131: Research:Transporting Young People to Wilderness: Part 1
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Release Date: 06/29/2021
142: Financial Help for Wilderness Therapy Treatment, Part 1
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
The cost of wilderness therapy treatment is expensive, yet several organizations will help. In this episode, we hear stories from leaders of non-profit organizations that help families by providing funds to help pay for wilderness therapy treatment. We talk with Debbie Roelands from Skys the Limit Fund, Brad Matheson from Choose Mental Health, and Miriam Miller from Charles N Miller Scholarship fund. They will share the history of the organizations, how to apply for funds and other resources for families.
info_outline
141: Philip Stallard, Founder of New Wave Wild Project in Ireland
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Phil Stallard is the founder of the New Wave Wild Project in Ireland. Philip is the first person outside of the U.S. to become a Certified Clinical Adventure Therapist. Philip's journey into the field was filled was paved with the intention of legitimizing the Adventure Therapy profession in Ireland. He shares his story of how he became interested in the field and why he choose to become a clinical social worker. He goes into the evolution of New Wave and why he was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year.
info_outline
140: Harpa Erlendsdottir: Manager of the Icelandic Adventure Therapy Association.
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Harpa Erlendsdottir is a clinical occupational therapist and the General Manager of the Icelandic Adventure Therapy Association. Growing up in the majestic beauty of Iceland inspired Harpa to become involved in the field. She shares her story of being involved in Scouting and learning about Experiential Education. She would travel to the U.S. to take a course at Project Adventure to learn more. She shares stories about her experiences in the field and the Gathering of Adventure Therapists in Europe.
info_outline
139: Andy Hardie: Clinical Manager at Venture Trust in the United Kingdom
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Andy Hardie is the Clinical Manager of Venture Trust in the United Kingdom. Andy shares his journey into the field, which began when heading to the only university that accepted him to study Outdoor Leadership. He would go onto work at the original Outward Bound school. Andy shares how Venture Trust began as a 21-day “boot camp” style wilderness therapy program and has evolved to be a social change agent, including providing Outdoor Therapy for free to young people age 16-25 and ex-service members.
info_outline
138: Cindy Ross, author of "Walking Toward Peace-Veterans Healing on America's Trails"
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Cindy Ross is the author of the new book, "Walking Toward Peace- Veterans Healing on America's Trails," which profiles combat veterans who found healing through the outdoors as well as long-distance expeditions. She shares her journey of writing the book and what she learned from veterans.
info_outline
137: Jorge Venceslau, Co-founder of Age of Discoveries in Portugal.
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Jorge Venceslau is the program director and co-founder of Age of Discoveries, located in Portugal. Jorge's journey into the field began in his early 20's when he struggled with several issues and found wilderness to be a place of healing. He would become a recovery coach and worked in programs worldwide, including The Crossroads Center in Antigua. He always dreamed of starting his own program, and in this episode, he shares the joys and challenges of creating the first adventure therapy program in Portugal
info_outline
136: Dr. Virginie Gargano, Founder of Dehors and Professor of Social Work
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Dr. Virginie Gargano is the founder of Dehors an adventure therapy training program located in Quebec, Canada. She is also a professor of Social Work at Université Laval and is a researcher, teacher, and practitioner of adventure therapy. Virginie shares her journey from being a guide at a program that worked with adjudicated youth in the outdoors to going on to get her Masters and Doctorate in Social Work. Virginie also shares her involvement in the International Adventure Therapy Conference and much more
info_outline
135: Graham Pringle, Program Director of Youth Flourish Outdoors in Australia
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Graham Pringle is the program director at Youth Flourish Outdoors (YFO) in Australia. Graham shares his story of how he became involved in outdoor therapy after a stint in the military and why it is referred to as Bush Adventure Therapy. Graham compares the similarities and differences in how outdoor therapies are practiced in his country versus the US. He shares how YFO works with traumatized youth in outdoor adventure settings as well as how the organization functions with little government support.
