320: Can Experiential Therapy Help Neurodiverse Young Adults?
Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors
Release Date: 07/14/2026
323: Bringing Mental Health Treatment Home: The PRN for Families Model
Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors
What happens after a young person returns home from wilderness therapy or residential treatment and begins to struggle? In this episode, Will sits down with Charles Elias, founder of , to explore an innovative model that brings mental health treatment directly into the home. Drawing on more than four decades in behavioral healthcare, Charles explains why lasting change requires working with the entire family, how home-based wraparound services strengthen the transition from higher levels of care, and why family preservation may represent the future of behavioral healthcare. Charles also shares...
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322: The Future of Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare: The LifeWays Model
Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors
Can outdoor behavioral healthcare (aka wilderness therapy) evolve beyond crisis intervention and become a model for prevention, community, and long-term wellbeing? In this episode Will welcomes Chris Brown and Danny Frazer to explore how is redefining Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare (OBH) through an innovative blend of nature-based therapy, therapeutic guiding, outpatient mental health services, community partnerships, and wilderness experiences. Rather than waiting until individuals reach a mental health crisis, is helping children, adolescents, adults, and families access the healing power...
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321: Beyond the Therapy Office with Josh Wayne
Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors
Can psychotherapy become more effective when it moves beyond the therapy office? In this episode, Will sits down with Atlanta psychotherapist , to explore nature-based psychotherapy and walk-and-talk therapy. Before becoming a therapist, Josh spent more than fifteen years as a naturalist, teaching people about wild plants, mushrooms, and ecology. Today, he integrates those experiences into his private practice, helping clients facing anxiety, grief, depression, chronic illness, and life transitions reconnect with themselves through meaningful experiences outdoors. Josh also shares how his...
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320: Can Experiential Therapy Help Neurodiverse Young Adults?
Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors
What happens when a neurodiverse young adult isn't ready for college or independent living—but has outgrown living at home? In this episode, Will sits down with David Chandler, Program Director at in Asheville, North Carolina, to explore how experiential therapy helps young adults with autism, ADHD, executive functioning challenges, anxiety, and other forms of neurodiversity develop the skills needed for adulthood. David explains how individualized coaching, community living, employment, and real-world experiences help young adults build confidence, purpose, relationships, and greater...
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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...
info_outlineWhat happens when a neurodiverse young adult isn't ready for college or independent living—but has outgrown living at home? In this episode, Will sits down with David Chandler, Program Director at Intrepid Young Adults in Asheville, North Carolina, to explore how experiential therapy helps young adults with autism, ADHD, executive functioning challenges, anxiety, and other forms of neurodiversity develop the skills needed for adulthood. David explains how individualized coaching, community living, employment, and real-world experiences help young adults build confidence, purpose, relationships, and greater independence.
David also shares his journey from psychiatric care to wilderness therapy at SUWS of the Carolinas before helping launch Intrepid Young Adults. Together, Will and David discuss why so many young adults struggle to transition into adulthood, the impact of COVID, technology, AI, and changing family dynamics, and why experiential learning remains a powerful approach to mental health treatment. Whether you're a parent, therapist, educational consultant, or professional working with neurodiverse young adults, this episode offers practical insights into helping young people move beyond "failure to launch" and toward meaningful, independent lives.
This podcast is supported by White Mountain Adventure Institute (wmai.org), offering adventure inspired retreats and coaching facilitated by Will White.