Episode 2014: B. Janet Hibbs explains why not-so-young Americans are retreating home to their parents and the other certainties of their former childhood

On the front page of her website, the family therapist and psychologist B. Janet Hibbs quotes Kierkegaard’s observation that “we live our lives forward, but understand them backwards.” But her coauthored You’re Not Done Yet: Parenting Young Adults in an Age of Uncertainty seems to reverse that Kierkegaardian narrative. Many contemporary young Americans, Hibbs explains, are living their lives backwards by retreating home to live with their parents and surround themselves with all the certainties of their former childhood. It’s an odd paradox that, in supposedly the most “advanced” country in the world, American kids are unlearning how to grow up. Parents, Hibbs tells us in her new book, should understand and welcome these adult-children back to their nests with open arms. But Hibbs, who sports an M.F.T. (Marriage Family Therapy) and the obligatory Ph.D, is part of that growing therapy-anxiety complex which, some might argue, are both the cause and beneficiary of our “age of uncertainty” (which is, of course, no more uncertain than any other age).

Dr. B. Janet Hibbs is a recognized authority on family issues, with a focus on parent-child and partner relationships. Her speaking engagements draw on expert clinical experience, based on 30 years of practice treating individuals, couples, and families. She provides effective strategies for coping with the many issues–including stress–that parents and students face. Dually licensed as a psychologist and a family therapist, Dr. Hibbs holds the highest credential in the marriage and family therapy field, as an Approved Supervisor for the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. She is a popular radio talk show guest, with appearances on NPR’s Voices in the Family, Radio Times, and The Diane Riehm show. She has also made appearances and on national and regional TV. Dr. Hibbs has been quoted in national newspapers including The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Dr. Hibbs is also the recipient of the 2021 Psychologist in the Media Award from the Pennsylvania Psychological Association. She is co-founder of Contextual Therapy Associates, where she has a private practice in Philadelphia, PA. She and her husband have been married for over 30 years and have two sons.

Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.

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