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Why do some mentoring relationships “click” while others fail?

by Jean Rhodes Even the most caring, consistent mentors may struggle to connect with certain youth, while other matches just seem to click from the start. Researchers have found that the quality of adult-youth relationships is conditioned by a wide range of individual, family, and contextual influences, including: 1.  Interpersonal History Children and adolescents who […]

Creating a culture of belonging: How teachers and mentors can help students navigate the return to in-person learning

by Jean E Rhodes School closures and the loss of face-to face instruction remain persistent struggles as schools work to contain COVID-19. In recent months, researchers have begun to publish studies and reports that have explored the academic and social toll that these closures have taken on students academic and social-emotional well-being. In a new […]

The five most popular Chronicle posts of 2020

by Jean Rhodes Well, 2020 was not the year we anticipated. From the killing of George Floyd to the wildfires that rampaged California, to a particularly bitter political campaign that continues to divide us with baseless claims of voter fraud, and a global pandemic, 2020 will go down as one of the most difficult years […]

What are the keys to successful mentoring? Study has some answers

by Jean Rhodes and Elizabeth Raposa In an article in the American Journal of Community Psychology we reported on some interesting findings that have direct implications for mentoring programs. The study was entitled, the Impact of Youth Risk on Mentoring Relationship Quality: Do Mentor Characteristics Matter?- and the short answer is yes! But let’s step back […]

What we talk about when we talk about transference

by Jean Rhodes Transference is what happens when someone redirects unconscious feelings about one person onto someone else. In mentoring, a mentee might redirect his or her feelings, such as anger/disappointment with a parent, frustration with a teacher, ambivalence toward an older sibling, etc. onto a mentor. Mentors, who are typically unschooled in the nuances […]

Five skills for navigating the transition to adulthood

by Jean Rhodes I’m sometimes alarmed that so many of my undergraduates seem adrift and unclear about their futures. I find myself wondering how they can bring themselves to pay tuition, go to class, study for tests, and go about their daily lives without a detailed, ambitious plan for their future careers. But, I’ve come to realize that […]

Ending mentoring relationships: Important lessons from child psychotherapy

by Jean Rhodes Research on early terminations in therapy, including the specific behaviors and attitudes that increase their likelihood, is relevant to mentoring relationships. Nearly half of all therapeutic ties terminate prematurely, owing to a variety of factors. Sometimes parents or spouses sabotage the process; sometimes clients reenact earlier, dysfunctional behaviors; and sometimes clients are dissatisfied […]

Five factors that explain our field’s resistance to evidence-based practice

by Jean Rhodes Over the past few decades, considerable federal, state, and foundation resources have been invested in research and evaluation aimed at improving the evidence base of youth mentoring. This can be seen in the rigorous evaluations of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, the National Guard Youth […]

Transference: A rarely acknowledged dimension of youth mentoring relationships - Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring

Transference: A rarely acknowledged dimension of youth mentoring relationships

In a recent NYTimes magazine article, therapist Lori Gottlieb discussed the concept of “transference,” a psychoanalytic term coined by Freud. In it, she noted that: “Essentially, “transference” is a jargony way to describe what happens when a patient redirects unconscious feelings toward the therapist, who is often serving as a stand-in for someone else in […]

Why “intentional” mentoring is so important

by Jean Rhodes I’d like to make the case make for intentional mentoring in all youth settings, but let’s start with a an example from youth sports. The National Council on Youth Sports estimates that more than 45 million youth between 8 and 19 participate in some form of youth sports each year, making it one of […]