We Can Help Your Son Become Happier & More Resilient
Wilderness Adventure Camp
Young Men’s
Ultimate Weekend
YMUW has graduated thousands of young men - just like your son - who are now better prepared for the challenges of the Young adult world
Friday - Sunday June 20th - 22nd, 2025
Eco-Camp, Lake Berryessa, Napa CA
(7850 Berryessa Knoxville Rd, Napa, CA 94558)
We Can Help Your Son Become Happier & More Resilient
Wilderness Adventure Camp
Young Men’s
Ultimate Weekend
YMUW has graduated thousands of young men - just like your son - who are now better prepared for the challenges of the Young adult world
Friday - Sunday
June 20th - 22nd, 2025
Eco-Camp, Lake Berryessa, Napa CA
(7850 Berryessa Knoxville Rd, Napa, CA 94558)
YMUW Was Featured on
CNN's Award Winning Show
"This is Life with Lisa Ling"
Overcome The Outside Forces That May Be Limiting Your Parenting Effectiveness
Workshop
Raising Your Teenage Son to Be
Happy, Responsible & Resilient
Without
Nagging, Yelling or Punishing
How to Activate Your Son’s Masculine Wisdom So That
He Becomes Capable of Handling the Challenges
of The Young Adult World
Friday-Sunday, August 23-25, 2019
Larkspur Hotel
550 West Hamilton Ave
Campbell, CA 95008
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e
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“My teen son was verbally aggressive, giving me the finger and thinking he did not have to do anything he didn’t want to. This behavior has largely disappeared, being replaced with cooperation and increasing personal responsibility. He has become open and caring.”
Alla Wood
“My son, Erik, is now 21 and proudly serving in the USAF - a confident, articulate, young man. Our whole family benefited from Erik's experience. I recommend YMUW to any young man who is entering manhood with uncertainty, apathy and fear about his future. The YMUW can help him determine his own compass for an Ultimate life!”
Susan Small
This is Sample Test Only
This more Sample Text, Young Men’s Ultimate Weekend, has helped thousands of our young men - just like your son - successfully launch into adulthood. With the unwavering support of hundreds of devoted volunteers, YMUW has helped young men of all social, economic, academic or athletic backgrounds, become more responsible for their own well-being.
“My teen son was verbally aggressive, giving me the finger and thinking he did not have to do anything he didn’t want to. This behavior has largely disappeared, being replaced with cooperation and increasing personal responsibility. He has become open and caring.”
Alla Wood
“My son, Erik, is now 21 and proudly serving in the USAF - a confident, articulate, young man. Our whole family benefited from Erik's experience. I recommend YMUW to any young man who is entering manhood with uncertainty, apathy and fear about his future. The YMUW can help him determine his own compass for an Ultimate life!”
Susan Small
This is Sample Test Only
This more Sample Text, Young Men’s Ultimate Weekend, has helped thousands of our young men - just like your son - successfully launch into adulthood. With the unwavering support of hundreds of devoted volunteers, YMUW has helped young men of all social, economic, academic or athletic backgrounds, become more responsible for their own well-being.
What Happens at The Young Men’s Ultimate Weekend?
Since 2000, the Bay Area non-profit, Young Men’s Ultimate Weekend (YMUW), has helped thousands of our young men - just like your son - successfully launch into young adulthood. With the unwavering support of hundreds of devoted volunteers, YMUW has helped young men of all social, economic, academic and athletic backgrounds become more responsible for their own well-being.
By combining fun, recreational activities with training that builds confidence, accountability and resiliency, the YMUW wilderness adventure camp helps your son learn how to accept life on its terms while also passionately pursuing his own life’s ambitions.
Using physical, mental, and emotional challenges, the YMUW is designed to stimulate all of the parts of the brain that adolescent young men must develop. The YMUW agenda provides experiential learning so that young men can increase their ability to solve problems, work cooperatively with others, calm their minds quickly and make thoughtful decisions - all while having fun.
