Teen Life Coach Susan Epstein’s Answers to

Susan P. Epstein, LCSW, Teen Life Coach, knows that leaving home and beginning your college career can be absolutely wonderful and extremely stressful.  So whether you are a senior in high school preparing to go to college or you are at college looking for information about how to adjust to this huge change that has become your life, Teen Life Coaching may be for you.

You are entering college, a new world. You have left everything that is familiar to you behind, including, your family, friends, and school, community and your dog and cat. You may be an hour away by car or six hours away by plane.  You are feeling out of sorts, lonely, too much time on your hands, awkward, etc.… Your roommates are not saying any of this out loud and neither are you.

You want to call home and tell your parents that you just made the biggest mistake of your life and they should get in the car immediately or send you a ticket to come home. However, as you look around at the upper classmen, they look like they are okay, have it all together, wow- they even have friends! You are determined to figure out what is going on with you. “Why am I so homesick?” you wonder.

The first thing I want you to know is that your feelings are 100% normal and that the majority of freshman are experiencing exactly the same thing that you are. I have put together for you a list of things you can do to feel better.  This is not a recipe, with each ingredient dependent on the other, rather these are choices you can make to make this
huge transition into college life and get rid of the homesick blues.

• Talk with your roommates about what you are feeling. Most likely they are feeling it, too.

• Stay in touch with your family and friends, but not in place of college activities.

• Write an email to a friend at another college and share your feelings, compare notes.

• Do something you enjoy like, exercise, art, writing, reading, and taking a walk. Don’t sit around your dorm
room alone waiting for life to happen.

• Ask someone to go the cafeteria with you for a meal. No one wants to eat alone.

• Try to eat in moderation (watch the junk food), get enough sleep (invest in a good set of earplugs) and watch your intake of alcohol and drugs, which can all act as depressants.  (In your effort to take a break from your depressive thoughts, using drugs can throw you into even a more depressed mood.)

• Give your self-time, don’t put yourself down. You are entering a new phase of your life.

Sometimes teens can’t get going. If you feel that you need an extra push, nudge, support, email me for a free Teen Life Coaching session. In one 45-minute call we will develop a plan to help you on your way to ridding the College Homesick Blues.

Contact Susan for a free coaching session on teen life coaching.

Susan P, Epstein, LCSW, parent coach and family coach, works with parents and families looking for satisfaction, balance and growth.  Susan is an expert in the areas of family dynamics, parenting and child development and her unique blend of therapy and coaching combine to make her a powerful catalyst for change.

She practiced psychotherapy for 23 years before becoming a coach, writer and speaker.  Susan graduated from University of California at Berkeley School of Social Welfare.  She is a licensed clinical social worker in Connecticut and Rhode Island.  Susan also completed training with the Coaches Training Institute, an internationally accredited coach training organization.  Learn more about Susan.

Articles and Specialties of Susan Epstein, Teen Life Coach:

Life Coach

Family Coach: Six Tips to Less Stress at Home

Grief Coach: Advice on Helping Children Grieve the Loss of a Family Member: Step I

The Making of a Teen Life Coach

Teen Life Coach Riffs on the College Homesick Blues

Teen Life Coaching Workshop

Teen Life Coaching:  Drugs and Alcohol

Parent Coaching Testimonial

Teen Life Coaching FAQs

Family Coach: Six Tips for Enjoying Your Kids While Working From Home

Adolescent Coaching: Through the Generation Gap

Parent Coach

Parent Coaching

Parenting Coaching in the Fast Lane (workshop)

Parent Coaching Workshops

Parenting Coach:  Attention Parents!  No More Yelling!

Parenting Coach:  Attention Parents!  No More Yelling! (part 2)

Family Coach

Couples Coaching:  Rediscover the Joy