[Special Topic: Youth Counseling] Immobile, Slowly Moving, Moving Forward: Youth in Transition

The author uses clinical examples to epitomize developmental “stuckness ” during adolescence, noting struggles of pupils along a continuum of ability level, circumstance, and socioeconomic status, including gifted individuals. By regularly using a developmental template, counselors may ascertain which tasks are contributing to presenting issues. Just as with individual counseling, counselors who convey nonjudgmental, respectful attention, and a one-down posture in development-oriented small-group work can help adolescents move forward. In the United States, and probably in many other developed nations as well, there are few or no clear rituals for children and adolescents to mark entry into new levels or stages of development. There are indeed legal markers of entrance into adulthood, as well as sociological and psychological, but generally the transition is not clear-cut. Adolescenc