Clinical Psychologist and Juvenile Attorney Create New Approach to Counseling Youth.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) August 16, 2009 -- They met while working on a juvenile case. She was the youth’s attorney and he was the same youth’s psychologist. While working collaboratively they recognized how their respective roles in this case complimented each other. This experience not only resulted in them creating a life together as husband and wife, their union also provided the impetus for the marriage of their professional roles to help troubled youth.

Dr. Robert D. Lewis, Jr., clinical psychologist, Marion D. Rogers-Lewis, Esquire, juvenile attorney, have developed an innovative and unique program to reduce recidivism with recently adjudicated youth and to prevent at risk youth from becoming involved with the juvenile justice system.

This new approach is Psycho-Legal Counseling. Psycho-Legal Counseling involves the youth developing greater insight into their emotional needs and cognitions that drive their behaviors with a greater knowledge of the laws that directly impact them, explained Lewis.

“The ultimate objective,” said Lewis, “is to empower young people between the ages of 11 and 17 years through self-management skills, risk perception and the ability to calculate future consequences and collateral consequences.”

The Psycho-Legal Counseling approach was used to develop the Legal Peer Mentor Training Program, the first program of its kind in the country.
The Legal Peer Mentor Training Program is a six-week program that is specifically designed to meet the youth’s individual psychological needs and provide legal insight so the youth will have the knowledge, strategies and personal tools to identify and avoid problematic and illegal situations without the fear of retaliation or repercussions, according to Rogers-Lewis.
The program also trains the young people to become mentors so they can share this information with their peer to keep their peers from making bad decisions, she said.

“We are taking law and psychology in a new direction to help our youth,” said Rogers-Lewis.
The first graduating class of the program is Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009 at the Mercer County Court House in Trenton, NJ.
“Many on the kids that I represent make choices because they think they know the law,” said Rogers-Lewis, “ but that knowledge is often erroneous, or based on misguided advice and assumptions or they just didn’t know what they were doing was against the law.”
Dr. Lewis and Attorney Rogers-Lewis are now available for interviews. You may call them directly at 609-439-7951 to arrange a mutually convenient time for an interview.