Why I want to support young men

My 24 year old younger brother told me last week that two adult women on different occasions had asked if he was doing okay and what it's like to be a young man today. One of whom was a complete stranger to him. The following day, he received a copy of a NY Times article from June 2025 titled,

 

"No Home, No Retirement, No Kids: How Gen Z-ers See Their Future."

 

This is just one of the many indicators that youth are facing exceptional challenges. Yet, just as any generation before them, young people are ripe with brilliance and potential for growth. However, when the social and cultural field they live within is largely distracted, scared, and numb, it can be paralyzing to consider reaching for aspirations or doing what it might take to grow into their gifts which are surely awaiting their discovery and refinement.

 

Young men may need support in facing:

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1. Social isolation and difficulty forming deep friendships

2. Pressure to succeed without clear pathways or role models

3. Mental health struggles (anxiety, depression, purposelessness)

4. Addiction to screens/gaming/pornography

5. Confusion about healthy masculinity and their role in the world

6. Economic uncertainty and delayed life milestones

7. Disconnection from their bodies, emotions, and natural rhythms

8. Difficulty receiving help from family members, even if parents & close family offer excellent guidance or tools

9. Need for mentor figures detached from the family dynamic who can provide safety for honest reflection & change

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It takes a village to raise a man.

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My goal is to support young men in their journey of manhood. To become men who know their gifts and feel equipped to give back to their communities. This kind of mentorship fills a crucial gap that families alone often cannot provide, no matter how loving and supportive they are.

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About me​

I’m Joshua Glass. I've been an older brother for most of my life. My close relationship with my younger brother gave me early insight into both the challenges of growing up and the value of having a relationship with a mentor who has charted a bit more time and life experience.

 

Still under 30, I’m walking the edge of polishing my own gifts and stepping into full adulthood. This allows me to meet young men as a near-peer, not someone distant or abstract, while also drawing on years of lived experience, international and multicultural living, and ongoing work and training to know myself in relation to the world more deeply.

 

My mentors have drastically supported my journey and provided me with  invaluable clues and guidance for facing life’s questions.

 

 

What mentoring offers

What I provide:

• A consistent, non-judgmental relationship focused on your growth

• Safe space to explore questions, feelings, challenges, and possibilities

• Nature-based practices that support self-awareness and grounding

• Thoughtful questions that help you discover your own answers

• Someone who's navigated similar challenges and can share perspective when helpful

 

What’s possible:

• Greater clarity about your own thoughts, feelings, and patterns

• Increased comfort with uncertainty and life transitions

• Deeper connection to your own wisdom and intuition

• Experience of being truly heard and witnessed

• Access to tools and practices you can use independently

 

What mentoring is not:

• A replacement for therapy—I am a mentor, not a licensed therapist

• Quick fixes

• Solutions to all your problems

• Always comfortable or easy

 

Meaningful change takes time and comes from within. My role is to create the conditions where your own growth and insight can emerge.

 

Relevant qualifications

• Nature Connection Depth Mentoring Foundation — Twin Eagles Wilderness School (TEWS)

• Assistant guide for Earth-based Boys Rite of Passage (TEWS, 3 years)

• Leading in-person deep nature connection programs for youth, adults, and families

 

• Led boys’ circles and mentored families in Father-Son Wilderness Program (TEWS)

• Facilitated teen camps and overnight nature-based teen experiences

 

• Extensive experience in intentional community living and land-based practices (10 years, farming, reforestation, dynamic governance)

• Daily personal practices of movement, mindfulness, and conscious emotional awareness

• Personal experience with non-family mentors since childhood, giving insight into the transformative mentor-mentee relationship

 

• I continue to receive mentorship from experienced practitioners to refine my work with youth and young men

 

• Bachelor’s degree Interdisciplinary Arts, focus on Social Design and Community Building, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences

 

A nature-based approach

• Thoughtful inquiry and dialogue are guided by the 8 Shields model, the Art of Questioning, and conscious feeling. These conversations help young men reflect, gain clarity, and access their own wisdom.

• Balancing challenge and support by working at the edge between comfort and overwhelm, stretching capacity while maintaining a steady, safe ground.

