Other Useful Information

Why Wilderness?

Below follows a talk Mr. Mason regularly presents to parent and professional groups about wilderness programs. It usually is followed by a question and answer session.

Some of the adolescents we work with may be experiencing one or more of the following problems:

- Out of control behavior
- Low self-esteem
- Rebellion against parental or school authority
- Strong desire to live outside family values
- Abuse history
- Lack of motivation
- Anger due to adoption/rejection
- ADD/HD
- Runaway pattern
- Frustration with family
- Experimentation with drugs/alcohol
- Expulsion or suspension
- Manipulating behavior

America discovered the therapeutic wilderness experience in a massive way in the 1970s. Experts found that the out-of-doors was beneficial for working with young people exhibiting emotion-driven behavior problems. How is it that children who are unable to learn the values of responsibility, honesty and trust at home or school can learn many of these lessons by leaving civilization behind for a while?

Part of the reason was well-expressed by the l9th century American lawyer and orator Robert Ingersoll: “In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments -- there are consequences.”

The majority of children enrolled in wilderness programs have been unable to find relief and success at home through traditional therapies or counseling. Wilderness programs work to interrupt this unsuccessful pattern by empowering students through a challenging, structured emotional and physical growth curriculum in which each child can seek out and discover the tools he or she needs to move forward toward adulthood.

Our society is based on a many-layered system of rewards and punishments. This works reasonably well with children who have the self-confidence to foresee consequences and to understand the challenge and desirability of taking on age-appropriate responsibilities. But, to the problem child who has a low self-image and finds it difficult to trust anyone, these rewards and punishments often are seen as arbitrary decisions by authority figures. Many of these children see manipulation of others as the best way to get rewards, and a consider a negative outcome as something to try to negotiate your way out of. In their view, there are no consequences, only bargaining sessions; often, their favored tactic is to try to confuse or shift the issue. When that fails, they may become violent, self-destructive or run away.

Wilderness programs are designed to identify and address the root causes of each student’s failure to accept personal agency or to pursue a constructive purpose in his or her life. This is accomplished by taking advantage of the heightened emotional access that an outdoor environment produces. Students find themselves in unfamiliar surroundings where verbal manipulation no longer works and where demonstrations of the natural realities of cause and effect are constantly presented.

For example, if low grades cause storm clouds to appear at home, the child might blame the unfairness of the teacher. If storm clouds appear in the wilderness, however, an accusation of the unfairness of nature just does not fly. In the wilderness, consequences are easily seen and quickly felt. In this case the choice is simple: the child must take immediate responsible action to stay warm and dry, or not take responsible action and be cold, wet and hungry.

Nature teaches children:

- Consequences (they cannot talk their way out of it);
- Goal setting (their comfort is within their power);
- Decision-making (what they decide to do determines how the experience turns out);
- The need for action (it won’t happen unless they make it happen);
- To take responsibility for themselves (nobody else is going to do it for them).

Comparable lessons are taught throughout the experience:

- Hiking farther than they thought possible negates self-imposed limitations;
- Crossing a river as a group can teach trust and teamwork;
- Preparing a fire requires discipline and patience, etc.

Basic and vital lessons are learned every day in the wilderness. One important advantage of living close to nature is that behavioral choices are limited, and their consequences are clear, immediate, and objective. Back in a more complex society such as home or school, available choices are almost unlimited, and the consequences are frequently unclear, are often far in the future, and always can be rationalized as arbitrary or unfair. When a child is lagging in his or her emotional growth, sometimes a well-structured wilderness experience can change attitudes when everything else has failed.

Most wilderness programs focus on two main areas: individual accountability and family and interpersonal relationships. This type of program also has proven to be highly effective as a first intervention for children going on to therapeutic residential programs and special boarding schools. Wilderness helps children learn they can be autonomous, safe and successful away from their friends and family.

Whether the child is going on to another program, or returning home, it is very important that parental involvement remain a primary part of the student’s treatment. Family input is a key component of every wilderness program, and parental involvement is a powerful reinforcing tool to ensure that each child will continue to learn and grow long after the program ends.

Four to six weeks in the outdoors also gives parents and their advisors an opportunity to assess children who might not have allowed such intrusions back at home. Some programs can arrange formal psychological testing in the field. The results can be invaluable in understanding past behaviors as well as for planning whether the student comes home or goes on to a residential placement.

In addition, the better wilderness programs have licensed therapists who are skilled at using the outdoor milieu to open up a counseling dialogue with each student. This not only teaches the child how to use therapy (and therapists) to make themselves feel better, it also gives parents and their advisors a new, objective, experienced professional to help with the step-down planning process. Wilderness therapists in the good programs can help parents and their advisors determine what the “next steps” might look like. They have developed an intimate and objective view of the child throughout the trek and are, therefore, probably better qualified than anyone to provide placement recommendations that will help the child and family build on the gains and successes of the wilderness experience.

Selecting an appropriate wilderness program requires great care. Licensing documents, safety history, staff qualifications, insurance records, communications policies, type of terrain and company philosophies are some of the things a parent should learn about before committing to an outdoor program. It also is strongly recommended that recent parent references (and, if possible, student references) be obtained. The only way most parents can get comfortable with the notion of their kid deriving benefit from sleeping on the ground for four to six weeks is to talk to parents who once had the same reservations.

Wilderness works for most families.

Are there any questions?