Sections
Introduction
Wilderness Experience Programs are known for their immersion in nature, which is considered a partner in the process rather than just a setting. These programs empower students by showing them they can survive in the wilderness, leading to a greater sense of self-efficacy and internal locus of control. Additionally, being in nature has numerous therapeutic benefits, including relieving stress, restoring attention, increasing happiness, decreasing levels of depression, boosting one's mood, and improving self-esteem. Overall, these programs offer a unique opportunity for students to connect with nature and themselves while gaining valuable skills and experiences.
Therapeutic wilderness programs can be categorized into two main models, including the Nomadic wilderness therapy model and the Basecamp wilderness therapy model.
Nomadic wilderness therapy model
The nomadic wilderness therapy model involves a continuous movement from one location to another while the Basecamp wilderness therapy model involves a stationary basecamp where participants engage in various activities such as Adventure therapy programs and Horticultural therapy programs. Both models aim to provide an immersive and transformative experience for participants through outdoor activities and nature-based therapies.
The nomadic wilderness therapy model is a philosophy that believes that removing adolescents from the distractions of modern life and immersing them in a simpler, unstructured environment will help them work through their thoughts, emotions, and maladaptive behaviours. This model involves transporting students to the wilderness for the duration of their therapeutic stay, where they will live 24/7 and have their hygiene, food, and supplies provided in the field. Therapists also conduct individual and group therapy sessions in the wilderness. The wilderness environment is emotionally safe, promotes healthy habits, and helps break down defensive barriers. The wilderness staff acts as guides rather than authority figures, allowing nature to enforce natural consequences and helping students recognize the connection between their choices and the consequences that follow. The reliance on natural consequences has a significant impact on developing intrinsic motivation.
Basecamp wilderness programs
Basecamp wilderness programs, particularly those based on Adventure therapy, focus on limiting distractions and utilizing experiential activities involving perceived risk that are both physically and emotionally challenging. Unlike nomadic wilderness programs, which rely on natural consequences as the main agent of change, adventure therapy programs incorporate high-adventure activities such as mountain biking, rock climbing, skiing, river rafting, or canyoneering. Students and staff return each week to a base of operations where they meet with their individual therapist, participate in group therapy, wash their clothes, and prepare for the next week's adventures. Adventure therapy is a form of therapeutic intervention that aims to bring about positive change through challenging experiences.
Difference of Nomadic Wilderness therapy and Basecamp programs (adventure therapy)
Nomadic Wilderness therapy and adventure therapy are two types of therapeutic programs that utilize nature, physical exercise, and social and emotional learning skills to effect lasting change. While both programs partner with nature, eliminate distractions and provide flow experiences, they differ in how they approach the therapeutic process.
Wilderness therapy is a nomadic model that immerses individuals in the wilderness for extended periods to recover from severe distress, imagine their futures, and be their best-civilized selves.
Adventure therapy, on the other hand, incorporates outdoor activities like rock climbing, hiking, and kayaking to promote physical exercise and teach social and emotional learning skills like grit and self-efficacy.
Conclusion
Both programs utilize exercise as a mechanism to change how individuals think, feel, act and perceiving reality and themselves into our biosocial matrix, which is supported by us wilderness therapists, practitioners and instructors to be the most traditional way of educating and healing and in modern society one of the most effective for psychical, emotional and societal health.
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