Empty Nest Syndrome. What do you do when your child leaves home?

Whether it's a child leaving for university or flying the nest, these milestones can bring up a lot of emotions.

It can be a time of joy, pride and fulfilment watching our child move on to a new stage of their lives. As well as a time of reflection on our own new stage of life.

In addition to feeling happy for our child, we may also feel anxious about them. It's also not unusual to have feelings of being adrift, sadness, emptiness and loneliness.

These feelings can be intense and a type of grieving. Grieving for who we were when our child was reliant on us.

Parenthood is very intense, and often we are very busy. It's not unusual for our needs to be pushed to the bottom of the pile. When we have a bit more space to ourselves, we might find old issues that we haven't dealt with, rise to the surface again.

After devoting 18+ years to bringing up a child or children, we can be left wondering who we are when they leave.

All of these feelings are normal and natural for such a large transition in life.

However, if these feelings are causing you deep distress or are lasting for a long time without improving, speaking to a counsellor may be helpful for you. Counselling provides you with a non-judgmental space to help you process your feelings of loss and loneliness, and help you develop coping strategies.

A small wooden bird perches alone atop a stack of colourful shapes, evoking the gentle solitude of an empty nest amidst a serene backdrop of abstract trees.