Because our sons spend too much time in the constant participation and instant gratification that their digital devices provide, their natural biological urge to move into the adult world is being stunted. Away from these distractions, the YMUW gives young men, ages 13 - 20, opportunities to connect with their healthy masculine wisdom and then channel their energy while engaging in activities such as these:
- Making hip hop beats
- Conquering an obstacle course
- Playing sports
-
Participating in a sweat lodge
-
Learning martial arts
-
Practicing yoga
- Working cooperatively in teams
- Managing stress
- Releasing anxiety
-
Overcoming fears
-
Building emotional intelligence
- Having lots of fun
- Making hip hop beats
- Conquering an obstacle course
- Playing sports
-
Water Activities
-
Learning martial arts & yoga
-
Developing leadership skills
-
Sweat Lodge
- Working cooperatively in teams
- Managing stress & anxiety
- Releasing anger safely
-
Overcoming fears
-
Building emotional intelligence
- Having lots of fun
- Making hip hop beats
- Conquering an obstacle course
- Playing sports
-
Participating in a sweat lodge
-
Learning martial arts
-
Practicing yoga
- Working cooperatively in teams
- Managing stress
- Releasing anxiety
-
Overcoming fears
-
Building emotional intelligence
- Having lots of fun
What Happens at
The Young Men’s Ultimate Weekend?
Since 2000, the Bay Area non-profit, Young Men’s Ultimate Weekend, has helped thousands of our young men - just like your son - successfully launch into young adulthood. With the unwavering support of hundreds of devoted volunteers, YMUW has helped young men of all social, economic, academic and athletic backgrounds become more responsible for their own well-being.
By combining fun, recreational activities with training that builds confidence, accountability and resiliency, the YMUW wilderness adventure camp helps your son learn how to accept life on its terms while also passionately pursuing his own life’s ambitions.
Using physical, mental, and emotional challenges, the YMUW is designed to stimulate all of the parts of the brain that adolescent young men must develop. The YMUW agenda provides experiential learning so that young men can increase their ability to solve problems, work cooperatively with others, calm their minds quickly and make thoughtful decisions - all while having fun.
Because our sons spend too much time in the constant participation and instant gratification that their digital devices provide, their natural biological urge to move into the adult world is being stunted. Away from these distractions, the YMUW gives young men, ages 13 - 20, opportunities to connect with their healthy masculine wisdom and then channel their energy while engaging in these activities:
- Making hip hop beats
- Conquering an obstacle course
- Playing sports
-
Water Activities
-
Learning martial arts
-
Practicing yoga
- Working cooperatively in teams
- Managing stress
- Releasing anxiety
-
Overcoming fears
-
Building emotional intelligence
- Having lots of fun
Graduate
Graduate
Volunteer
Nick B.– YMUW Graduate
Ryan A. – YMUW Graduate
Graduate
Graduate
Volunteer
“Everything I do revolves around the values gained from the YMUW. Today, my life is about what I can do for others. I have helped produce six Weekends and mentor young men daily."
Nick B.– YMUW Graduate
“I have learned what it means to be a balanced young man who contributes to society and how to keep learning to expand my world. Thank you YMUW and the men that give their time to it!”
Ryan A. – YMUW Graduate
It's Not Your Fault - That It's Harder Than Ever To Raise Your Son
For hundreds of thousands of years, parents had the help of community mentors to challenge, or arouse, our sons to discover, develop and master their healthy masculine wisdom.
This initiated the process for the sons to channel their energy into important physical and mental skills – skills that the clan needed, skills that were necessary for the tribe to survive and thrive.
Now, we live in a culture that makes it harder than ever for parents to best guide our sons as they navigate through the distractions of the information highway, in the form of digital dominance, social media, consumer commercialism.
Our sons are good kids but they’re at historically high risk for anxiety, irresponsibility, feeling entitled, struggling in school, disrespectful behaviors or succumbing to drug, alcohol or digital addiction.
It Takes a Village to Raise Your Son
Dr. Mark at Parent Workshop
Village of Parents
Dr. Mark Handling The Toughest Issues
What’s The Workshop Like?
- To build self-respect by being true to themselves (authenticity) Bullets For this section
- To share their physical and mental talents with their family (reciprocity)
- To keep themselves and their community safe and productive (responsibility)
Our ratio of approximately one mentor to one young man, exceeds the guidelines put forth by the California Mentoring Foundation.
In one transformational, “rite of passage” weekend, our mentors provide a safe setting for your son to reduce his anxiety about adulthood, develop leadership skills, practice cooperating with others, become more resilient and have outrageous fun.
