Most people who land on this page have already tried the obvious things. Talked to friends. Read the books. Asked the family members who would understand. Maybe even tried therapy. There is still the private suspicion that everyone else has it figured out and you are the one running behind.
Mentor Counseling® is not therapy.
Therapists treat mental illness. They diagnose, they apply clinical labels, and they often work with medication. That work matters and saves lives. It is not what we do.
Mentor Counseling® is for teens and young adults who are overwhelmed, not mentally ill. The work focuses on building character, competence, and direction. There are no diagnoses, no clinical labels, and no treatment of mental illness. For most of our clients, this is the next step after therapy — or alongside it. It is rarely a replacement for it.
If a young adult is in crisis, our first step is always to refer to clinical care.
What Young Adult Life Coaching Is
Life coaching for young adults is professional guidance that helps people in their late teens and twenties build clarity, direction, and momentum during the years between school and a settled adult life. Also called young adult coaching, the work focuses on character, competence, and direction — not on diagnosing or treating mental illness.
At Evolution Mentoring, this happens through a proprietary methodology developed by Jeffrey Leiken, MA, in 1998. Sessions are virtual, last 50 to 60 minutes, and usually run weekly for the first three to six months.
How It Works?
Mentor Counseling combines life coaching, leadership development, and deep listening. Jeffrey Leiken developed the methodology in 1998 to address what psychologist Jeffrey Jensen Arnett later named “emerging adulthood” — the developmental period between 18 and the late twenties when identity work is still active but the structural supports of school, parents, and peer groups have receded.
The work is direction-focused. Sessions help clients name what they want, identify what is blocking it, and build the small consistent actions that move it forward. The methodology has been refined across more than 25 years of practice with clients in 17 countries.
What We Address
Most of our young-adult clients come to us during one of these moments — or several of them at once:
- Stalled momentum after college — when the structure that organized sixteen years of life ends and the next chapter doesn’t appear on its own.
- A job that doesn’t fit — taken because it was offered, kept because the alternative isn’t yet clear.
- Decision paralysis — too many defensible options, none of them yours yet. Grad school versus work, this coast versus that one, this relationship versus waiting.
- Identity work between roles — figuring out who you are now that you are not a student, and not yet whatever comes next.
- Communication with parents who still parent — renegotiating the relationship after you have moved out, started earning, and started making decisions they don’t agree with.
- Direction for the early-career years — what you want the next three to five years to build toward, even if you can’t yet name the destination.
Why Evolution Mentoring
The early-career years compound faster than they look. Time spent in the wrong role, the wrong city, or the wrong relationship sets patterns that carry into your thirties. Figuring it out alone is not the same as figuring it out well — the people who get traction in this window usually have a trusted adult outside their existing life who has worked through it with others before.
Jeffrey Leiken has worked as a life coach for young adults since 1998. Over more than 25 years of practice, the work has reached clients across 17 countries.
He holds an MA in Educational Counseling. He serves as adjunct faculty at the University of San Francisco. He has guest-lectured at Stanford. His TEDx talk on adolescent leadership and his book on the same subject both remain in circulation.
What Young Adults Commonly Report
Across three to six months of work, young-adult clients commonly report shifts like these — observed, not promised:
- Saying yes to opportunities you would have second-guessed, and saying no to ones you would have taken out of obligation.
- Bringing up a hard conversation with a parent, partner, or boss instead of avoiding it for another week.
- Closing the laptop at the end of the workday because the work is done, not because the day ran out.
- A clearer sense of what the next three to five years are for.
- Trust in your own judgment when the answer isn’t obvious.
The Process
Each engagement follows the same path:
- A 30-minute consultation to determine fit and recommend a plan.
- Weekly virtual sessions of 50 to 60 minutes for the first three to six months.
- Between-session access — you can reach out when the moment is hard, not only when the calendar says so.
- Quarterly review to recalibrate goals and adjust cadence as the work matures.
There is no obligation to continue if the first session is not the right fit.
If you are not ready to schedule yet, two no-friction next steps-
Read the Book
Jeff’s book distills 25+ years of practice into a framework for raising capable, grounded young adults.
Watch the TEDx Talk
Jeff’s TEDx talk on what it actually takes to mentor adolescents into capable adults.
About Jeffrey Leiken, MA
Jeffrey Leiken, MA, is the founder of Evolution Mentoring and the creator of Mentor Counseling® — a methodology developed since 1998 across more than 25 years of practice with teens and young adults.
He holds an MA in Educational Counseling, serves as adjunct faculty at the University of San Francisco, has guest-lectured at Stanford, delivered a TEDx talk on adolescent leadership, and published a book on the same subject. His work has reached clients across 17 countries. Sessions are virtual and available worldwide from his Marin County, California base.
Neighbourhoods we serve in California-
Neighbourhoods we serve in other US states-
- Chicago Teen Coaching
- Dallas Teen Coaching
- Houston Teen Coaching
- Jacksonville Teen Coaching
- Los Angeles Teen Coaching
- New York City Teen Coaching
- Philadelphia Teen Coaching
- Phoenix Teen Coaching
- San Antonio Teen Coaching
- San Diego Teen Coaching
- Austin Teen Coaching
- Fort Worth Teen Coaching
- San Jose Teen Coaching
- Columbus Teen Coaching
- Charlotte Teen Coaching
- Indianapolis Teen Coaching
- San Francisco Teen Coaching
- Seattle Teen Coaching
- Denver Teen Coaching
- Oklahoma City Teen Coaching
Schedule a Consultation for Young Adult Coaching
Jeff offers a consultation to learn about your family’s situation and determine whether this mentoring relationship is the right fit. There’s no pressure—just a chance to get real answers and explore a different path forward.