Abstract The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a New Zealand based study on youth-at-risk readiness for therapeutic adventure programs. Central to the project was documenting current selection practices and viewpoints from the perspective of four program managers. This included investigation on how readiness was determined within their programs and the methods used to identify participants in different stages of readiness. The advantages and disadvantages of determining readiness were also discussed. In addition, the Transtheoretical Model of behavioural change (Prochaska and DiClemente, 1982) was examined as a possible mechanism to determine readiness and was used to provide a framework for part of the study. Introduction It has been proposed that some 95 000 children in New Zealand under 17 years old, are at-risk (Bailey, 1999). Additionally, New Zealand has the highest teenage suicide rate and second highest teenage pregnancy rate of all industrialised nations (Schusser, 1996). Youth-at-risk have been linked to poverty (Knitzer and Aber, 1995); ethnic origin (Connell, 1994); and family instability (Davis-Berman & Berman, 1999). The consequences for youth are delinquency (including violent offending), truancy, disruptive behaviour, and social, physical and psychological health problems (Davis- Berman & Berman, 1999; Gordon, Houghton and Edwards, 1998). For the purposes of this study youth-at-risk were defined as " . . . young people who reject the prevailing norms and values of society and behave in ways judged to be detrimental to themselves and to society" (Sikking, Gidlow, & Perkins, 1993. p. 166). Research suggests that outdoor adventure programs are one of the more effective therapeutic interventions for delinquents (Davis-Berman & Berman, 1999; Gass, 1993; Hattie, Marsh, Neil & Richards, 1997; Sikking et al, 1993). These programs avoid institutionalisation; are conducive to the development of trust between youth and counsellors; and use active rather than passive methods (Davis-Berman & Berman, 1999). Adventure activities place people outside their comfort zones where the greatest change and growth can occur (Nadler and Luckner, 1992). Behaviour leads to natural and direct consequences and trip leaders provide positive role models (Davis- Berman & Berman, 1999). Although numerous studies have tested what type of therapeutic changes adventure programs can influence (such as increasing self-esteem), little research documents how such changes can be most effectively achieved (ibid.). Tailoring the intervention to an individual's readiness for change greatly improves the treatment outcomes (Levy, 1997). There is also evidence to suggest that long-term success can be endangered by the premature program placement of youth-atrisk when they are not ready for change (Sikking, Gidlow and Perkins, 1993; Ewert 1983; Wright, 1983). Despite the individual differences that youth present, many intervention programs are designed for a homogenous group of individuals who are ready for change. In reality though, it is possible that only a minority of those in the program are actually ready for change (Marcus, 1996; DiClemente, 1993). Part of the problem in identifying readiness for therapeutic programs has been the dearth of effective mechanisms to determine when an individual is at a stage when an intervention is most likely to be effective. One approach to understanding the process and stages of change is Prochaska & DiClemente's (1982) Transtheoretical Model (TM). The model has become widely accepted as a comprehensive model of behaviour change in the area of health behaviour (Budd & Rollnick, 1996; Prochaska, Velicer, Rossi, Goldstein, Marcus, Rakowski, Fiore, Harlow, Redding, Rosenbloom & Rossi, 1994b). The model's application to youth-atrisk within the field of therapeutic adventure therapy is a relatively new proposal, although it has been advocated by Gordon, Houghton and Edwards (1998) and is evident in some programs (as per two of the case studies in this paper). …