Thou shalt contribute to thy 401(k) — or 403(b) or individual retirement account, etc. It is the first commandment of retirement planning. Contribute early and often, perch on that nest egg and make sure that it’s big enough for you to live on after you retire. That’s sound advice. After
Tag: Human Development Across the Lifespan
Human Development Across the Lifespan
For many counselors and educators, the term failure to launch is a familiar part of the American lexicon. Some have referred to this phenomenon as an “epidemic,” and a few prominent clinicians have even described it as a “syndrome.” This classification is problematic for a number of reasons, including that it fails to
The specific biological mechanisms that underpin how people develop as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning or queer (LGBTQ) are still undiscovered, but what many researchers have determined is that neither sexual/affectional orientation nor gender identity is a choice. Rather, they are innate, unchangeable parts of who a person is, much
During the time that Kerin Groves spent by her dying client’s hospital bed, she could tell that he felt conflicted. “I sensed he kept hanging on because his adult children were unable to cope with him dying,” she recalls. “The son kept urging him to fight and get better, even
When I turned 39, I had a midlife crisis. I wasn’t home on my 39th birthday. I was on another continent, sitting in a hotel lobby at stupid early o’clock, jet-lagged and writing because I couldn’t sleep. I looked up, saw the date and realized my birthday had occurred while
The United States is going through a rapid demographic shift unlike anything it has ever experienced. Approximately 10,000 Americans are turning 65 every day. Meanwhile, the average life span in the United States has increased to approximately 81 years for women and 76 years for men, with a significant number
More than a decade ago in the song “Why Georgia,” musician John Mayer put words to a phenomenon that many 20-somethings sense all too well. “I rent a room and I fill the spaces with/ Wood in places to make it feel like home/ But all I feel’s alone/ It
Older adults are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population. The number of people age 65 and older is expected to nearly double by the year 2050. From helping with family dynamics and end-of-life issues to working on a client’s coping and communication skills after hearing loss, counselors are uniquely
Merriam-Webster defines the term sandwich generation as a “generation of people who are caring for their aging parents while supporting their own children.” Estimates vary concerning how many Americans belong to this sandwich generation, but a recent poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research puts the number at nearly
In an article written for the Journal of Counseling & Development in 2006, titled “Baby Boomers Mature and Gerontological Counseling Comes of Age,” Mary Maples and Paul Abney suggested that professional counseling would become more complex as the baby boomers continued to age. They said that the increasing number of