Guideway is Support for young men with special needs.

There are those who do well with going to an office and talking about their emotions. Some can’t stand that kind of interaction, much less benefit from it. It is my personal experience that young guys need more than didactic and process therapy– they need activity. The voice of a caring, positive male role model can have great power in a young man’s life.

There is just no comparison between sitting in an office and sitting by a lake fishing. Guys often just need a distraction, something engaging to do while working things out. In the suburbs of Chicago, its not unusual for young men in their twenties to be stuck at home in their room playing video games all day. Sometimes the best therapy can simply start with leaving the house to go explore the outdoors, or even just see a movie together.

Guideway was established because there are lots of supports and services for teen boys, but once they reach a certain age (18? 22?) there is little help out there. Guideway is meant to be that personal support that is missing from lives that have not been able to build meaningful relationships outside of family. Therapy still takes place. Goals are set. Family dynamics are worked on. However, these things (and much more) go on in the background of a activity-based mentoring relationship. This mentoring relationship instills confidence that has been shown to be revolutionary in the step that these young men take toward branching out into other social connections.