Parenting Young Adults To Independence
On the cusp of young adulthood, a period full of tumultuous transitions, expert advice for
parents evaporates. Yet, today’s parents are the primary safety net for their young adults, as the generational baton-pass takes longer than ever. Young adults, who are adapting to
unprecedented challenges in a rapidly changing world, increasingly rely on their parents to
support their educational, personal and career choices. Parents and their children now enter
the longest stage of their relationship– Adult to Adult. Navigating the uncertainties of this era impacts the well-being of both generations. This talk fills the guidance gap with practical advice and reassurance, based on our decades of clinical expertise. We extend a helping hand with solid advice for this complicated stage of parenting. We share what parents and young adults can expect, with effective communication skills to develop a collaborative relationship for the key conversations ahead.

Launch Delays: Supporting Parents of Youth and Young Adults
Drs. Hibbs and Rostain discuss youth’s educational journeys and the launch into young
adulthood, through the lens of learning differences, executive functioning difficulties, mental health challenges and neuro-atypical development. We share professional and personal
experiences, and impart important lessons about the specific challenges faced by parents,
educators and youth that encounter these issues, amplified by the demands of online learning.
The talk offers effective strategies for addressing screen time and social media, time and task management, anxiety and depression. We emphasize the vital importance of self-care activities that promote resilience, which parents, educators and youth need for healthy coping.

The Stressed Years of Their Lives: K-12
Childhood is evaporating into a life filled with over-scheduled activities and screen time, and adolescence has become a high-stakes, time-starved pressure cooker of stress, fear, and perfectionism for kids. The pandemic has amplified these secular trends. Many parents experience anxiety, wondering, “Will my child be OK?” and “Will they be ready for the challenges ahead?” We believe that parents can provide a sturdy safety net, supporting their child’s resilience. Based on The Stressed Years of Their Lives, this talk provides practical advice and information for parents as they partner with educators to ready their students for a successful launch to college and early young adulthood. We review the unique stressors of this age and reveal the keys to health promotion and harm reduction.

The Stressed Years of Their Lives: College
Parents today wonder, “What’s going on?” as they absorb the daily reports of campus hazards, and skyrocketing rates of college mental health problems. Increasingly, both generations also stress over higher college costs and worry, “Is college worth it?” We share how educational leaders debate balancing the traditional emphasis on academic excellence with the value of non-cognitive, resilience-building instruction; while building college to career linkages. This illuminating talk provides plenty of tips for key conversations that both parents, college counselors, faculty and administrators can use to discern normal adolescent and young adult development, and better support the emotional well-being of students.

ADHD in Adults
Drawing on over 35 years of clinical experience and research, Dr. Anthony Rostain explains how to improve clinical outcomes for patients with neuropsychiatric disorders of all ages, and how to create effective service systems for these patients and their families.

Dr. Rostain on the Adderall shortage for NPR’s On Point.

Watch Dr. Rostain speak about how to help students cope with college disappointment, in a talk with College Guidance Network.

Check out Dr. Hibbs and Dr. Rostain in The New York Times.

Listen to Dr. Hibbs and Dr. Rostain on the Free Library of Philadelphia podcast.

Dr. Rostain and Dr. Hibbs named as Plenary Speakers for the 2020 ACPA Convention.

Read Dr. Rostain’s and Dr. Hibbs’s article on preparing for the transition to college in The Wall Street Journal.

Dr. Rostain and Dr. Hibbs give advice on how to do well and be happy in college on NPR Life Kit.

Dr. Rostain and Dr. Hibbs talk about helping your college-bound child learn independence on NBC10 Philadelphia.

Dr. Rostain provides tips on how to get students emotionally ready for college on NBC10 Philadelphia.

Dr. Rostain and Dr. Hibbs discuss the campus mental health epidemic on NPR Fresh Air. 

Dr. Rostain and Dr. Hibbs talk about “Stressed Generation Z” on The  Lisa  Show.

