Entries by Renee Spencer

A conversation with Renée Spencer

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  Editors note: We are thrilled to feature Professor Renée Spencer (RS), whose work has significantly advanced our understanding of the dynamics of adult-youth relationships. In this conversation, UMass Boston clinical student, Laura Yoviene (LY) talks to Renée about her work and inspirations.  LY: As the nation’s leading qualitative researcher in mentoring, what do you see as […]

To disclose or not to disclose?

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Edited by Renée Spencer Editor’s Note: Much like therapists, mentors are often confronted with making decisions – often on the spot – about what kind of information to share with their mentees and when. Laura Yoviene’s summary of a recent review article on therapist self-disclosure offers some insights and food for thought for tackling the […]

Developing Emotional Literacy: Transition Planning for Youth at Risk

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Fleischer, L. (2010). Developing emotional literacy: Transition planning for youth at risk. Reclaiming Children & Youth, 19 (1), 50-53. Summarized by UMass Boston doctoral student Laura Yovienne. Problem: Transitioning from high school to the “real world” can be a daunting and very anxiety-provoking task. Typical transition classes and planning tend to focus on learning the […]

How mentors can supplement adolescent psychotherapy

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So You Want to Be a Mentor? Food for Thought from a Clinician’s Casebook Editor’s Note:  Rather than simply considering how research on psychotherapy can inform our understanding of youth mentoring, in this week’s article we offer some food for thought for how mentoring may complement psychotherapeutic interventions and highlights some of the distinctions between these […]

Benefits of Mentoring? It’s a Two-Way Street

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By Renée Spencer, Ed.D., LICSW We often talk about what mentoring offers to young people today – how it can promote their development and improve their academic, social and emotional functioning. Increasingly, there is interest in how mentoring can also benefit mentors. Marc Freedman, in his prescient book, The Kindness of Strangers, described mentoring as […]

Research Corner: Can I help you?

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by Renee Spencer Eli Finkell and Gráinne Fitzsimmons, two researchers who study interpersonal relationships, ran an Op-Ed called “When Helping Hurts” in this past Sunday’s New York Times. While they focused on helicopter parents — the ones who hover and have to be told that it is time to leave when dropping their children off at college […]

The effects of parent, teacher, and peer support on school engagement

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Column Editor Renee Spencer’s Note: Recent scholarship is drawing attention to the link between mentoring and the long-standing and rich literature on social support. For example, Sterrett and colleagues (2011) argue that social support theory can offer a guiding framework for continued research on supportive non-parental adults and the role they play in promoting positive […]