Watch this talk by US psychologist Jeffrey Jensen Arnett about the transition period from adolescence to adulthood ['emerging adulthood'], then answer the questions below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv8KpQY0m6o
1. Briefly describe how one modern 'revolution' named by Arnett has influenced the way young people experience the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
2. How might we as counsellors help our 'emerging adult' clients successfully navigate this experience?
1. Briefly describe how one modern 'revolution' named by Arnett has influenced the way young people experience the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
Technology revolution where it takes longer for young people to prepare for the knowledge economy through tertiary education than the it did for young people in the past who went into the manufacturing economy where less specialist education was needed to get jobs in that line of work.
2. How might we as counsellors help our 'emerging adult' clients successfully navigate this experience?
A non-judgmental approach to helping them through this stage of their life and allowing them to realise success comes in all shapes and sizes and at different stages in ones life. Helping them to recognise their strengths and feel valuable for who they are. Working alongside them to look at the issues they are facing and possible ways forward.
1. One modern revolution Arnett mentions is the technology revolution. It has changed how young people learn, communicate, and find careers, giving them more freedom but also more uncertainty about their future.
2. As counsellors, we can help emerging adults by supporting them to set goals, manage stress, and build self-awareness and confidence while they explore their identity and life direction in a changing world.
The technology revolution. understanding that the forms of communication, education, occupation and relations are in a completely new era. by understanding this revolution, we can better understand our emerging adulthood clients. as these are the clients we are majorly facing with today. putting ourselves in their shoes and understanding how the new millennium mind operates today due to the heavy influence of technology, we can better ourselves as counsellors to help this new generation.
The woman movement has significantly changed where woman today, have more options and opportunities than they did back in the 60s. Woman nowadays are free to openly discuss and share their opinions, free to dream of being the CEO of a successful company and the freedom to decide whether they want a family early or later in life - they have choices.
By listening and not judging.
Briefly describe how one modern 'revolution' named by Arnett has influenced the way young people experience the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
Children stay at school so much longer due to the technology revolution because they must get an education that will lead them to employment. While children stay at school longer for higher education we as parents look after and run around for them. Growing up like this was not an option for us.
2. How might we as counsellors help our 'emerging adult' clients successfully navigate this experience?
As a counsellors we must be prepared to listen and to not judge our emerging young adults from how we experienced life. They are developing at different rates than us and they have different life experiences . Open lines of communication, empathic listen and positive encouragement is key
One modern revolution named by Arnett that has influenced the way young people transition from adolescence to adulthood is the technological revolution. With an increase in technologically skilled jobs, adolescents require further study to often enter these industries, hence lengthening to transition into adulthood termed emerging adulthood.
As counsellors, we can help emerging adults navigate this experience by explaining the 4 revolutions that emerged in 1960s-1970s and assure them that this new life stage is different to any other pressures placed by older generations or even media presence. Assuring them that exploring this brief and rare freedom is a newly societal experience
technology revolution has impacted young people's experience in the transition from adolescence to adulthood. They get more access education online and have it there for a longer period of time and young people are required to seek longer education to work in the fields of technology, however this requires less people in jobs
We can help them by having a hopeful outlook on things that seem uncertain, emotionally support them and guide them in good decision making, and address the risk involved in online technology such as social media risk and bullying. Understanding outside/family factors when it comes to education and looking at the reality/possibilities around employment
These days, thanks to the rise of technology, it feels like you need a degree just to land even the simplest jobs. Most work now requires more than a high school certificate, which means a lot of young adults stay dependent while they’re at uni—often living with their parents and working part-time to cover everyday costs or help pay for their studies.
As counsellors, we can help them see the upside, like using technology as a powerful tool for research and learning. It’s important to reassure them that change between generations is completely normal and that where they are right now is okay. Times are different from when their parents were that age, and it’s fine to ease into adulthood at their own pace.
