The Launching Years: Strategies for Parenting from Senior Year to College Life

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Going on Tilt
During a two-year period beginning with the senior year of high school, most parents find themselves confounded by unanticipated challenges. 'Why are my daughter and I fighting like cats and dogs now that she's about to leave?' a mother might ask.

Launching a child from home is second only to child-birth in its impact on a family. Parents can end up reeling with the empty-nest blues, while teens find their powers of self-reliance stretched to the breaking point. During the time of upheaval that begins senior year of high school with the nerve-wracking college application process and continues into the first year of life away from home, The Launching Years is a trusted resource for keeping every member of the family sane. From weathering the emotional onslaught of impending separation to effectively parenting from afar, from avoiding the slump of "senioritis" to handling the newfound independence and the experimentation with alcohol and sexuality that college often involves, The Launching Years provides both parents and teens with well-written, down-to-earth advice for staying on an even keel throughout this exciting, discomforting, and challenging time.

Laura S. Kastner, Ph.D., is a clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington. She writes and lectures widely on adolescence and family behavior..

Jennifer Wyatt, Ph.D. is a Seattle-based writer who has taught at the college and high school levels..

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