The Parent's Launch Code

Is your child ready to launch into adulthood, or are they stuck on the runway?

Over half of eighteen-to-twenty-nine-year-olds still live at home. At the other extreme, record numbers of young adults have cut ties with their parents entirely. Between those two headlines sits the question every parent of a young adult carries: how do I help my child stand on their own without losing them?

The Parent's Launch Code answers both halves of that question. Dr. Jack Stoltzfus, a licensed psychologist who has spent his career working with parents and young adults, offers a clear model for the launch: unconditional love to secure the relationship, and backbone to move your child toward responsible independence. One without the other fails. Together, they work.

Readers call this book a map. It shows you what needs to happen first, what can wait, what you can't control and need to release, and where to take charge. Through six practices-love unconditionally, understand and relate, apologize, forgive, show backbone, and say goodbye-you'll learn to speak with a voice of compassion and strength, even when fear, guilt, or resentment gets in the way.

Inside you'll find self-assessments, exercises, and checklists drawn from decades of clinical practice, stories of real families (including Jack's own), and "Keepers" at the end of every chapter that turn insight into honest conversation with your young adult.

Whether your child is nineteen and stalled in the basement or thirty-five and still leaning on you, the practices are the same, and it's never too late to start. Therapists recommend this book to their clients. Parents pass it to their friends.

As Jack writes: "Done right, the successful launch of the young adult is a cause for celebration." This book is how you get there.