This document outlines the Breaking The Chains program, which aims to help teens overcome negative influences in their lives through mentorship and community involvement. The program involves a weekend retreat where teens process emotional issues, acknowledge their talents, and connect with mentors. Mentors then work with teens for 3 months, meeting weekly to set goals and participate in community outreach. The program focuses on helping teens recognize their value and find purpose to make positive life choices.

1. Breaking The Chains

2. Mission Statement ~ Breaking The Chains is committed to helpingindividuals recognize and gain freedom from thenegative chains that prevent them from living ahealthy and purposeful life. This will beaccomplished through professional mental healthservices partnered with intense committedmentorship and consistent community involvement.

4. Program Overview

5. Breaking The Chains is a program createdto help teens understand the outcome of theirchoices; exploring the difficulties in their lifethat are leading them to drinking, drugs,promiscuity, and other life threatening escapemethods.

6. When teens discover theirunique value and significance,they can begin to makepositive changes in their lives.

7. Our teens are encouraged to acknowledge their talents and passions and to direct their energy into something positive. We are challenging teens to invest in others and to never lose sight that they always have a choice to do what is right.

8. We have been working with teens for over 12years. The settings include teens in juvenile hall,social service system, group homes, schools,abroad in underdeveloped countries, family inhomeservices, and in private practice. We believenow, more then ever before that there is a crisis inour schools and communities across the nationand across the world.

9. After speaking with teens over many years,the one thing that bonds them with acommon theme is this; they do not feelthat they have a purpose now as teenagers,they are not valued, and have hurts andemotional scars that keep them stuck intheir negative cycles and patterns.

10. Breaking The Chains Therapist Rachel Clark hashelped develop a program, Choices andConsequences with the Superior Courts of OrangeCounty. The program has been running for 3 yearsand continues to grow. She speaks to thousands ofteens about their chains and what holds them backfrom releasing hidden pain and finding theirpurpose in life.

12. We have had an overwhelming response fromteens who want to continue these conversations. Through these conversationsover the years it is clearly evident that thepoor choices teens are making relate to pain,grief, loss, pressure, loss of connection, andnot feeling accepted.

13. While educating teens on theaffects of alcohol and drugs isimportant and the consequencesrelated to its use, the subjectmust go deeper, or we are justputting a band-aidon the realissues and the crises.

14. Why do teens drink and do drugs in thefirst place?If we start with this question, maybe we can begin to understand the interventions needed to resolve this national crisis. When teens begin to value their lives and realize that they can make a difference in their community, that they have a purpose, something begins to happen. We have see this first hand with the youth that wereach out to.

15. Our program will focus on the symbolism ofCHAINS…We all have them, low self-esteem,insecurity, anxiety, anger, depression,loneliness, addictions, grief, loss, trauma, lackof motivation, rejection, abandonment, andabuse.

16. The list goes on but the negative patterns,choices, and feelings do not have to. Thesechains keep us confined and restrained fromliving out healthy, productive, and purposefullives. Often we need to allow the negativemessages attached to our pain to be broken…set free. The pain is real but the messagesattached are not.

17. Thishealing Journey begins with Breaking The Chains weekend retreat.

19. The “emotional cleansing” retreats take place in different locations approximately 90 minutes outside LA. Here we will begin to uncover the hidden scars that our teens have carried for so many years.We will have creative bonding exercises, team challenges, and guide them to connect with each other…to know that they are not alone. We want to bring them back to a place of safety, acceptance, and to understand how very important their lives are…they are valuable and irreplaceable.

20. Each retreat will house 5 teenagers. The demographics of each retreat will lookdifferent at times. There will be an all male retreat, and all female, along withdifferent ages ranging from 13 to 22.Each teen will be paired up with a mentor. The ages of the mentors will vary.Mentors will always be over the age of 21. Mentors will be the same sex as theirmentees.Licensed Therapist directs all therapeutic interventions, closely monitoringthe emotional needs of the teens(mentees) while our Mentor Directoractively guides the mentors in building relationships with their newmentees. Our mentors will give consistent support and will help cultivatea safe and non-judgmental atmosphere for our mentees.Mentors will role-model vulnerability, honesty, responsibility, andpositive communication skills sharing their life struggles and how theywere able to overcome various difficulties in their lives.Various challenges throughout the weekend led by Therapist and MentorDirector will focus on the mentees talents and passions, allowing thementors to have the groundwork laid out before leaving the retreat.

