As awareness grows that the 18 to 29 year-old age period deserves attention as a distinct developmental life stage, groups are responding with a desire to know how to relate to emerging adults. Understanding this age period is a first step in designing research, developing proposals, and putting together projects that focus on young people in their late teens and twenties. Consultation is available to help groups and organizations gain knowledge about the developmental science available that helps us understand young people as they make the transition to adulthood.
Consulting for Professionals and Organizations
Dr. Jennifer Tanner (Ph.D., Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University) is a developmentalist with a broad range of knowledge about the transition to adulthood from adolescence through emerging adulthood (ages 18 to 29) into young adulthood (i.e., transitions to marriage, parenthood). Dr. Tanner is also well-versed in the launching of adult children and the transition experiences of families as they prepare adult children for successful adulthoods. She is available to tailor consultations to the needs of groups and organizations interested in incorporating the latest knowledge about the transition to adulthood in projects, proposals, and programs.
Life Education for Emerging Adults and Parents
Approaching and preparing for the transition to adulthood is an expected right-of-passage, a normal life experience. For some, leaving adolescence and becoming adult is easy. For others, the task is really challenging. Still, for others, becoming adult seems overwhelming. Understanding what to expect during these years can help prevent struggles. Likewise, learning about the ways this life stage is challenging can help young people and parents see the task as a normative life event. There is a lot we can do to scaffold healthy and happy transitions to adulthood.
Life Education
Dr. Jennifer Tanner provides services to individuals and families as a fully Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE). A CFLE provides education and learning experiences that help people understand how people and families change, grow, and adapt at different ages and stages.
Working with Dr. Tanner, CFLE:
- The overarching goal is to increase knowledge and develop skills so that individuals and families may build on their strengths to function at their optimal levels.
- Together we deal with current needs and challenges to prepare for and improve current and future functioning.
- Life education occurs in a variety of settings often mixing in-person meetings with phone and e-meetings.
- What we do together:
- Assess needs and strengths
- Set goals and objectives
- Make a plan
- Increase knowledge, skills, & experiences
About Dr. Tanner
Since the early 1990s, Dr. Tanner has been studying adolescents and emerging adults and families with an interest in the pathways that young people take as they grow up. She sees childhood and adolescence as a critical time in the life span during which we can prepare young people for successful transitions to adulthood. During her career she has been involved in a number of studies examining predictors of healthy adjustment. Her research has included studies of college student adjustment, the role of high IQ in adjustment during one's twenties, midlife adjustment as adult children leave home, adult children's adjustment during emerging adulthood after experiencing divorce as a child or adolescent, and the role that mental health plays in making successful transitions to adulthood.
Learn more about Dr. Tanner or contact her for a consultation.