The women's movement is an interesting one, as women become more independent, seek higher education and have a greater capacity to earn good money, they rely less on men to provide that stability for them. This impacts both men and women, as women choose to wait to get married and have children, then so too must men wait for them to be ready.
As a counsellor, we can help our emerging adult clients by recognising that during this stage, it's ok to not have it all figured out with the whole 'house, wife, kids and picket fence', even if the adults around them are putting pressure on them to settle down by now.
The Youth Movement changed the way people viewed the transition to adulthood. Adulthood historically meant that the benefits that came along with the responsibility. With the other revolutions placing demands on young people, it makes sense that they would choose to prolong their youth and gain the benefits of adulthood without being depended upon.
As counselors we're able to educate our clients about the differences between generational responsibilities and the changes that have happened. We can contextualise the struggles that they may present to us as the exploration of this emerging adult stage. We can be supportive and encourage the freedoms that they hopefully have access to including to Freedom to seek emotional growth through counselling.
1. The transition from a manufacturing economy to a knowledge economy. It's a lot harder to get work; I know it's extremely hard in my small town. My cousin has been trying for over a year to get a full-time job; he's done odd jobs, been a labourer, but no one will offer him a contract. Once work slows, they let him go. I struggled as well. I looked for a job everywhere when I first left school. The only job I could get was at McDonald's.
2. I think in my experience, having counselling in my early adulthood. Having a place to discuss issues in my life and voice them helped me to get it out and think more clearly. Also, if they want to collaborate on goal setting. Giving them skills for emotional regulation and helping them set up a daily routine.
Youth movement- Arnett doesn't detail this "revolution" as much but I think it entails a lot and goes hand-in-hand with some of the other "revolutions". From the 60s and 70s, with the "counterculture" movement, traditional pathways, societal values and expectations were challenged and focus shifted to the individual, personal freedom and self-expression. The personal non-conformity to the mainstream also became political and traditional adulthood seemed conservative and limiting. I'm guessing this was also born out of a general affluence in society....Whilst "counterculture" has shifted from generation to generation, the focus on the individual, self-expression, freedom and choice, I think remains, adding many challenges to emerging adulthood: uncertainty, instability, overwhelm, little obligation to others, lack of connection etc., all challenging mental health.
Firstly, with curiosity, empathy and non-judgment, every generation & individual within has a unique experience born out of their time, environment and personality. By supporting young adults in exploring complex situations and feelings to gain perspective and a path forward, helping identify values and strengths, balance and resilience, coping strategies for anxiety...
In 2025, more and more young adults are still searching for their life paths even after completing training and university. I recently watched a Korean documentary about university students and their perspectives on the future. The young adults featured in the show mentioned that they are uncertain about their lives even after graduation and are noticeably pessimistic about the possibility of forming stable relationships, as their uncertainty has reached a level that makes it difficult for them to see any hope.
I think it would be useful, as a counsellor, to help clients view life as a whole rather than a series of isolated events. This includes recognizing that any undesired life outcomes are not necessarily caused by the person’s own actions. Often, such experiences can lead to pathways that provide opportunities for reflection and growth. By supporting clients in exploring and unpacking their inner feelings, we can help them work through challenges and find solutions on their own.
Gosh, I've been stuck in my emerging adulthood for most of my life :-)
This talk looks to be about 10 years old, so I can imagine that during those ten years, there have been other 'revolutions', the LGBTQ movement being the first to pop into my head. With social media and AI, our emerging adult clients are experiencing a whole world that I, as a more mature woman, can't even imagine.
I look at my young adult children, and they are the first generation to grow up online. Being an early 2000's mum, I posted lots of their childhood on FB and they had to negotiate a lot more outside noise as teenagers than any other previous generation. However, I can also see that my adult children and their friends are more emotionally mature than I was at that age. They have a stronger social conscience and are more driven, supported, and, I guess, guided by the information that is available at their fingertips.