info_outline
134: Ray Burke: Founder and CEO of Active Connections in Ireland
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Ray Burke is the founder of Active Connections in Ireland. Ray shares his story of growing up in Dublin and finding solace in the woods from the challenges of the city. He would venture to the US to work at summer camps and Outward Bound in Oregon. He learned about wilderness therapy at Catherine Freer Wilderness and returned to Ireland for more education so he could bring adventure therapy home. Ray tells the story of starting Active Connections over a decade ago to help transform lives through adventure.
info_outline
133: Natalia Ruiz de Cortázar Gracia : Psychologist and General Director of Experientia in Spain
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Natalia Ruiz de Cortázar Gracia is a psychologist and general director of Experientia located in Spain. Natalia shares how she first heard about wilderness therapy when she was a graduate student in the U.S. and describes how she worked at Wingate and Anasazi. After two years she returned to Spain to work at Experientia. Natalia describes how Experientia is helping young people with mental health challenges with outdoor treatment as well as differences and similarities between the U.S. and Spanish models.
info_outlineThis episode examines research studies regarding transporting teens to wilderness therapy programs with Dr. Christine Norton, a research scientist at the OBH Center at UNH. Transporting unwilling participants to wilderness therapy programs has been referred to as "escorting," "gooning," as well as "legal kidnapping" and is one of the more controversial aspects of the field. Dr. Norton reviews transport research studies, how the research can help inform practice, and changes she is seeing in the field regarding this practice.
Dr. Norton's Bio from the OBH Center website:
Christine Lynn Norton, PhD, LCSW, is a Professor of Social Work at Texas State University. She received her Ph.D in Social Work from Loyola University Chicago. She has a Master of Arts in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago, and a Master of Science in Experiential Education from Minnesota State University-Mankato. She has taught as adjunct faculty at The University of Denver, Prescott College, and Naropa University. Dr. Norton has over 25 years experience working with adolescents and families in a variety of practice settings including community and wilderness-based outdoor behavioral healthcare programs, juvenile justice, youth and family counseling, school social work, and youth mentoring and educational empowerment programs. Her areas of practice and research interest and expertise are in innovative, experiential interventions in child and adolescent mental health; outdoor behavioral healthcare; experiential education and adventure therapy; positive youth development; foster care support in higher education; and international social work. Dr. Norton is a Research Scientist with the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Center and she helped launch Foster Care Alumni Creating Educational Success (FACES) at Texas State. She is the Foster Care Liaison Officer to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and is the founder of the Foster Care Adventure Therapy Network, an international group of programs and practitioners who utilize adventure therapy with current and former foster care youth and young adults. Dr. Norton has over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, has edited three books, and has authored over ten book chapters. She has secured over $3,179,154 in internal and external research funding as PI and co-investigator, and is a leading social work scholar who has presented her research nationally and internationally. Dr. Norton is active in study abroad and service learning on her campus, and is a Fulbright Scholar, having taught adventure therapy in the Department of Civic Education and Leadership at National Taiwan Normal University from January-June 2017. She also served as a delegate for Women4Peace, a U.S. State Department 100KStrong in the Americas grant, working to bring experiential peacebuilding strategies to rural women and girls in Columbia.
Before becoming a researcher and academic, Dr. Norton worked for Outward Bound (OB) as an instructor and a course director for Intercept, OB's youth-at-risk program. She also worked as a clinical social worker with the Journey program, OMNI Youth Services' outdoor experiential therapy program. She has also been active in the Association for Experiential Education (AEE) for over 20 years. She has helped to establish best practices in adventure therapy, and served as the Chair of the AEE Therapeutic Adventure Professional Group (TAPG). She is currently on the TAPG Advisory Council, has assisted with AEE/OBH accreditation site visits, is a member of the TAPG Certification Standards Committee, and is also an ActivatEE team member and speaking coach. For her service and research, Dr. Norton received both the 2014 AEE Servant Leader Award, as well as the 2017 AEE Distinguished Researcher of the Year Award. She also served as one of two U.S. delegates to the International Adventure Therapy Conference (IATC) from 2009-2015. In this role, Dr. Norton convene 7IATC in Denver, in partnership with Dr. Christian Itin, and was an Ambassador for 8IATC. Dr. Norton remains active with the international adventure therapy community, engaging in global research partnerships and trainings.