.
I'm thrilled to have spent so much time talking with the leader in this field. I hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as I enjoyed interviewing Mark.
To contact Dr. Mark McConville: https://markmcconvillephd.com/
To purchase his groundbreaking, timely book: Here on Amazon.com
Remember to share this episode, and as always ~ Thank you for listening!
It's official! The Journey to Independence by itself is no longer available.
We are now offering a more robust parenting course appropriately called, The LAUNCH Program.
You'll be hearing more about it in the upcoming newsletter.
If you think your adult child is struggling with Failure to Launch,
please grab the FREE Failure to Launch Checklist here:
🗣️One-on-One Consultations are still available. Click here!
Email me if you have any questions at: Shari@ParentingFX.com
🎙️Remember to hit the SUBSCRIBE button so you never miss an episode.
Shari can be found on Instagram & TikTok Search @sharijonaslifefx
YouTube has all of the interviews available to watch! CLICK HERE...- Send us Fan Mail
Did you every wish you knew what your adult child was thinking? They're struggling to launch into adulthood but they never want to talk about anything. Maybe you've tried, but it never amounts to anything. Except a door shutting and the silent treatment. You're not a mind reader or a therapist. You're just their parent, who feels like a stranger. How long can you handle this?
A little while back I began talking to young adults, after having conversations with parents. And it was really helpful. I discovered truths that Moms and Dads didn't know.
In this episode, I share the 5 top things I've learned from talking to young adults who are struggling to launch into adulthood. These are thoughts and feelings that many parents have never heard from their own adult children.
You may learn something about why your adult child appears to be unmotivated, withdrawn, or unwilling to find their way out into the world.
I believe this episode will help you understand what may be happening beneath the surface, and what you can do to help your adult move forward towards independence.
LAUNCH Scripts is available here: https://parentingfx.com/LAUNCHscripts
Thank you for joining me today!
It's official! The Journey to Independence by itself is no longer available.
We are now offering a more robust parenting course appropriately called, The LAUNCH Program.
You'll be hearing more about it in the upcoming newsletter.
If you think your adult child is struggling with Failure to Launch,
please grab the FREE Failure to Launch Checklist here:
🗣️One-on-One Consultations are still available. Click here!
Email me if you have any questions at: Shari@ParentingFX.com
🎙️Remember to hit the SUBSCRIBE button so you never miss an episode.
Shari can be found on Instagram & TikTok Search @sharijonaslifefx
YouTube has all of the interviews available to watch! CLICK HERE...
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About LAUNCH: Parenting Tips for Raising Adult Children & Building Better Relationships
If you’re a parent of a young adult, are these questions keeping you up at night; How can I become the best parent to my kids? How can I improve my communication with them? How can we connect better? How can I help them to become more confident, resilient and independent? What can I do to motivate them? Why don't they respect me? Why don't they want to hang out with me? If you're searching for these answers, this podcast is for you. I'm Shari Jonas and this is LAUNCH. Where I offer honest, no BS parenting tips that will help you to raise your adult child with confidence (regardless of whether they're living with you or on their own) and become the best parent you can be. I address the most relevant, challenging and deeply personal issues that parents are facing with their young adults. Each episode offers real-life stories, research-based strategies, and no BS advice that will help you to become the parent that your adult child ALWAYS turns to, someone they love to spend time and, someone who will guide them to becoming confident, resilient, independent and capable of thriving in the world. Join me each week as I tell it like it is. No sugar coating. Real talk. Let's face it, parenting can be hard work, especially because we're figuring it out every day. We're learning as we go, and we can always be better. I hope to inspire you, give you the confidence you need to connect with them, and to educate you when you need a little guidance. Sometimes I have amazing guests, other times, it's just me; a Mom of 2 grown kids, who practically raised my children alone. As an educator, author and parenting consultant, I know what it takes to build incredible relationships, while guiding them through life's challenges, and I want to share it all with you. If you're ready to help your young adult overcome obstacles, while becoming the best parent you can be, listen in to LAUNCH: Parenting Tips for Raising Adult Children & Becoming Better ParentsRemember to Subscribe, so you never miss an episode. You can find me on social media if you want to see snippets of what I believe in and practice. Just look for @sharijonaslifefx on Instagram, TikTok and Youtube. Of course you can email me for questions, consultations or just to say hi!Shari@ParentingFX.com
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