Empty nest is a real transition, bringing grief, relief, and identity loss for many parents.

Empty-nest syndrome can involve depression, anxiety, and purposelessness.

Identity often becomes fused with the parenting role.

Reclaiming self starts with intentional curiosity about who you want to be now.

Imagine that an alarm clock goes off. You pop out of bed, make your coffee, and listen for the sounds of the shower, doors slamming, and "Mom, where's my __". There's nothing. Just quiet. You notice there are no shoes by the door. No backpack on the floor. No rush. You have all the time in the world that you'd been dreaming about for years, but it feels so empty. The quiet you craved is now deafening.

The empty nest often comes with invisible grief that goes unrecognized because it follows a normal life event that is healthy and often anticipated. This is because our identity is affected. According to identity researchers (Stets and Burke, 2000), our identity is composed of two things: who we belong to and what we do.

One of the biggest roles a parent has is being a mom or dad. It's not just something they do; it is a huge part of who they are. When children leave home, one of the........

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