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To visit David Oldfield's Midway Center site, click above
The Journey, developed by David Oldfield, is my favorite tool for working with adolescents. I believe David to be one of the top thinkers regarding adolescents in this country. A psycho-educational program of creative and expressive exercises, The Journey is built around a five-part, mythologically flavored guided imagery specifically built for teens. The Journey is designed to help teenagers tap their imaginations to better understand themselves. The full program, which takes 40 hours to complete, draws on mythology and ancient rites of passage to involve young people on a symbolic adventure as they confront the "necessary crises of adolescence."
Before he died, mythology expert Joseph Campbell remarked that while a rite of passage may be physically manifested in some action or form, it is still an internal journey or decision that prompts the action. Thus, the Journey is the best tool I've found for helping youth go inward to "slay their own dragons," which might be manifesting in drug abuse, violence, withdrawal, self-sabotage, etc.
The Journey can be scaled down in time to fit most needs. The five imageries take about an hour each, including artwork afterward. Exercises built into the Journey include mask-making, story telling, and a number of exercises geared to help teens express themselves and risk emotionally in a safe environment.
For information on having the Journey taught in your area, please contact Bret Stephenson.
All Journey material and content are the copyrighted property of:
David Oldfield
The Midway Center for Creative Imagination
2112 F St., NW, Suite 404
Washington, DC 20037
202-296-4466
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Last Updated October 1, 2003