Therapeutic Wilderness Programs
Therapeutic wilderness programs can be highly effective experiences for adolescents
and teenagers who are struggling with a range of issues, including substance abuse, addiction, defiance, low self-esteem, hostility, learning differences, adoption-related issues, Internet/videogame compulsions, conflict, and entitlement issues.
Therapeutic wilderness programs provide a high-intensity, short-term experience that is designed to serve as important step toward long-term positive changes. Therapeutic wilderness programs promote effective long-term change by incorporating the following elements:
Removing teens from the environment where they had been struggling
Placing teens in a challenging (yet safe & supervised) environment
Eliminating distractions (friends, videogames, cell phones, etc.)
Providing close supervision and significant positive attention
Establishing and executing individualized treatment plans
Conducting regular group and individual counseling sessions
Coordinating with parents/guardians
Of course, therapeutic wilderness programs accomplish these activities in a unique and ultimately inspiring environment: the great outdoors. Therapeutic wilderness program participants spend their days hiking, camping, and mastering skills such as orienteering and making fire.
Though there is a significant physical component to therapeutic wilderness programs, it is important to note that this component has a specific purpose and that purpose is not to punish or break down the teens in the program.
As teens hike through the wilderness, set up and tear down campsites, and engage in other physical (and likely unfamiliar) activities, they are building their bodies, their minds, and their spirits. Learning to make fire can be intensely frustration at first but accomplishing this task provides many benefits (including warmth, an appreciation for working through frustrations, an understanding of the rewards of not giving up in the face of adversity, and a boost in self-confidence).
Even apparently negative experiences (such as getting wet when failing to properly prepare for rain) have positive outcomes, as teens develop a sense of personal accountability and an understanding that actions (or inactions) have very real consequences. For teens who may have come to believe that the problems in their lives are the result of being hassled by parents, teachers, and other caregivers, an afternoon rainstorm is a powerful reminder that negative events occur in everyones life but those who prepare or who respond productively can manage those events without allowing the negativity to exacerbate the problem.
Therapeutic Wilderness Programs also teach struggling adolescents and teenagers the value of being a productive member of a group, family, and community. For example, most therapeutic wilderness programs will assign increasingly important responsibilities to students responsibilities that will impact not only the individual student, but the entire group.
Often, one student will be given the responsibility of making sure that the rest of the group wakes up on time, and breaks camp in an efficient and timely manner. If this student sleeps in, or fails to ensure that morning duties are accomplished on time, the entire team will be put behind schedule for the rest of the day.
Similarly, students who are given responsibility for leading the days hike can make everyones life more difficult if they fail to follow the map properly and put the group off course.
by: bratc
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