Life Skills for Young Adults
Preparing for Independence
More and more frequently, college students and young adults in their twenties are reporting feelings of anxiety because they feel unprepared to enter the adult world.
At Momentum, we invite our students to address these anxieties and lay the foundations for success and independence with a proactive and hands-on approach.
With a focus on developing independent living skills, our program uses an experiential curriculum that tackles all aspects of adult life, from personal wellness to social interactions to time management.
So, whether you'll be moving onto a college campus or leasing your own apartment after Momentum, our life skills training is tailored to help you thrive.
Life Skill Development at Momentum
Daily Living Skills That We Work On
The World Health Organization has defined a life skill as "the ability for adaptive and positive behavior that enables individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life."
Alternatively, we like to think of life skills as any skill that is necessary or helpful in fully participating in everyday life.
At Momentum, students collaborate with their therapist on a regular basis to self-inventory and set goals around which areas of life they feel they need the most support and practice. Then, through our integrative life skills curriculum, students develop a variety of adult independent living skills, such as:
Effective Communication & Conflict Management
Sharing a Living Space & Boundary Setting
Keeping Up with Laundry & Personal Hygiene
Creating a Balanced Relationship with Food
Kitchen Skills & Cooking Healthy Meals
Time Management & Maintaining a Schedule
Life Skills for Overall Wellness
While there is no extensive list of life skills, organizations like WHO and UNICEF agree that the majority of those that are most beneficial for young people seeking a well-rounded and successful adult life fall into the following categories:
Physical Wellness
What is Physical Wellness?
Learning how to appreciate and respect your own body often begins with physical wellness and maintaining a healthy lifestyle through personal hygiene routines, regular body movement and exercise, incorporating healthy meals into your diet, and getting sufficient sleep.
Many young adults who live independently also learn how to schedule regular healthcare and dental care visits to ensure preventive care and manage personal health effectively.
Some young adults may even take a course on basic first aid skills to gain self-confidence in maintaining their personal safety.
Personal Hygiene, Movement, & Culinary Skills at Momentum:
To facilitate a positive relationship with exercise, we offer a dynamic range of somatic movement practices including yoga, nature walks, rock climbing, and mountain biking.
Students are also encouraged to manage daily tasks such as laundry and personal hygiene.
Our approach to nutrition education goes beyond just eating healthy meals by incorporating an understanding the nutritional value of different foods, the impact of diet on overall health, and how to listen to the body's needs.
We help participants develop a positive relationship with food, one that supports both physical health and emotional satisfaction, avoiding extremes and fostering a balanced perspective on diet.
Cognitive Wellness
What is Cognitive Wellness?
Cognitive wellness involves time management, knowledge acquisition, creative and critical thinking, and decision-making skills.
Growing your ability to maintain focus, make informed decisions, stay organized, and address problems based on logical reasoning and balanced judgment are all important life skills.
Goal-Setting Workshops & Tech Integration at Momentum:
Our program includes a tech integration component with digital wellness workshops that guide students in setting realistic goals, prioritizing tasks, and utilizing planning tools such as calendars and to-do lists.
We also incorporate exercises that foster critical and creative thinking, enabling students to approach challenges with innovative solutions and make informed decisions.
Through practical scenarios and real-life applications, participants learn to apply these skills daily, ensuring they can manage their time efficiently while balancing academic, personal, and social commitments.
This holistic approach not only boosts cognitive abilities but also prepares students for success in various aspects of life.
Mental & Emotional Wellness
What is Mental & Emotional Wellness?
Mental health and emotional wellness encompass developing healthy ways to cope in the face of life's challenges, enhancing self-awareness, and boosting self-esteem.
This involves understanding your emotions, recognizing your strengths, identifying areas for growth, and aligning with your personal interests and goals. Effective stress management, mood regulation, and constructive responses to emotional changes are crucial.
Additionally, learning how to regulate social media time and cultivate resilience to recover from emotional setbacks and hardships are key components of maintaining emotional well-being.
Integrative Therapeutic Approach at Momentum:
At Momentum, every aspect of our program is geared toward helping our students develop emotional regulation skills, healthy coping mechanisms, and resilience.
Young adults work with a primary therapist to create an individualized treatment plan designed to help the individual develop comprehensive strategies that prepare them to maintain their emotional well-being in various life situations.
Interpersonal Wellness
What is Interpersonal Wellness?
Interpersonal or social wellness involves:
- developing effective communication skills,
- building empathy,
- showing respect and understanding in diverse social situations,
- learning how to share a living space with others,
- managing expectations,
- boundary setting and respecting,
- asking for and giving consent,
- addressing and resolving disagreements in a constructive manner, and
- knowing how and when to ask for help.
College Readiness & Social Emotional Learning Skills at Momentum:
Young adults at Momentum engage in a social and emotional learning (SEL) class accredited by Western Colorado University. This class involves a combination of academic skills such as writing, presenting, and classroom collaboration in tandem with our Challenge by Choice and therapeutic programming.
Our students receive the opportunity to practice skills of communication, understanding emotions, and the theories behind what makes us who we are!
SEL focuses on developing tools to increase self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are all needed for school, work, and life success.
Other Important Life Skills
Other life skills for young adults include money management and navigating the world, whether by public transportation or safe driving.
At Momentum, though our curriculum does not explicitly cover money management, we do incorporate related concepts within the scope of executive functioning.
Our curriculum focuses on skills such as time management, planning, prioritizing, and breaking down large tasks into smaller, manageable steps. These transferable skills are the building blocks of financial literacy and can be applied to many other skill areas.
We also provide opportunities to practice transitioning smoothly from one activity to another, all of which are needed to process and handle the diverse demands of life effectively.
These foundational aspects contribute significantly to a person’s overall well-being and quality of life, influencing daily functioning and long-term health.
Often at a young age, the adults in our lives take care of the majority of these things for us. But, as we enter young adulthood, it becomes our responsibility to learn how to nurture these aspects of wellness for ourselves. Momentum can help!