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Labyrinth Center's mission is to assist in guiding youth and adults through the overall process of adolescence. It is also our intention to help "wake up" the adults in modern society to the myriad of culturally induced problems negatively affecting our children.
Labyrinth Center will take a broad and creative approach to the adolescent process. We will offer a full range of programs and services intended to work the Prevention-Intervention-Treatment spectrum, remembering that Prevention is always the best approach. Similarly, while Labyrinth Center will certainly help with Symptoms of adolescent problems, we will also focus strongly on working the Causes of adolescent issues.
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Bret Stephenson M.A.,
is the author of From Boys to Men:
Spiritual Rites of Passage in an Indulgent Age. He has been a counselor
of at-risk and high-risk adolescents for more nineteen years. Bret has worked
in residential treatment, clinical counseling agencies, group homes, private
counseling, foster parent training, Independent Living Program, and managed
mentoring and tutoring programs. He has been a presenter and speaker at numerous
national and international conferences and workshops, including the International
Transpersonal Association's Youth Conferences in America and Ireland, the
United Nations World Peace Festival, and the World Children’s Summit.
Presentations at the Association of Transpersonal Psychology's annual conferences
have included Transpersonal Approaches to Working with High-Risk Youth, and
Western Adolescence: Shadow of the Patriarchy. He has been a presenter at
multiple California State Foster Parent Association conferences as well as
the Indiana Foster Care annual conference, and is a Global Program Faculty
Mentor for the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. As a men's group facilitator,
he has also led workshops in the U.S. as well as Switzerland.
Bret was recently Director of Special Projects for Foster/Kinship Care Education
and the Independent Living Program at Lake Tahoe Community College for five
years. He has been pioneering the use of Internet based systems intended to
deliver distance education classes for rural providers and group home staff,
and recently launched a teen web project through the Independent Living Program
in which the web content and construction of the web page was completed by
ILP teens only. He is currently also working with the California Conservation
Corps, providing anger management training and case management, as well as
counseling and job-coaching for the Department of Rehabilitation.
Bret is currently working with the Community College Foundation’s ESTEP
(Early Start to Emancipation Program) in Sacramento to design and build interactive,
digital curriculum for foster youth. This model may also lead into a distance
education model for rural foster youth. In June 2004, Bret once again headed
the teen module of the International Transpersonal Association's Youth Conference
in Palm Springs. In July 2005 he will be heading the teen component for the
Institute of Noetic Sciences’ first Youth Conference in Washington DC.
Bret is the founder and Executive Director of Labyrinth Center, a nonprofit
organization dedicated to adolescent services and programs. Bret and Labyrinth
Center are trying to launch a teen based employment project to help provide
affordable landscaping for new Lake Tahoe environmental standards. In addition,
Labyrinth Center is working on creating student-run businesses to help make
"irresponsible" teens into responsible adults.
To view Bret's
personal web site, The Adolescent Mind, click here: 
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Shari A. Young
has been actively involved in the field of education for the last seven years.
In 1997 she developed and implemented her own tutoring business Just S.A.Y.
Tutor. She also volunteered her tutoring services to the clients of Tahoe
Youth & Family Services, a local adolescent counseling agency. In 1998
Tahoe Youth & Family Services nominated Shari for El Dorado County Professional
Volunteer of the Year.
In November 1998, Shari was approached by Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC)
to serve as an adjunct instructor. Her first two years were spent providing
employment skills for Welfare-to-Work recipients. After the first year, Shari
was hired as the Program Assistant to the Director of Workforce Preparation
at LTCC. During this time, Shari was given the additional responsibility of
program manager for an educational course taught in El Dorado County (EDC)
jail. This was the first co-ed collegiate course to be taught inside the correctional
facility. In addition to providing instruction, Shari developed the curriculum
and worked closely with EDC jail management. She managed this program for
two years, in addition to continuing her private tutoring business.
In 2000 Shari became an Independent living Program (ILP) instructor, providing
transitional living skills to foster and group home youth through LTCC. Within
a year, she identified and proposed a vocational need and was awarded a $4000
grant to deliver culinary arts classes for ILP students. Six months later
she became the Director of ILP at Lake Tahoe Community College while continuing
to be an adjunct instructor. In early 2004, Lake Tahoe Community College discontinued
the ILP program.
Two years ago, Shari was approached by the California Conservation Corps (CCC)
to develop and provide academic classes for their organization. Initially,
these classes were conducted through Lake Tahoe Community College. When the
budget crisis forced cancellation, Shari continued providing instruction on
a volunteer basis. The CCC director then offered Shari a state government
contract to receive monetary compensation for this service. This contract
was renewed for the 2004 – 2005 fiscal year, including a rate increase
and additional hours to develop and expand this academic employment program.
In January 2003, Shari was invited to be a guest speaker at Soroptimist International
of Tahoe Sierra. This club’s mission is to strengthen and enhance youth
and women in all facets of their lives by providing the tools necessary for
them to become contributing human beings. In March 2003, Shari was inducted
into the club. In March 2004, Shari was asked to accept the nomination for
Vice President of the club. She accepted and now serves on the 2004 –
2005 Board of Directors for Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra.
In September 2003, Shari was approached about becoming a Court-Appointed Special
Advocate (CASA) in the El Dorado County judicial system. In this volunteer
position, a CASA assists children of all ages through the court system proceedings
and is primarily responsible for determining what course of action is in the
best interest of the child. Shari successfully completed the CASA training
and is currently handling two cases.
A year ago Shari and her colleague Bret Stephenson formed Labyrinth Center.
Labyrinth Center is a non-profit corporation dedicated to providing adolescent-based
services, programs and trainings. Shari is currently focusing on fundraising
options in addition to her continued responsibilities as Career Development
Director of CCC, CASA for El Dorado County, and board member of Soroptimist
International of Tahoe Sierra.
Labyrinth Center
3386 South Upper Truckee Road
South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
530.577.6920
530.577.8415 fax
Last Updated May 5, 2007