Run At Your Own Pace

In the past 9 months of working with the young adult population, I’ve noticed a common theme among them all.  That theme is unpreparedness.  They have stated a readiness for adulthood, but an unpreparedness for what that looked like in their lives.  They consistently express feeling defeated, left behind, and finally lost because they thought they’d be further along in life than they’d found themselves.  By their 18th birthday, and after graduating high school, many were eager to obtain that independence that they’d dreamed about as a kid.  They were excited to be released from their parents’ control, pressures of peers, and the tedious eight hour day of classes they’d attended for the past 12 years.  Instead, our young adults share a reality of becoming more dependent on their parents, even more pressured to keep up with peers, and not motivated to trade eight hours in a class to eight hours in the workplace.  Now they’re experiencing thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that has led them to the question of “What now?”

I’ve heard testimonies of goals and dreams that have become non-existent because of the same things that created them.  Young adults have shared how parent and family’s encouragement became doubt, secretes and ideas shared with peers have turned into envy and hate, and the support and confidence instilled by teachers are now criticisms and put downs by supervisors.  Now, they’re left feeling lied to, deceived, confused, but most of all, hopeless.  They begin to question their self-worth, importance, and ability to succeed.  Toxic thoughts and messages are now flooding their minds, leaving them depressed, anxious, and considering suicide as an escape from the life that was supposed to be filled with value, success, and importance.  Their world has become dark, uncertain, and empty which mirrors their heart and hope for brighter days.

At Malvern, we have accepted the challenge to become the coaches, cheering squad, and role models of the hope, success, and life that is still very real and true.  We work together as a team to provide quality and consistent care and concern for not only the mental, behavioral, and emotional health of our young adult population, but also their well-being as a person.  Many have been dealing with these struggles from early ages via various traumas and experiences, and we acknowledge and commit to understanding them in order to provide treatment specific to those needs.  However, many patients are coming into treatment because they are experiencing these struggles for the first time, and they desire to learn and understand what is happening to and for them.  They display a willingness and ability to seek and participate in treatment, while trusting us during their most vulnerable time in life.  We expand on that positivity through validation and helping them realize the strength they’ve shown in doing so.

Our patients don’t just hear it from one member of the team, they hear, witness, and receive from each member of our team from our behavioral technicians to our executive director.  We understand the fear, worry, and anxiety that comes from feeling unprepared, and we share a united responsibility to decrease those thoughts and feelings while in our care.  Our ultimate goal is to empower our patients, teach and show them that they can make progress and succeed beyond their mental, emotional, and behavioral health struggles.  They are not the labels and stigmas that have been placed upon them, and it’s okay to not be okay.  Life will at times feel like a race, but we want our patients, and the young adult population to understand that it is okay to run it at your own pace.