Posts

How shared laughter can strengthen mentoring relationships

There is little success where there is little laughter. ~Andrew Carnegie by Jean Rhodes It’s August, so let’s focus on a sunny topic——laughter.  A growing number of studies, including one highlighted in the Chronicle— show that, when people share a laugh and have fun together, they end up feeling closer and being more open with […]

Building a “Sound Relationship House” in mentoring

by Jean Rhodes In his Sound Relationship House Theory, psychologist and marriage guru John Gottman defines the attitudes and skills that lead to strong friendships in marriage, delineating them as the “floors” or principles of good marriage. These align with research on how to build strong “working alliances” with children and adolescents in therapy. These also […]

Now more than ever: Best practices for working with immigrant youth

by Jean Rhodes Editor’s note: Mentors who are working with the many immigrant children in our country are, no doubt, concerned about the immigration-related policies of the former administration, including its the anti-immigration rhetoric and hate incidents/speech of recent months. Although President Biden is seeking to reverse many of the measures, and restore DACA, the policies […]

Making the case for paraprofessional mentoring …40 years ago

by Jean Rhodes In 1979, a young psychology professor named Joseph Durlak published a controversial study in Psychological Bulletin that sent ripples through the helping professions. What Joe sought to do was to combine all published studies that had compared the outcomes of experienced psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers with those of paraprofessionals (i.e., nonexpert, […]

How natural mentors help youth develop strong racial identities: Implications for school success

Child Development, 83 (4), 1196-1212. Natural mentors as key factors in promoting both racial identity and educational attainment among African American teens Problem: Great disparities in educational attainment exist between White and African American students. These differences can lead to increased rates of unemployment, poverty, and mental and physical health problems in comparison to Whites […]

Sustaining the volunteer base for mentoring programs

By Meanie Ervin, Director of Communication, Adopt A Class A repost from National Mentoring Resource Center Hi Friends, It’s Melanie Ervin, Director of Communication of Adopt A Class. I am here to share our work and 3 lessons we’ve learned that has sustained our program year over year. But first, What is Adopt A Class? Adopt […]

FORUM: Mentoring relationships as a context for service delivery: What do you think? - Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring

Mentoring relationships as a context for service delivery: What do you think?

by Michael Garringer Psychotherapy researchers have long argued about how direct and goal-oriented the therapist should be.  There are some who believe that, if a strong relationship is forged between the therapist and client, a “corrective experience” leading to a cascade of good outcomes will eventually emerge. Others believe that the practice of therapy works […]

Moving toward critical mentoring: Social justice trainings as a starting place

By Amy J. Anderson Over the past few years, I have been involved with Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), a multiracial coalition of individuals who support social movements led by people of color. As a white woman, I wanted to not only learn more about my own role in racial justice, but also engage […]

New research identifies “elusive ingredient” in mentoring relationships: Mutuality

Lester, A.M., Goodloe, C. L., Johnson, H. E., & Deutsch, N. L. (2018). Understanding mutuality: Unpacking relational processes in youth mentoring relationships. Journal of Community Psychology, 1-16. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22106 Summarized by Justin Preston Notes of Note: This study focuses on what the authors describe as the “elusive ingredient” in mentoring relationships: mutuality. Described as “the […]

New research shows the important role of natural mentors for delinquency in youth

Editor’s Note: This recent longitudinal study provides interesting insights into the specific relationship between mentoring and juvenile delinquency. Not only does this article show the positive effects mentoring relationships seem to have on delinquency, the authors also discuss certain characteristics of the mentoring relationship seem to matter the most.   Reference: Kelley, M. S., & Lee, […]