Bret's New
Nonprofit:
Labyrinth
Center

Personal
Mythologies 

Soapbox
(opinions & articles)

Lectures,
Articles,
Papers

Poetry

    Welcome to the Adolescent Mind, which is my archetypal approach to working with at-risk and high-risk adolescents.  Throughout the years I've often run into limitations with our modern approaches to teens.  As I watch the growing statistics related to fatherlessness, drug & alcohol problems, gang affiliation, violence, teen pregnancy, dropout rates and more, I've become driven to find approaches that work.  Many of the therapists and child care workers I know continue to approach adolescents with the same therapies as young children or older adults.  While many are knowledgeable of adolescent development, few seem to understand adolescence in it's entirety as it has been elsewhere throughout time and across the planet.  Many, many traditional cultures came up with useful and workable approaches to deal with the "necessary crises" of adolescence.  While some people struggle with believing our primitive ancestors have anything of value in a modern society, due to the simplicity of their communities, their adolescent approaches were also simple and straightforward.

        Our indigenous relatives found fascinating, creative and effective ways to approach all adolescent developments.  If we really do believe these cultures were struggling daily for a meager existence (which I do not believe) then it makes sense they wouldn't waste time or precious resources on approaches that didn't bring direct benefits and results.  Probably most important in this thinking is the realization that these approaches were discovered independently all over the world by distinctly different and isolated cultures.  It is the universality of these approaches that give proof of their value and need in all societies.

        "Let go of what doesn't work" has been a recurring mantra for me.  As in Einstein's quote that "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results," I'm amazed at how many people continue to work adolescents with approaches that simply do not work.  I've seen therapists label teens as 'unworkable' because the youth was resistant to one particular therapeutic approach.  My approach has been to study adolescence sociologically, anthropologically and historically to get a feel for what teens are like everywhere and in every time.  Rather than force adolescents to fit the treatment model, I, like our ancestors, use models built to fit the dynamics of adolescents.

        I have used everything in this site on at-risk and high-risk teens successfully, particularly boys.  If it didn't work repeatedly, I didn't include it.  My approach is very Jungian, is based in Transpersonal Psychology, and is very broad.  Essentially, I am eclectic with structure, and although that might seem paradoxical, it serves me well in the paradox-laden world of adolescents.  Many aspects can be adapted to various modern ethnic groups, ages, classes and other settings,  although the best approaches overall are universal, cross cultural  and time tested.  If adolescents are going to continue to be confusing, diverse and radical, then some of our approaches to working with them must have the same qualities.

    State of the Adolescent Nation--A difficult look at the statistics surrounding our American teens.
            Hero's Journey--How to use this timeless, cross cultural tool with teens and teen programs.
                     Loss of Initiation--How losing initiatory rites has severely impacted our teens.
                            Rites of Passage--Learn how these approaches worked for millennia, what dynamics are common to them, 
                                and how to implement them in contemporary society.
                                    Workshops--Here you'll find a number of creative workshops for teens or adults who live/work with teens.
                                            About Bret--My biography and current reading list on boys' and mens' issues....

For more information, contact Bret.

All material Copyright by Bret Stephenson 1997-2008
unless noted otherwise.

Last Updated March 29, 2008