Programs » Wilderness Therapy Expedition
Wilderness Therapy Expedition
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. Far removed from the distractions and conveniences of their daily life, your child will gain perspective and rediscover the values that are important to leading a successful life.
Your child will join a group of no more than eight other participants. A group departs every Sunday from our administrative office in Albany, Oregon. Families and their child spend the first day participating in a family meeting. Here families and their child share their personal stories and allow our staff to observe family dynamics.
At the conclusion of the meeting the participants say goodbye to their families and leave with staff members to get outfitted for the expedition. We provide your child with all the seasonally appropriate outdoor gear they will need for their journey including hiking boots and well-fitted backpacks. The group then departs on their expedition.
Each expedition is made up of three staff members. One of these staff members is either a master’s level therapist or a certified alcohol and drug counselor. Together the 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. A seasoned wilderness guide, with advanced wilderness medical training and certification, directs the outdoor portion of the expedition. The other staff member is a support guide.
Counseling focuses on current issues: resolving conflicts, discussing strong feelings, processing solutions (as issues come up), 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.
The first phase of the expedition (three weeks) emphasizes self-reflection time. Your child will hike quietly, except during trail breaks when staff is present to monitor the conversation and encourage it to remain productive and positive. This individual approach requires your son or daughter to spend many hours a day in thought and serious reflection about their problems, their lives, and the therapeutic feedback they are receiving from our staff.
By the end of Phase I, most participants have developed insight into their past behaviors and are starting to take responsibility for their actions. In Phase II 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 are granted leadership opportunities and a greater degree of decision-making power. They are given more responsibility for making choices. Your child will work their way through a level 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 Phase II, the group moves away from daily backpacking and spends each week mastering a different adventure activity. Activities may include: whitewater raft trips, top-rope rock climbing, mountain biking, primitive skills instruction, working with horses, and service learning 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.
Our wilderness therapy expedition is designed to help your child work through treatment resistance and denial and to foster emotional awareness and the management of feelings and relationships. Your son or daughter will begin to recognize their personal strengths and weaknesses and how to make the best of both. They will develop new skills, self-confidence, and a strong desire to make the changes that are crucial for their future success.