The YMUW is an experiential personal growth retreat that provides your son with a village of trained mentors who are in touch with their biological obligation to continue the tradition of teaching young men their primary purposes:
- To build self-respect by being true to themselves (authenticity)
- To share their physical and mental talents with their family (reciprocity)
- To keep themselves and their community safe and productive (responsibility)
Our ratio of approximately one mentor to one young man, exceeds the guidelines put forth by the California Mentoring Foundation.
In one transformational, “rite of passage” weekend, our mentors provide a safe setting for your son to reduce his anxiety about adulthood, develop leadership skills, practice cooperating with others, become more resilient and have outrageous fun.
BONUS
When you register for the workshop
you’ll receive my free report,
“The Secret for Helping Your Son Become More Mature and Independent
Without Anger or Anxiety”
It Takes a Village to Raise Your Son
Dr. Mark at Parent Workshop
Village of Parents
Dr. Mark Handling The Toughest Issues
What’s The Workshop Like?
- To build self-respect by being true to themselves (authenticity) Bullets For this section
- To share their physical and mental talents with their family (reciprocity)
- To keep themselves and their community safe and productive (responsibility)
Our ratio of approximately one mentor to one young man, exceeds the guidelines put forth by the California Mentoring Foundation.
In one transformational, “rite of passage” weekend, our mentors provide a safe setting for your son to reduce his anxiety about adulthood, develop leadership skills, practice cooperating with others, become more resilient and have outrageous fun.
The YMUW is an experiential personal growth retreat that provides your son with a village of trained mentors who are in touch with their biological obligation to continue the tradition of teaching young men their primary purposes:
- To build self-respect by being true to themselves (authenticity)
- To share their physical and mental talents with their family (reciprocity)
- To keep themselves and their community safe and productive (responsibility)
Our ratio of approximately one mentor to one young man, exceeds the guidelines put forth by the California Mentoring Foundation.
In one transformational, “rite of passage” weekend, our mentors provide a safe setting for your son to reduce his anxiety about adulthood, develop leadership skills, practice cooperating with others, become more resilient and have outrageous fun.
BONUS
When you register for the workshop
you’ll receive my free report,
“The Secret for Helping Your Son Become More Mature and Independent
Without Anger or Anxiety”
Mother
Graduate
Volunteer
“My son did the Weekend when he was 16 and it changed his life. He now has and honors a family of his own.”
Lori Murray
Mostly what I sensed was a lightness of heart, as though a weight had been lifted from him. I wanted to say thank you. There is a great need for your work and effort.”
Suzanne Patrikus
“My son attending this Weekend was the best decision I have ever made AND stood by! It is absolutely amazing what the YMUW does in two nights to change the lives of these young men.”
Joyce Wong Calvi
“We should be investing in male rites of passage like this one to grow healthy young men. Mark Schillinger and his team are doing great work…in the Bay Area.
Everado Pedraza
The Ultimate Parent Weekend
CNN's Lisa Ling with Dr. Mark
“The parent rite of passage taught us parenting skills that need to be used in today’s current world in which our sons are growing up in. It takes a community to raise a teen and Mark will guide you how to make it happen for you.”
Brad Brown, Father
“The parent rite of passage exceeded my expectations and the information and techniques at the workshop were practical. I especially enjoyed connecting with other parents and realizing that I’m not on this parenting journey alone.”
Marie Gaffney, Mother
Learn How To Mentor Your Son So The Lessons He Learns At The YMUW Becomes Permanent
While your son is attending the YMUW, we highly recommend that all parents participate in a live event and on an online course. These two activities have helped parents just like you enjoy more caring and cooperative relationships with their spouse and son.
1. Ultimate Parent Weekend - an in-person rite of passage for parents which will initiate you into a new, more effective way of parenting your son. This rare, live event will show you how to masterfully mentor your son so that he can calmly, clearly and confidently handle his transition from boyhood to adulthood.
2. Online Course - a course that will teach you how to more effectively use your authority and influence with your son in a way that minimizes conflict and maximizes cooperation. You’ll learn a new method of parenting teens that will foster the healthy development of your son’s emotional intelligence, whether your son is an extrovert or introvert, over-empowered or under-driven, overconfident or unwilling, entitled or indifferent.
