About Us

Our History

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.

Our Culture

Josh and Jake decided early on that one of the foundational components of the Cornerstones program had to be the culture that would be built within the community. They felt that they wanted this culture to be reflective of their own friendship of over twenty years. This friendship was based on honesty, trust, commitment, and profound mutual respect. They have worked diligently to enlist their staff and clients to help them build this culture into the Cornerstones program. One of the core principles of building a culture is accepting that culture is the result of active practice. You build culture with purpose and intention by making it happen every day in how you work with and treat others around you.

Our Guiding Principles