This paper defines "adventure-based intervention,""young people," and "trouble and risk" in light of the therapeutic work done at Bryn Melyn Community (Bala, Wales), a therapeutic treatment center. Bryn Melyn provides intensive individualized therapy to young people, aged 15-18, who are in the care of social services departments. Each teenager has an individualized program involving cycles of adventure abroad and consolidation/preparation in Wales. During adventure phases of up to 90 days, each client and a therapeutic "guide" pursue an adventure activity of the client's choice in a new environment conducive to emotional and behavioral change. This intervention engages the teenager, fosters development of a very close client-therapist relationship, and offers conditions within which change can begin. The special nature of adolescence lies in its position as the first life stage in which an individual must review or recycle previous life stages and their outcomes. Poor outcomes of earlier stages, such as lack of trust, lack of self-control, and feelings of inferiority, are found among many young people identified as at-risk. These young people share such characteristics as past physical or sexual abuse, neglect or abandonment, dysfunctional families, multiple placements, and resulting offending behaviors. Bryn Melyn's innovative adventure-based intervention engages young people where other approaches have failed, and is effective in altering attitudes and behaviors, as demonstrated by a low rate of offenses among program completers. Includes a chart of Eriksons's eight life stages and favorable and unfavorable outcomes. (SV)