The Relational Thread

Mentoring in Child and Youth Care Practice

1st Edition

Editors:  John Digney PhD and Heather Modlin, PhD

ISBN 978-1-7764578-7-8
Published: 2025
Pages: 200

As I read the passages, I reflected on my own growth and the relationships that shaped me, and my heart was warmed by the power of genuine human connection.
Mark Strother - Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Cal Farley's, USA

The book will be a valuable resource to all those who work with people in human services and leadership development and inspires a growth mindset.
Rosarii Mannion - National Director People and Change, Tusla, Ireland

The authors and contributors bring an unprecedented wealth of history and experiences in our field with the unbreakable common thread being the immense value of relationships.
Kari Sisson - Executive Director, ACRC, USA

Woven through this book are narratives and themes that speak directly to many if not all of the fundamental principles of relational practice.
Shane Murdoch - Director, TransformOutcomes, New Zealand

This book encouraged me to reflect on my own journey and experience in mentorship; both as a practitioner and as a leader considering how to strengthen mentoring within my own organization.
Renee Piercey - Executive Director, Waypoints Inc., St Johns, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada

... we learn [what mentoring] is and what it isn't, how it usually develops organically rather than in a planned way, and how it is a gift that keeps on giving, helping equip the next generation of child and youth care workers.
Simon Walsh - CEO, Allambi Care, New South Wales, Australia

We need tradition – we stand on the shoulders of giants. Many of those giants, along with their ideas, grace these pages. They tell the story of where we have come from and why that is important. They lay down solid foundations for the field.
Mark Smith - Professor of Social Work, School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Division of Education and Society, University of Dundee, Scotland

This book does not set out to define the concept of 'mentoring,' but to demonstrate that mentoring may first be a feeling experienced by the mentee, and that mentorship follows as the process. It was fascinating to read about the deep intimacies woven throughout the relationships in these chapters. Many of the relationships described felt not only helpful but, in some cases, therapeutic (though not in the clinical sense).
Ernie Hilton - Executive Director, HomeBridge Youth Society, Nova Scotia, Canada

These stories serve as a record of our field, preserving the lived experiences and reflective moments that too often pass quietly between us. It reminds us that Child and Youth Care has always been about relationship at its core, and that through those connections we keep learning, again and again about who we are and how we grow together in this practice.
Joanne Fraser - CYC Faculty, Nova Scotia Community College, Nova Scotia, Canada

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