Motivate Your Son More Effectively - Without Nagging or Yelling
The in-person rite of passage and the online course are led by Dr. Mark Schillinger, YMUW Founder, and YMUW Elder, Bill Falk. Together, they’ll mentor you so that you’ll be able to skillfully guide your son in a way that will motivate him to become more cooperative inside of your home, more responsible outside of your home, more confident of himself and more relaxed with the world.
Their original method of parenting, The RIGHT Way for Family Unity, integrates practical ancestral wisdom from small tribes, and combines it with the best insight from the sciences of positive discipline, stress management, adolescent brain development, personal growth and parent-child bonding.
Important Note: Your son may be suffering from the anxiety and stress of being overly attached to his digital devices and consistently having to handle school responsibilities.
Our system of mentoring young men will provide you with a clear roadmap that will allow him to overcome these obstacles. By using this method, you’ll be able to confidently lead your son in the right direction.
Is It Mandatory That Parents Participate?
It’s been our experience that when parents and their sons are using the same technology that encourages shared values like respect, cooperation and resilience, they have a much higher probability that they’ll achieve the true family unity they desire.
That said, it is not a requirement that you attend this workshop in order for your son to participate in the YMUW. We have an open-door policy, so if parents change their mind when they drop off their sons at the YMUW, they can still attend!
Good To Know: Lisa Ling also praised the events Dr. Mark leads for parents as well as her support for the YMUW
Register for the
Ultimate Parent Weekend
“The parent rite of passage taught us parenting skills that need to be used in today’s current world in which our sons are growing up in. It takes a community to raise a teen and Mark will guide you how to make it happen for you.”
Brad Brown, Father
“The parent rite of passage exceeded my expectations and the information and techniques at the workshop were practical. I especially enjoyed connecting with other parents and realizing that I’m not on this parenting journey alone.”
Marie Gaffney, Mother
Mother
Graduate
Volunteer
Lori Murray
I wanted to say thank you. There is a great need for your work and effort.”
Suzanne Patrikus
Joyce Wong Calvi
Everado Pedraza
It Takes a Village to Raise Your Son
Dr. Mark at Parent Workshop
Village of Parents
At every step of human development, mankind has been challenged to successfully relate to our physical and communal environment by working with whatever mental and material resources were available. By thinking and behaving with the virtue of Cooperation, humans were able to overcome adversity and improve their personal, family and communal lives through the creative process of Adaptation.
Our workshop is small enough to be a safe place where everyone can reveal their highs and lows of parenting and can share their wisdom. We will all work together as a tribal “clan”, or village, by respecting each other’s insight and resources. This way we all contribute to each parent’s efforts to ensure that all of us have a productive and loving relationship with our sons.
Dr. Mark Handling The Toughest Issues
What’s The Workshop Like?
No one has ever told me this workshop is boring! This “boot – camp” style workshop is a rite of passage initiation where parents learn how to let go of their “boy” so that their son can trust them to confidently guide him to be successful on his own.
This no-nonsense workshop is insightful, exciting, soulful, revealing, practical, relaxing, intense and filled with tips & techniques you can use immediately with your son. It includes ceremonies, discussions, discourse, role playing and, most importantly, lots of humor.
When necessary, we dive into the most difficult problems parents and sons face and then offer the specific solutions that have been proven to work with our community of parents.
BONUS
When you register for the workshop
you’ll receive my free report,
“The Secret for Helping Your Son Become More Mature and Independent
Without Anger or Anxiety”
Learn How to Motivate Your Son More Effectively
Stop Parenting - Start Mentoring!
Learn How to Mentor Your Son So the Lessons He Learns at The YMUW Becomes Permanent
While your son is attending the YMUW, we highly recommend that all parents participate in a live event and on an online course. These two activities have helped parents just like you to enjoy more caring and cooperative relationships with your spouse and son.
1) a rite of passage for parents which will initiate you into a new, more effective way of parenting your son. This rare, live event will show you how to masterfully mentor your son so that he can calmly, clearly and confidently handle his transition from boyhood to adulthood.
2) an online course that will teach you how to more effectively use your authority and influence with your son in a way that minimizes conflict and maximizes cooperation.
You’ll learn a new method of parenting teens that will foster the healthy development of your son’s emotional intelligence, whether your son is an extrovert or introvert, over-empowered or under-driven, overconfident or unwilling, entitled or indifferent.
