Failure to Launch - A Different Kind of Intervention

Failure to Launch Therapy in Madison, Mississippi

In one study, my colleagues and I worked with the parents of 27 adults with FTL who were living at home and were very reliant on their parents for everything from basic needs to financial support. Parents were trained in decreasing the accommodation they provided and empathically acknowledging the genuine difficulty and distress of the dependent adult. Rather than attempting to directly change the FTL behavior through threats or lecturing, parents focused on modifying their own behavior by gradually decreasing the accommodations and trusting in their child’s capacity to grow. The focus on self-change in the parents rather than other-change (in the child) is grounded in a powerful philosophy. By accepting that they could not directly change their adult child’s behavior, including forcing him or her to participate in treatment, parents were free to ask what they could be doing differently. The systemic nature of the problem also meant that changes they did make had meaningful effects on their dependent children. After treatment, the adults with FTL had made significant gains in employment, living arrangements, social behavior, and other forms of engagement with the adult world. READ MORE

About Tyler Slay

Tyler Slay, LPC, is a licensed professional counselor based in Madison, Mississippi. He specializes in treating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), anxiety disorders, and trauma. Tyler offers Christian counseling for clients who want therapy to align with their faith or who are seeking a faith-integrated approach to mental health.

He has completed advanced training through the International OCD Foundation and uses evidence-based treatments including Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

Tyler provides therapy for children, teens, and adults across Mississippi, both in person and via telehealth. He treats OCD, panic attacks, health anxiety, social anxiety, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), PANDAS/PANS, depression, PTSD, skin picking disorder (dermatillomania), and hair pulling disorder (trichotillomania).

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