I can see this also causing harm, creating unnecessary pressures and I have always worked with my children to help them navigate negative fallout, emotions and thoughts, but this was all learning and growing we did together.
So i guess getting curious with your younger clients is the greatest of tools.
Emerging adulthood is like having your adult training wheels on; you get to test your adult self in different scenarios where you can learn, adjust, and grow.
1. Briefly describe how one modern 'revolution' named by Arnett has influenced the way young people experience the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
These are all very interesting revolutions of how people have changed over the past 50 years. The women's movement definitely plays a big role in adulthood happening later in life. Once upon a time women were meant to marry and start a family; now they are focusing on their careers.
2. How might we as counsellors, help our 'emerging adult' clients successfully navigate this experience? I think emerging adulthood is such an important time in one's life when they can discover who they are and what they want out of their life. As counsellors, being a sounding board for them would provide a space for them to discuss their options.
1. Briefly describe how one modern 'revolution' named by Arnett has influenced the way young people experience the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
Industry is no longer what it was, with technology replacing a physical / manual workforce, therefore young people are staying in education for longer periods to become educated in the technological sector.
2. How might we as counsellors help our 'emerging adult' clients successfully navigate this experience?
As counsellors, we can support our clients 'emerging adults' to understand the new paths that are that are travelling, and to understand and therefore manage expectations from older generations.
One modern revolution is the woman's movement that has influenced woman to look at studying after school and concentrating on a career before settling down.
As a counsellor, we can support an emerging adult by getting them to explore their strengths and values and goals to clarify what direction they would like to move forward in.
Arnett describes the sexual revolution as changing the way adolescents transition to adulthood as individuals are choosing to marry at an older change, resulting in "settling down" at an older age and entering parenthood at an older age, highly influenced by the introduction of multiple contraception options.
As counsellors we can help the emerging adult navigate this transition by guiding them to make appropriate choices, treating them aa individuals and acting culturally safe along the way.
Briefly describe how one modern 'revolution' named by Arnett has influenced the way young people experience the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
Sexual revolution. The link between marriage and contraception was broken over time, the between those two faded and took turn into early teens getting intimate and entering parenthood and marriage compared to the old times. As mentioned by Arnett there isn't a "structure to family life".
How might we as counsellors help our 'emerging adult' clients successfully navigate this experience?
As counsellors, we can help clients who are emerging adults by understanding and allowing them to explore themselves.
1. Briefly describe how one modern 'revolution' named by Arnett has influenced the way young people experience the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
Technology revolution of the last 50 years has been the move from a economy made of factory enterprises to manufactoring, this has seen a change in how people work. People aren't working making things, they're using technology to make things. People now need an education to pursue these careers.
2. How might we as counsellors help our 'emerging adult' clients successfully navigate this experience?
As counsellors we can help clients who are emerging adults by helping them accept where they are in their lives, that the expectations they may have or the pressures are part of their journey and support them in accepting everyone meets them in their own time.
1. Briefly describe how one modern 'revolution' named by Arnett has influenced the way young people experience the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
Women's movement. More women are going into higher education, so putting off the traditional commitments of family life as traditionally they were expected to find a man as there were not many professions for women. I think the other 3 movements mentioned also tie into this one as a whole package.
2. How might we as counsellors help our 'emerging adult' clients successfully navigate this experience?
As counsellors we can help emerging adults understand and normalise the delay in reaching traditional milestones. That exploring their identity is okay in safe ways and that this time of their lives can be about growth and exploration before they are tied down with responsibilities. We can assist them with coping strategies for anxiety that could appear because of insecurities around jobs, finances and relationships.
One modern revolution Arnett talks about is the technology revolution, which lets young people explore careers, learning, and friendships in new ways, but it can also feel overwhelming. As counsellors, we can help emerging adults by supporting them to make smart choices, manage stress, set goals, and stay true to their values while becoming more independent.