Motivate Your Son More Effectively - Without Nagging or Yelling
The in-person rite of passage and the online course are led by Dr. Mark Schillinger, YMUW Founder, and past YMUW President, David Bohegian. Together, they’ll mentor you so that you’ll be able to skillfully guide your son in a way that will motivate him to become more cooperative inside of your home, more responsible outside of your home, more confident of himself and more relaxed with the world.
Their original method of parenting, The RIGHT Way for Family Unity, integrates
practical ancestral wisdom from small tribes, and combines it with the best insight from the sciences of positive discipline, stress management, adolescent brain development, personal growth and parent-child bonding.
Important Note: Your son may be suffering from the anxiety and stress of being overly attached to his digital devices and consistently having to handle school responsibilities.
Our system of mentoring young men will provide you with a clear roadmap that will allow him to overcome these obstacles. By using this method, you’ll be able to confidently lead your son in the right direction.
Is It Mandatory That Parents Participate?
It’s been our experience that when parents and their sons are using the same technology that encourages shared values like respect, cooperation and resilience, they have a much higher probability that they’ll achieve the true family unity they desire.
That said, it is not a requirement that you attend this workshop in order for your son to participate in the YMUW. We have an open-door policy, so if parents change their mind when they drop off their sons at the YMUW, they can still attend!
Good To Know: Lisa Ling also praised the events Dr. Mark leads for parents as well as her support for the YMUW
This Workshop Will Give You Practical Tools to Guide Your Son
to Become Happy, Responsible and Resilient
I promise you that when you attend this practical, no-nonsense workshop, you’ll be given specific tips, scripts and techniques that support your natural parenting instincts, your authority and your influence. The workshop will help you create a more caring and cooperative relationship with your teen son.
I want you to know, after years of working with parents and sons, that it is never too late to be able to enjoy a great relationship with your son, no matter what is going on right now.
Here’s The Skills You’ll Get at The Workshop:
- How to speak in a biological – not psychological – language that your son will understand
- How to motivate your son by activating his own masculine wisdom
- How to clearly, concisely and confidently communicate to your son without yelling, nagging or punishing
-
How to use consequences as a positive way to prepare your son for adulthood
- How to respect and nurture your son’s personal values even when his behavior is not always appropriate
- How to identify the exact values you know your son needs to learn in order to become more independent
-
How to have a closer relationship with your spouse (or former spouse)
-
How to skillfully handle the toughest conflicts with your son or spouse
- How to use mindfulness based stress reduction techniques to relax yourself in just a few seconds
-
How to celebrate everyone’s lives together, now that artful and sincere communications have been restored
*Workshop Size Limited to 20 Parents*
Parents Sitting In Ceremony
Parents Practicing Communication Skills
What is YMUW? How is it designed to help your child? what are the results Parents & their son will get from attending?
My teenage son and daughter taught me that my "old school" methods of parenting were not working. Yelling, "Because I said so" or threatening them with punishments, did not get them to do anything. Instead, it only further alienated them from me.
Of course, I loved them more than anything in life and wanted nothing more than to be close to them. Being rejected by my own teen children was really painful.
It felt like my son, Gabe, was standing on a ship that was sailing out of the harbor and I was on the dock, helpless to stop him as he further withdrew from me. I felt like I was an embarrassment in my community because my family life wasn’t working - even though we all loved each other.
Call Dr. Mark for a Free 20 Minute Consultation
and Find out Where to Start
GRAB MY FREE REPORT
Learn How To Activate Your Son's Natural Instincts To Become More Mature & Independent
You'll learn how a digital society doesn’t provide enough support for our sons, why you need to transition from being a parent to become more like a mentor, and ways to calmly and confidently “challenge” or mindfully “arouse” your son to become more responsible for his own well-being.
PRAISE FROM HAPPY FAMILIES
"Dr. Mark’s coaching exceeded my expectations. The techniques were great and will be useful, not just for parenting, but for the workplace and all of the relationships in my life."
GI. Wells, Mother
“My wife and I didn’t always agree about how to raise our children. Using the RIGHT Way has been an amazing growth experience in our parenting, as well as in other areas of our lives. Our family is much happier now that we’re all using the same technology.”
Dave Bohegian, Father