Noting that healthy adult-youth relationships are more critical today than in the past because of the complexity of the times and the diminished availability of parents and family networks of support, this paper focuses on those dimensions of the adult-youth relationship that foster healthy development and academic success in all youth, including those at risk. The importance of adult beliefs and expectations regarding the inner capabilities and health of each child and the importance of creating a climate of respect for the uniqueness of each individual are highlighted. Helping adults to listen, respect, and invite students' input and participation is also discussed as a key strategy for eliciting students' natural health and potential as is knowing and acting on the knowledge of this health and potential. The paper concludes with a summary of results of an intervention program aimed at high-risk middle school youth, their teachers, and their parents. The central feature of this intervention is a focus on quality adult-youth interactions and relationships in a transformed context, provided by the integration of the "Reciprocal Empowerment Model" of McCombs and Whisler and the "Health Realization Model" of Mills and his colleagues into an "empowerment philosophy." (Author/HTH)