Wilderness Therapy Expeditions
On our wilderness therapy expedition, your teenager will be supported in recognizing their personal strengths and weaknesses and will learn how to make the best of both. They will develop new skills, self-confidence, and gain a strong desire to make the changes that are crucial for their future success. Our clinically sophisticated program combines individual and group psychotherapy, therapeutic behavior management, and substance abuse assessment and treatment, all within a naturally healing wilderness setting.
Our program begins with a day-long, therapist-led family meeting in our office in Albany, Oregon. At the conclusion of the meeting, you will say goodbye to your teen and he or she, along with the other participants, will depart to get outfitted for the expedition. We provide your child with all the seasonally appropriate outdoor gear and supplies they will need for their journey including hiking boots, hygiene items, and well-fitted backpacks.
The expedition is led by a highly-trained staff team which consists of a therapist or certified alcohol and drug counselor, a seasoned lead wilderness guide who holds advanced wilderness medical training and certification, and another support guide. All three staff team members are working towards becoming certified drug and alcohol counselors (some may already hold this certification) and have basic first aid and CPR training.
We pride ourselves on the fact that your child will have more interaction with a therapist than any other wilderness therapy program in the nation. In fact, the industry standard is for a therapist to visit participants in the field two days per week. At Catherine Freer, our therapist resides in the field with participants throughout the entirety of the expedition. Therapist and clients share all of the challenges that an outdoor journey and an intense therapeutic process provide. Very few programs, indoor or outdoor, create such strong and caring therapeutic connections with adolescents and we are extremely proud of the outcomes we are seeing from our participants.
After your child and the other participants are outfitted, they and the staff team will load up in a van and depart for the trailhead where their expedition will begin. Upon arrival, they will hike a short distance and set-up camp. For the first 24-hour we minimize your child’s physical activity and the time is filled with group-dynamics activities and lessons on how to use their outdoor gear. We do this upon advice from a team of physicians, so that if anyone in the group was taking illegal substances prior to enrollment, this time-period will allow for the toxicity levels in their body to return to normal and it is safe for them to begin physical activity. When the group begins hiking, they will start hiking short distances until the group becomes acclimated to carrying a pack and their physical endurance builds. Please keep in mind that hiking is used as part of the therapeutic process and provides your child with good physical fitness and aids in mental clarity. Hiking is not punitive and is never used as punishment.
Phase I
This phase of the expedition has an individual focus that allows your teen to develop their own inner-resources and to internalize their need to create healthy change that is independent of peer influence. Your child will hike quietly and will spend many hours a day in thought and serious reflection about their problems, their lives, and considering the therapeutic feedback they are receiving from our staff. Conversation amongst participants takes place only when staff members are present so as to monitor the conversation and encourage it to remain productive and positive.
Counseling focuses on current issues: resolving conflicts, discussing strong feelings, seeing behavior objectively, gaining a sense of control over their behavior, and finding sources of self-confidence. We also work to resolve the frustrations, fears, angers, and felt inadequacies that have led to your child's problems. We explore these issues through individual and group therapy sessions, daily journal writing, and in psychoeducation sessions. (Learn more about our counseling approach.)
By the end of Phase I, most participants have developed insight into their past behaviors and are starting to take responsibility for their actions.
Phase II
Here the focus moves from the individual to the group. The group-oriented focus requires your son or daughter to address how they cope with their issues in an environment of increased peer interaction.
Your child will be supported as they begin to internalize, extend, and practice what they have learned in a supportive, therapeutic environment. They are assisted in creating a healthy peer culture that requires them to master new skills and participate in the work necessary to achieve group goals. They will work their way through a levels system, which motivates them to work toward specific goals, meet a clear set of expectations, and master certain tasks in order to earn more privileges, responsibilities and leadership opportunities.
In addition, our staff works with your child on detailed planning to help create a plan for their future. They also employ some of the following techniques to aid in the transition from the program: cognitive therapy aimed at realism and self-responsibility, role-playing and the practice of difficult situations adolescents expect to encounter, and emotional preparation for the inevitably painful challenges, failures, and successes that will occur.
In this phase, the group moves away from daily backpacking and instead focuses on mastering one adventure activity per week. Activities may include climbing, surfing, a ropes-challenge course, or mountain biking. Our hope is that these activities, in addition to boosting your child’s self-esteem, confidence, and physical fitness can also be used by your son or daughter when they return home as a healthy replacement activity. The group will also spend one week taking part in a service learning project.
