In the first half of life we all have to develop a strong enough sense of self to deal with parents, teachers, peers and so on. There are increasing circles of accountability as we move from childhood to adulthood and begin engaging in more levels of external reality. We need to form relationships outside the family and think about what career path we may wish to take. It’s all about building and strengthening the ego in order to be in the world in a productive way, which is essential.

This can be tricky to navigate and lead to various issues, one of which could be an over inflated ego that’s quite brittle and inflexible. Another could be an over identification with certain roles. ‘I am what I do or I am my relationships or I am what I’m told every day’ and sometimes especially around the time of being a young adult these belief systems, subject preferences or friendship groups may suddenly all change causing confusion and symptom formation. Anxiety, depression, mood swings, issues with the body, sleep disturbance and lethargy are all common during this period in a person’s life. I have a great deal of experience working with children and young people and can help with all of these issues.