Adventure Based Therapy and Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare

Abstract

Treatment approaches that are based on experiential learning and incorporate adventure or challenge components have recently received increasing attention and interest from behavioral healthcare providers. This treatment modality knows many names: Adventure-Based Therapy, Therapeutic Camping, Wilderness Therapy, and Adventure Based Counseling, to name a few. These psychotherapeutic interventions can move beyond the traditional office setting and utilize the inherent value of personal challenge and environments unfamiliar to the client. An implicit, though yet undocumented, proposition is that these experimental interventions are also more effective than traditional approaches are at achieving client outcomes. The report discusses the two promising treatment modalities written about most extensively in the literature, Adventure-Based Therapy (ABT) and Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare (OBH). A survey was conducted of the community-based children's (CBS) program directors in the Kansas community mental health center (CMHC) system to assess their desire for the development and enhancement of this type of programming. An overwhelming majority of the CBS directors expressed a desire for knowledge, equipment, and training to provide ABT at their own centers. The author cites one program at Area Mental Health Center in Ulysses, Kansas, that illustrates a combination of Structural Family Therapy and ABT. St. Francis Academy located in Salina and Atchison has ABT programs that may be utilized to train CMHC service providers to replicate the program across the state. Two CMHCs are currently utilizing facilities and programming at St. Francis Academy to serve children who experience Serious Emotional Disturbance. The author cites Internet and email contacts for promising ABT and OBH programs. A survey summary of Kansas CMHC ABT/OBH programs is provided.