 Interview on WBYU radio 1.24.2019 Dr. Rostain gives advice on how to balance your emotions while your child is away at college and struggling with their own.

Dr. Rostain and Dr. Hibbs talked with BYU Radio on why Generation Z is stressed.

Read why most of Generation Z is stressed out in an op-ed by Dr. Rostain and Dr. Hibbs.

Read Dr. Rostain’s commentary for Thrive Global on the need for increased campus resources for mental health.

Healio interviews Dr. Rostain about prescribing stimulants to treat ADHD.

Listen to Dr. Rostain discuss ADHD in adults on Voices in the Family.

Listen to Dr. Rostain talk about kids and meds on Voices in the Family.

Listen to Dr. Rostain speak about parenting children as they enter adulthood on Radio Times.

“I just wanted to thank you profusely for the fabulous presentation yesterday. It was simply wonderful — highly informative and personable!”

“We have received numerous compliments as to the material that [Drs. Rostain and Hibbs] presented here at Alvernia University. The presentation on mental health and well-being was timely and relevant to the student populations that we serve, well done.”

“[Tony and B] did a wonderful job sharing with our attendees! Their slides and commentary were right on target for what our educational leaders needed to hear and take back to their schools for impact. Indeed, mental health is so incredibly important as we teach and develop students for college and life.”

“We have been receiving wonderful feedback about [Tony’s and B’s] talk. Folks found it to be informative, engaging and helpful! I’m so glad [they] were able to join us.”

“The speakers today were outstanding. I loved their presentation, their delivery and their expertise. Thank you for finding them and bringing them to campus. Our lunch conversation was one of the best we have ever had after a speaker.”

Praise for The Stressed Years of Their Lives:

“This is the type of book every parent should read before discussions of college even begin. Packing in just the right amount of statistics and real-world scenarios, two doctors offer sound advice on how parents can better prepare their children for the challenging college years that lie ahead of them.”

“This book is a hopeful and essential guide that promotes emotional health and mental fitness in young people. The authors address mental illness and offer models for prevention, treatment, and recovery. A must-read for parents, educators, and clinicians.”

“Childhood is disappearing for young adults, with the pressure to perform, the seductions of social media and the fears of an uncertain future, as stress, anxiety and depression are reaching epidemic proportions. I can think of no better guide than The Stressed Years of Their Lives for overwhelmed parents and stressed-out kids for navigating these turbulent times. This is required reading for the college set.”

“College-related anxiety and pressure on both parents and children begins long before the admissions process, changes and intensifies in college and has been escalating, alarming educators, mental health professionals and, of course, families themselves. Drs. Hibbs and Rostain have battled in this arena with courage, insight and a wealth of professional training and experience. This wonderful book defines and explores the many, varied minefields of the college years with candor and compassion, and provides parents with practical advice and support about what to look for, what to ask and say, and when and how to intervene. Having seen these pressures both as a parent and university president, I am grateful that there is now this long-overdue and extraordinary guide. It should be required reading for all parents.”

“Hibbs and Rostain have done a great service for parents trying to guide their kids through the transition to adulthood and college life in this high stress world. They’ve written an engaging and accessible book full of common sense guidance and tremendous clinical wisdom. They provide both specific advice about the important issues to consider and what parents and kids can do to be best positioned to address those issues in order to succeed and thrive.”

“Drs. Hibbs and Rostain have a national reputation as highly knowledgeable and skilled adolescent psychotherapists, and for good reason. This book is filled with both clinical vignettes and research findings to help illuminate the very personal stories of what these young people struggle with, as well as some disturbing statistics about the mental health crisis in high schools and colleges. If you want to learn about adolescents and how to help them, please read this book first.”

“The Stressed Years of Their Lives is an informative, thought-provoking and—perhaps most importantly—conversation-starting curation of mental health information that all parents need to read. With robust research woven throughout deeply compelling stories of real young adults and their families, the book paints a clear picture of the struggles that young adults of today are facing; the way parents, and young adults, and schools can be partners in success; and the message that help is available and there are so many reasons to have hope.”