Advancing The Work!
The Quest Project
I am excited! I am in the final phase of my Ph.D. work!
What I’ve Been Up To
One very important component of my dissertation was to gather data to support my topic Difference of a Counselor Facilitated Adolescent Boys’ Group on Behavior. I had the privilege of facilitating The Quest Project® to a great group of boys at Woodridge Middle School over the past 10 weeks. A special thanks to the staff there that supported and embraced the work.
Recent Press Release
Just in case you didn’t see it, here’s a copy of the press release about my work at Woodridge.
Local Therapist Helping Middle School Boys At Risk in Jefferson County
Clayton Lessor, Ph.D., Guiding Students at Woodridge Middle School
“Why are you being so nice to us?” This unassuming question was asked by a 7th grader to local therapist and author, Clayton Lessor Ph.D. The genesis of this conversation was a call Lessor received from Woodridge Middle School in the Northwest R1 district, asking for help. According to Stephen Bourke, the sole guidance counselor at the school with a student body of 625, “public schools in Missouri are in desperate need of more resources. It is amazing to have an expert like Dr. Lessor helping to make sure that kids are not falling through the cracks.”
Some of the issues that affect children in the school include families dealing with drug addiction, foster care, suicide, and physical abuse among other difficult issues. Lessor specializes in guiding adolescent boys ‘from boys to men’ and ushering them through a validating ‘rite of passage’.
Lessor is now holding weekly sessions with adolescent boys at the school. The group meetings, held in a school office, are a ‘safe place’ where the boys can release anger, talk about emotions and home situations with a highly experienced licensed counselor. Lessor’s own childhood included an alcoholic, physically abusive father, a mother who didn’t intervene and eventually set the family home on fire. The ten-week program includes two groups of ten boys each from the sixth, seventh and eighth grades respectively. Though apprehensive at first, after just one session with Lessor, Bourke says the boys were laughing, talking about how much fun it was and how they couldn’t wait for the next session.
“These boys are learning to be productive young men and how important mental health is for the rest of their lives,” says Bourke.
Lessor’s mission is to provide immediate help and hope to families struggling with adolescent boys’ behaviors, including violence, anger, rage, failing grades, truancy, disassociation with the family and other conducts of concern.
Next Steps
I hope you’ll stay connected as I enter the “home stretch” of my “Journey of a Thousand Miles.” I’m glad that you have taken this journey with me, stayed connected and supported me in my mission “to create healthy lifestyles by teaching, facilitating, writing and example.”
More to come!