Mentoring can happen in an office setting but generally happens out in the world in the context of the client’s life. There are a few areas that mentoring support can’t show up in as long as the activity is supportive of the client’s growth, autonomy, and progress. A session might take place walking down a trail, sitting in a coffee shop, prepping in the car before a client’s job interview, or knee-deep in the disorder of their life, helping to clean their living room. A mentor’s flexible and far-reaching scope of practice is one of the reasons mentoring can be so effective and can be of such value to the client.

In addition to being a resource for talking about and processing through whatever is going on in your life, here are a few of the areas that you and your mentor may choose to engage:

• Visioning and Planning – Exploring your strengths, weaknesses, and unique nature and developing a vision for where you want to go in life and how you are going to get there. Clarifying your values and goals and creating a plan of action that addresses the essential aspects of your life.

• Cultivating Self-Awareness – Expanding your self-awareness and self-knowledge so you may better understand who you are, what you want and need, and what is working or not working in your life at this time.
• Finding strategies to work with your thinking, feelings, and emotions so you can take purposeful action and not get pulled off course by patterns of avoidance, procrastination, and distraction.
• Developing interpersonal skills that allow you to initiate and develop relationships that are meaningful and fulfilling with your peers as well as with your family.
• Developing the necessary life skills that allow you to care for yourself and function independently including self care, personal well-being, as well as structures for managing time, commitments, and finances.

• ​Supporting you to move into meaningful action in ways that are important to you relative to work, education, relationships, and personal interests.

Ultimately, our goal is to work together to create a life that feels exciting and meaningful to you!

There is no limit on the focus and types of activities that your mentor can support you with during your sessions. Below is a list of the main areas that we focus on with our younger clients.

• Independent Living Skills: Living on your own, cleaning and organization, menu planning and cooking, finances, budgeting and paying bills

• Vocational Coaching: Job search strategies, interview skills, negotiating compensation, navigating employment challenges, maintaining employment, transitioning to a new job.
• Educational Coaching: reviewing syllabi and setting up a calendar and plan for the quarter/semester, developing study strategies, planning and organization around large projects and papers, test taking strategies.
• Health and Physical Wellbeing: Exploring new activities, exercise and fitness, nutrition and diet, relaxation and sleep.
• Mental Wellbeing: Cultivating mental and emotional awareness, learning and practicing skills to unhook from unhelpful thoughts and emotions, learning to come back to the present moment and align with your values.
• Confidence and Self Esteem: Building interpersonal skills, identifying and cultivating passions, building confidence to attend social events and expand social networks
• Communication Skills and Developing Relationship: Learning to be assertive and to set boundaries, balancing the needs and wants of others and yourself. Learning ways to be a more effective communicator as well as listener. Supporting communication with parents and other family members.
• Executive Functioning (Organizational Skills): Scheduling, time management, planning and prioritization, organizing your space, managing mail and email, accountability.
• Sober Coaching: Working with impulses, exploring new ways to cope and connect socially, creating new social connections that support your sober lifestyle, finding new forms of recreation and enjoyment like going to a sports game, listening to live music, or going out to eat.

• Therapeutic Mentoring: For clients who are working with a therapist, we can help you apply your therapeutic skills in real world settings. We work directly with the patterns of addiction, depression, and anxiety.