Council Groups

Council Groups are at the foundation of how Journeymen serves teen boys. Through Council Groups, we ally with the development of the young men and boys whom we serve.

Council is the act of coming together to authentically share life experiences and listen without judgment. It is not group therapy often referred to as counsel or counseling.

A key component of our Council Groups is group mentoring.

In contrast to one-on-one mentoring, group mentoring provides an opportunity for teen boys to learn from multiple men and integrate the best and most relevant aspects from each mentor.

We train our mentors to empathize with mentees while modeling emotional honesty, accountability, and courage in the ways they relate to them and share their life experiences, following the LAMB model, which requires them to listen, admire, model, and bless.

Throughout Journeymen’s Council Groups, our philosophy and our non-therapeutic approach remains consistent: We do not try to fix boys, or give shoulds or should nots, and we don’t necessarily give advice unless we’re asked.

In doing so, we provide a safe environment where teen boys can come together in a community and relate with their peers and mentors, so that their true unmasked selves can emerge.

As our mentees allow their true selves to surface, we honor them for exactly who they are and help them to recognize their unique gifts.

An important focus of our Council Groups is to help mentees develop an emotional vocabulary, so they can readily connect with their feelings and put them into words.

This allows them to fully understand themselves, including everything from how they carry themselves to the emotions they’re experiencing and why they’re feeling them.

For many teenage boys, this represents a giant step toward maturing into men of integrity.

We currently offer Open Council Groups and School Council Groups. See below to learn more about each.

All mentors have been subjected to state and national criminal background checks and an extensive in-take and assessment process.

Open Council Groups

Since 2008, Journeymen has been hosting Open Council Groups in Asheville, open to all teen boys in the community.

These groups offer teen boys the best opportunity to forge lasting bonds with their fellow J-men (more experienced teens in our programs) and mentors, develop leadership and group facilitation skills, and gain a deeper sense of self-awareness.

Combining a mix of the fun and the serious, our Open Council Groups offer young men and boys a chance to explore who they want to be and changing the behaviors or attitudes that are holding them back.

These group meetings last for two and a half hours, starting with a half-hour of pizza, snacks, and informal conversation, before “checking in” and moving through the core components listed below.

The core components of this group typically includes…

  • team-building games.
  • discussions about relevant issues and developmental milestones.
  • sharing what group members are dealing with in their lives.
  • a confidential, safe, and non-judgmental space.

Our Open Council Groups are focused on…

  • creating trust and connection.
  • facilitating emotional development.
  • building self-confidence.
  • learning accountability and conscientiousness.

During these meetings, our J-men are encouraged to take on more leadership roles and responsibilities, and to serve as role models for newer mentees as their seniority develops within the group.

Through group agreements including observing confidentiality and speaking from one’s own perspective, both mentors and mentees alike learn the importance of integrity, honor, and trust.

With time, participants gain a deep sense of investment in and ownership of these groups while getting the support they need and learning how to support one another.

Our Open Council Groups happen every 2 weeks on Tuesday evenings from 6-8pm in Asheville.

To learn more and see if our Open Council Group is a fit for your teen, contact us.

As Frederick Douglass once said,
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

School Council Groups

For many years now, Journeymen has been partnering with United Way to provide transformative School Council Groups at several Buncombe County middle and high schools.

These groups follow a linear topical “curriculum” each school year and occur in the schools listed below.

Like all our Council Groups, our School Council Groups are focused on…

  • listening and relating to our teen boys.
  • accepting them for who and where they are.
  • modeling integrity.
  • praising our teens for their strengths and unique gifts.

These groups offer teen boys a chance to step out of being evaluated or judged while at school.

They have also been very successful in providing students with a safe and confidential space to build emotional intelligence and the capacity to self-reflect and make positive behavioral changes.

We strive to support the growing mental health needs of our teenagers through trauma-informed mentoring. Our mentors are trained to see signs of trauma and how to be sensitive when such signs appear.

Please note that we do not do trauma work with students, but if signs impact a participant’s ability to partake in our groups, we discuss with the guardian or parent, and if appropriate, refer to licensed professionals.

We also encourage young men and boys of all backgrounds, family situations, and GPAs to take this opportunity to gain greater self-awareness, accountability, camaraderie, and leadership skills.

To join one of our School Council Groups listed below or to bring a Journeymen Council Group to your school, please contact us.

 

The schools we

serve include:

 

North Buncombe
Middle School

 

Clyde A. Erwin
Middle School

 

A.C. Reynolds
Middle School

 

A.C. Reynolds
High School

 

Enka Middle
School

If you’re ready to join one of our school groups, or you’d like to become a mentor for one, please contact us.

Activity Groups

Check out our Activity Groups, which are more physical and include activities like outdoor recreation, skill-building workshops, volunteer-based service learning, and rites of passage weekends.

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