Cornerstones of Maine

Cornerstones of Maine was founded in 2015 by psychologists, Dr. Jacob Gelles and Dr. Joshua Altschule. Jake and Josh attended college and graduate school together and have been friends and colleagues for over 25 years. The Cornerstones of Maine program was a labor of love for Josh, who had been developing the program for over a decade before it was founded. Josh then enlisted Jake to join him as a partner in bringing the concept to life.

The inspiration behind Cornerstones of Maine emerged from the practices of Dr. Gelles and Dr. Altschule. Both of them had worked for many years with young adults and had noticed the growing epidemic of young adults feeling stuck in a state of inertia. They recognized that the traditional outpatient model of weekly psychotherapy was not an effective intervention for producing movement in these clients. Having been influenced by their experiences working in residential and in-patient work, Dr. Gelles and Dr. Altschule saw the power of milieu interventions and engaging clients in real-world experiences oriented towards achieving their own goals.