• Sensory awareness and deeper listening practices bring attention to signals from the body and surroundings to strengthen intuition, foster self-awareness, and support decision-making in daily life.

 

Let’s meet where you are now and go from there. You may be totally uncomfortable outdoors or a skilled woodsman. Either way, you can benefit from mentoring.

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A “nature-based” approach means drawing on natural cycles and direct experience outdoors as a source of guidance. The ecosystem itself becomes a mentor, offering insights that connect back to your own life. Research shows even small amounts of nature exposure support wellness — so the approach is less about wilderness adventure and more about the grounding, clarity, and perspective nature provides.

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Format

Time & Place:

• Remote mentoring via video or audio call year-round from anywhere.

  • Weather-permitting, mentor and mentee agree to attend the call from an outdoor location. with as many natural elements as possible.  Walking, wandering and sitting may be invited. 

• In-person mentoring available in Sintra, Portugal (where I'm primarily based) and New England (1-2+ months annually).

• Session Lengths: 1on1 sessions are 60–90 minutes. Small group sessions (3–4 people) are 90–120 minutes.

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In-Person Immersions:

• Overnight wilderness immersion experiences offered periodically for committed mentees (those with 2+ sessions completed). These group youth experiences include solo reflection time, practical wilderness skills, adventure challenges, and extended digital detox. Designed to deepen nature connection and self-awareness through immersive experience. These experiences are carefully guided, with safety and support prioritized throughout.

 

Step by Step Process:

1. Initial free consultation with young man (and parents for minors) to explore fit.

2. Two, 1on1 trial sessions to start. Once or more per week.

3. Extend to 1on1 or Small Group sessions in 3-session bundles or conclude based on mutual assessment.

4. For the first 3 sessions after trial sessions, meetings will be bi-weekly or more frequent.

5. Consider joining an in-person wilderness immersion.

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Commitment & pricing

Pay what you can within range: I offer a sliding scale so this work is accessible across different economies.

 

Higher-income conditions:

→ 2 Trial sessions (1on1 after free consultation)

• €70–130 total [$80–150 USD]

→ 3-Session bundle:

• 1on1: €140–210 total [$160–240 USD]

• Group: €90–130/person total [$100–150 USD]

 

Lower-income conditions:

→ 2 Trial sessions (1on1 after free consultation)

• €50–105 total [$60–120 USD]

→ 3-Session bundle

• 1on1: €80–165 total [$90–190 USD]

• Group: €60–90/person total [$70–100 USD]

 

How to Choose?

• If you live in a higher-income country or are financially comfortable, please choose prices from "Higher-income conditions".

• If you live in a lower-income country or your financial situation is more limited, choose from "Lower-income conditions".

• Either way, select a rate that feels generous yet sustainable.

 

*These are founders’ rates. Prices may increase by 15-20% after 12 sessions (across all mentees, not per person). 

 

→Next step

If this resonates, send me a private message about what you’re seeking or curious about. We’ll then schedule a free consultation call to explore fit.
 

→ joshua.emerson.glass@proton.me

 

A note from a young man:

“We live in a confusing and difficult time, especially for young people. Many of us feel like there’s no future — we were promised one, but it didn’t arrive. Most people don’t recognize the grief this creates. “Why aren’t you in college? Why aren’t you living on your own?” 

 

Many young people are unhappy. Social media makes it worse — addictive algorithms push comparison, hyper-competitiveness, and toxic-individualism. Men are incredibly lost, with healthy examples of masculinity being near-impossible to find and with the vast majority of our current culture’s role models being terrible examples. Therapy is great, but you also need a vibrant community, guidance from other mentors and a true connection to nature.

 

What I value about this mentoring approach is having someone give you their full attention in pure service to your growth. A clean slate outside of family and friend dynamics to support me as I navigate life. I’m especially drawn to the nature-based approach, though I’m least familiar with it. Any support to get off the screen and connect with “the real world” is so valuable to me. This work meets a real need for guidance, connection, and clarity in a modern world that is designed to be, and often feels, overwhelming.” — Caleb, 24