ABSTRACT
I was facilitating a rock climbing experience with a group of adolescent “at risk” males. After a slightly unsettled beginning, things progressed quite well where the young men began to choose to participate in the challenges and risks they were taking with positive group support. At midday we decided to take a break for lunch and a couple of the young men asked me why I would spend my day taking them rock climbing and what were some of the thoughts behind our endeavors. One of the things I mentioned was that there was a psychologist by the name of Maslow who thought such experiences were very important for your belief in yourself. He also mentioned that when everything “came together” for a person he often would call that a “peak experience.” I also said some of Maslow’s followers believed that the average person would have about six or seven such peak experiences in their life. One young man from the group who had been particularly quiet up until now quickly sat up and stated, “Well if you are only supposed to have six or seven of these type of experiences in your life I have to slow down! I’ve already had three or four and I don’t want to use them all up.”
