Therapeutic Wilderness Programs provide a strengths-based setting where children, adolescents and young adults can "Reset" from the high risk behaviors and disastrous coping strategies that they are currently using and find the motivation to change those patterns.

When families first reach out to me, their children may be using substances, not going to school and are obsessed with their phone and social media. They are hanging out with a negative crowd and not sleeping, eating well or exercising. It may feel like they are going in the wrong direction at 100 mph.

The benefits of a Therapeutic Wilderness Program are many. Students get the gift of being in a natural setting with experienced therapists, field staff and a small group of their peers, in a short-term, 8-12 week program. The "Reset" happens because they do not have the use of the comforts that they have been accustomed to and that can distract them from what's really going on. Eventually, my students have to face the feelings that they have ignored through weekly individual, group and family therapy sessions and specific assignments, such as reading and journaling.

Through the collaborative and community approach of cooking meals together, setting up camp and planning the hike for the day with their peers; the therapists and field guides can observe students' behaviors and see their actions and how they relate to others. This positive, in-the-moment observation and intervention can help students see how others perceive them and help them to start to understand how their current means of coping with people and their emotions has not been serving them well.