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 at our office in Albany, Oregon. You will have an intake session with a Family Therapist while your teen, along with the other new participants, will 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, a therapist resides in the field with participants throughout the entirety of the expedition. Therapists 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. In addition, your family’s assigned Primary Therapist will be meeting with your child in the field on a regular basis and providing you with updates, working closely with your Educational Consultant (if you are working with one), and offering you aftercare support.
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, meet up with the staff and students that are already in the program and then 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.
