Leaving Home Before Your Time

Some young people don’t leave home. They flee.

They flee those conditions that being harm to self and others within the home.

Some flea at a young age, teenagers, not yet fully formed, not yet adults. Not yet with all supports in place.

They are at tremendous risk even when once fled.

Mere survival, let alone exploitation challenge them. They seek to find their way.

Rarely do I meet with such a person as a teen, although they may have contact with other social services.

If I meet with such a person, it tends to be later as a young adult or a thirty-something.

When I meet with such a person, they are often feeling poorly of themselves, struggling with a difficult relationship.

These are amongst the strongest most resourceful people I meet, albeit also often feeling remarkably insecure.

I marvel at their accomplishments lifting themselves from a launching pad that offered no boost and no trajectory.

We unpack their past to examine that which was their baggage. We seek to remove that which is not healthy yet cherish the accomplishments.

It often brings relief and helps nudge the trajectory to a better outcome.

Much respect to these persons.

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I am Gary Direnfeld and I am a social worker. Check out all my services and then call me if you need help with a personal issue, mental health concern, child behavior or relationship, divorce or separation issue or even help growing your practice. I am available in person and by video conferencing.

Gary Direnfeld, MSW, RSW

gary@yoursocialworker.com
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Gary Direnfeld is a social worker. Courts in Ontario, Canada, consider him an expert in social work, marital and family therapy, child development, parent-child relations and custody and access matters. Gary is the host of the TV reality show, Newlywed, Nearly Dead, former parenting columnist for the Hamilton Spectator and author of Marriage Rescue: Overcoming the ten deadly sins in failing relationships. Gary maintains a private practice in Georgina Ontario, providing a range of services for people in distress. He speaks at conferences and workshops throughout North America. He consults to mental health professionals as well as to mediators and collaborative law professionals about good practice as well as building their practice.