313: Can Wilderness Therapy Be Proven Scientifically? Rob Meltzer on Research, Critics, and the Future of the Field
Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors
Release Date: 05/26/2026
319: What Is a Therapeutic Boarding School? 92 Years of Helping Teens and Families at Grove School
Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors
What is a therapeutic boarding school, and how can it help teenagers facing anxiety, depression, trauma, school refusal, and other mental health challenges? In this episode Will sits down with Peter Chorney, Executive Director of , one of the nation's oldest therapeutic boarding schools. Peter shares how Grove School has spent more than 92 years evolving its approach to residential treatment, combining academics, clinical care, family involvement, creative arts, and outdoor experiences to help teenagers build resilience, confidence, and hope. Peter also reflects on growing up on the campus,...
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318: What Is Forest Therapy? Regan Stacey Explains
Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors
Can spending time with trees become a pathway to healing? In this episode Will sits down with Regan Stacey, founder of the to explore the growing practice of forest therapy and why so many people are turning to nature as part of their mental health and wellness journey. Regan shares the deeply personal story of how a life-changing cancer diagnosis, the loss of her brother, and profound experiences in the forest inspired her to dedicate her life to helping others reconnect with the natural world. Together they discuss what forest therapy actually is, how it differs from hiking or traditional...
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317: What Happens When Young Adults Meet the Dalai Lama? Ryan McGinty on Mindfulness, Mental Health, and Red Mountain Sedona
Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors
Can meeting the Dalai Lama influence a young person's mental health and well-being? In this episode, Will White sits down with Ryan McGinty, Executive Director of to discuss an extraordinary journey that took young adults, families, and staff from Arizona to Dharamsala, India, where they met His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Ryan shares how the idea for the trip emerged through meditation, the challenges of organizing international travel during a time of global uncertainty, and why mindfulness, compassion, and non-attachment became essential lessons long before the group ever boarded a...
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316: Autism Outdoors: How Nature Helps Autistic Children and Families Thrive
Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors
What happens when a therapist who has spent years working with autistic individuals suddenly becomes the parent of an autistic child? In this episode Will talks with Damon Bryan, co-founder of about how his son's autism diagnosis transformed both his personal life and his clinical perspective. Damon shares his journey from outdoor and residential mental health programs to creating a nonprofit that helps autistic individuals and their families experience the outdoors through hiking, rafting, paddleboarding, family retreats, and community events. Together, Will and Damon explore what it means...
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315: 10 Years of Change: How Confluence Behavioral Health Evolved
Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors
How does a program built around relationships, adventure, and the outdoors evolve over ten years while staying true to its mission? In this episode, Will sits down with Foster Post, co-founder of as the Vermont-based program celebrates its 10th anniversary. Foster shares his journey into outdoor mental health treatment and reflects on the lessons learned from building a small, owner-operated program during a time of unprecedented change. From its early years featuring multi-day wilderness expeditions to its current model serving young adults through residential treatment, adventure-based...
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314: Nature Deficit or Mental Health Crisis? Scott Shepherd on Reconnecting Young People with the Outdoors
Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors
What happens when a generation grows up more connected to screens than to the natural world? In this episode, Will sits down with outdoor educator and founder Scott Shepherd to explore the growing disconnect between young people, nature, and one another. Drawing from more than 15 years of experience in outdoor, environmental, and experiential education, Scott explains why time outside is no longer just recreation—it has become an essential component of mental health, emotional regulation, resilience, and healthy youth development. Scott shares his own transformative journey sailing around...
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313: Can Wilderness Therapy Be Proven Scientifically? Rob Meltzer on Research, Critics, and the Future of the Field
Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors
What if wilderness therapy has been helping people heal for a long time—but the field never fully understood why it works? In this episode Will sits down with Rob Meltzer, founder of the new Wilderness Therapy Institute. Rob explains why he believes wilderness therapy may function as a form of “metabolic health treatment” and shares groundbreaking efforts to study how sleep, movement, sunlight, nutrition, circadian rhythm, inflammation, and extended time in nature impact mental health. The conversation explores emerging research in metabolic psychiatry, biological mechanisms of healing,...
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312: Healing Trauma in Adolescent Girls: How ROOTs Transition Blends Nature, Family, and Residential Care
Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors
What happens when a clinician decides that traditional residential treatment isn’t enough for adolescent girls struggling with trauma? In this episode Will talks with Kami Black, founder of in Park City. Founded during the uncertainty of the COVID pandemic, was built around a bold idea: combine the healing power of nature, intensive family systems work, and trauma-informed residential care into one integrated model for adolescent girls ages 15–18. Kami shares how her own experiences, years in residential treatment, and deep commitment to trauma work shaped a program focused not just on...
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311: 30 Years Later: How Summit Achievement Was Built to Last
Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors
Thirty years later… What happens when one of the earliest outdoor behavioral healthcare programs refuses to follow the trends of the field? In this episode Will sits down with CEO Nichol Ernst to reflect on the 30-year evolution of — a program Will co-founded in 1996. Together, they explore how Summit survived massive shifts in the wilderness therapy world: the rise and fall of therapeutic boarding schools, the influx of venture capital into behavioral healthcare, the smartphone era, COVID, and growing public controversy surrounding outdoor treatment. Rather than chasing trends, Summit...
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310: How Venture Capital Grew Wilderness Therapy… and Then Ran Away
Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors
What happens when a field built on healing becomes shaped by money? In this episode, Will revisits a 2020 exploration of the business of wilderness therapy—tracing its evolution from nonprofit, mission-driven roots to a rapidly expanding, privately funded industry. From early non-profits programs to the rise of private-pay models in the 1980s and the explosive growth fueled by outside investment, this episode examines how financial forces didn’t just support wilderness therapy—they fundamentally shaped its direction, priorities, and structure. And what happens when that money leaves? In...
info_outlineWhat if wilderness therapy has been helping people heal for a long time—but the field never fully understood why it works? In this episode Will sits down with Rob Meltzer, founder of the new Wilderness Therapy Institute. Rob explains why he believes wilderness therapy may function as a form of “metabolic health treatment” and shares groundbreaking efforts to study how sleep, movement, sunlight, nutrition, circadian rhythm, inflammation, and extended time in nature impact mental health. The conversation explores emerging research in metabolic psychiatry, biological mechanisms of healing, and why wilderness experiences may create profound psychological and physiological change.
At the same time, this episode does not avoid the field’s controversies. Rob and Will examine critical questions surrounding authority, transport practices, ethical intervention, trauma, and the evolving identity of wilderness therapy in a post-“Hell Camp” era. Rob argues that the field must improve without losing its core foundations: extended wilderness immersion, primitive living, deep human connection, and nature-based healing. This episode will resonate with therapists, researchers, parents, former students, outdoor professionals, and anyone questioning both the promise and the problems of wilderness therapy today.
Wilderness Therapy Institute Webpage:
Rob was featured in pervious episodes:
Episode 5: Rob Meltzer, educational consultant and founder of the wilderness therapy symposium
201: Celebrating 20 Years of Wilderness Therapy Symposium
This podcast is supported by White Mountain Adventure Institute (wmai.org), offering adventure inspired retreats and coaching for men and facilitated by Will White.