Building Strong Mentoring Relationships

Interested in Using This Course?

Contact Megyn Jasman, Assistant Director

The Science

This course was developed in collaboration with relationship expert and University of South Florida Professor Marc Karver. It is based on years of research  on therapeutic alliances with young, including Karver and his team’s comprehensive meta-analysis of child and adolescent therapeutic relationships that highlighted the valuable role of caregivers. Across the twenty-eight studies, which encompassed 2,419 children and adolescents (with an average age of 12.38 years), there was a moderate association between the quality of the therapist-youth relationship and positive youth outcomes (Effect size of .39). The course highlights those results, pointing to a range of relational behaviors that can improve adult-youth ties. Importantly, however, therapists’ relationships with caregivers were just as influential as therapists’ relationships with youth in predicting youth outcomes.

Course Objectives

Mentors will learn the following:

  • How to engage with youth of all ages
  • Evidence-based strategies for building and sustaining strong relationships

Course Outline

  • Introduction
  • Building alliances with young people
  • Ruptures and repairs
  • Building an alliance with parents and guardians.

At the end of the brief course, users complete a knowledge check.