All parents worry to a greater or lesser extent about their children's future.
Even when children have relatively easy times growing up, many parents have voiced anxiety about how happy, successful, or content their children will be as adults. Not surprisingly, concern about the future quality of life is heightened when parents observe their children struggling behaviorally at home, academically in school, and socially on the playground. They arrive at our offices with a list of immediate problems, but what they dread is that these problems, rather than representing stages of childhood, may be prophecies predicting significant future problems extending into the adult years. Helping professionals are asked to play the role of futurists. We evaluate children examining not only their current problems but the risks these problems pose for adult life.