21. The retreat will last for 2 nights and 3 days, beginning Fridayafternoon and ending Sunday afternoon.There will be 2 individual therapy sessions within the 3 days,along with 2 group healing circles each day. Each healingcircle will together cover all aspects of the CHAIN:Processing aboutChoices and Consequences, past andpresent. Hiding Scars (focusing on emotional issues that arecausing negative choices).Acknowledging talents and passions and using them toreach out into their communities,investingin others, in lieuof drinking, drugs. and making choices that result in negativeconsequences.Teaching mentees to Never lose sight of their potential andpurpose in life.

22. Retreat Aftercare

23. The mentors will continue on with our mentees for aminimum of three months. They will be out in thecommunity with them, role modeling, sharing their ownpersonal stories of pain and purpose, and connectingthem to the right resources to develop what has beenlying dormant inside of them for so long.There will be specific goals set weekly for each mentee.These goals will be directed by the mentee, however theentire Breaking The Chains team will help develop thethree month plan, which includes mentor, mentee,mentor director, and therapist.

24. Each teen will meet with their mentor one timea week for a minimum of 2 hours. Mentors willbe required to make additional contacts withtheir teens 2 times a week via telephone.Teens will meet with licensed therapistindividually once a week. If teen already has atherapist, this will not be required. BreakingThe Chains Therapist will need consent formsto communicate with the teens therapist tocollaborate on their treatment plan.

25. Each mentor will meet with mentor directoronce a week to receive coaching, training,feedback, and support. This will allow ourmentors to equip themselves for the possiblechallenges and obstacles they may face withtheir teens.Many mentors “burn out” due to lack ofsupport and guidance. Teens are the oneswho ultimately suffer from this, disappointedby yet another person in their life. Ourprogram takes this seriously and every effort ismade to keep our mentors encouraged,focused, and mentally/physically energized.

26. Our Mentor Director Ken Henry, will oversee the mentors during thethree month time period. He is determined to raise up mentors acrossthe nation, instilling hope again in the lives of our teens and theirfamilies. His experience includes supervising group homes ofdevelopmentally delayed teens, working one on one with at riskteens, and facilitating the care and treatment of emotionallyand abused teens. Ken is currently doing mental health and casemanagement work with former foster young adults. Over the last twoyears Ken has been an active mentor for at risk teen boys at theSunburst Youth Academy, ran by the National Guards in SouthernCalifornia. He is dedicating his life's energy to helping troubled teensgain direction and purpose in their lives.

28. HEALING CIRCLESCONTINUEEvery 2 weeks the entire group including mentors, mentees, mentor director, andtherapist will meet for a 75 min. long healing circle. This healing circle will be led by alicensed therapist These group healing circles will focus on the following:Overall Breaking The Chains process: what negative choices are they still making, and the positive choices they are making. Checking in with the teens emotionally (scars), continuing to explore and develop their talents and passions, planning outreaches and helping our teens find tangible ways to invest in others around them

29. Develop skills to connect with other peers in positive ways through self-empowerment exercises.

30. Struggles that mentors or mentees are having on their journey together

31. Group challenges that focus on communication, respect, and responsibility.

32. There will be one uniquely designed challenge surprise in the community during the last month of the program. This will be directed towards showing our teens how far they have come through a meaningful and challenging experience.

33. Assessments of the teen’s progress throughout the journey, Feedback will be given by mentors, mentor director, therapist, and most importantly the mentees (peer feedback is one of the most powerful tools in our healing circles)

34. Keeping the group motivated through connection and support.There will be an outreach once a month withthe entire group (mentors, mentees, mentordirector, and therapist). These teens willutilize their talents and passions in specificways to help others in the community. This isone of the most important aspects of BreakingThe Chains. Through outreach they can beginto find significance and purpose from within.

36. Program Time Ends…Their Life Journey Begins