MentorPRO’s Werntz and Rhodes Publish First Scoping Review of Therapeutic Mentoring

A comprehensive scoping review led by MentorPRO’s researchers Dr. Alexandra Werntz and Dr. Jean Rhodes reveals both the promising potential and critical research needs in therapeutic mentoring for youth mental health. The study, published today in Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, comes at a crucial time when 20-30% of children need psychological services, yet only one-third receive care.

“Therapeutic mentoring shows incredible promise as a scalable solution to address the youth mental health crisis,” says Dr. Alexandra Werntz, lead author and Director of Research at MentorPRO. “However, our research reveals that we need more rigorous studies to fully understand its effectiveness as an intervention.”

Dr. Jean Rhodes, a pioneering expert in youth mentoring and co-founder of MentorPRO, emphasizes the importance of developing clear definitions and standards in the field. “To maximize impact, we must establish comprehensive frameworks for therapeutic mentoring programs that can be systematically evaluated and improved.” Key findings from the research include:

• The first systematic review of therapeutic mentoring programs in peer-reviewed literature
• Evidence suggesting particular benefits for racially and ethnically diverse youth
• Identification of critical research gaps and future directions for the field

The authors argue for an initial definition of therapeutic mentoring as a way of advancing the field of what therapeutic mentoring is and is not. They argue that therapeutic mentoring describes a distinct type of mentoring program that:

1. explicitly focuses on reducing negative mental health symptoms and increasing psychological well-being and thriving among youth
2. is delivered by paraprofessionals
3. uses evidence-based practices to target underlying mechanisms of mental health challenges
4. is supervised by highly-trained and licensed mental healthcare providers

This spring, Dr. Werntz will teach MentorPRO Academy’s first Certificate in Therapeutic Mentoring course. To learn more and sign up, please visit MentorPRO Academy.

This article is available through open-access. To read more, please visit the journal’s website.