Episode 17: Lynn Smith, Co-founder of Elements Wilderness Program
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Release Date: 01/24/2019
166. Matt Nannis, Founder and Executive Director of PIVOTpoint
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Matt Nannis is the Founder and Executive Director of PIVOTpoint. is a non-profit organization that provides outpatient "Therapeutic Adventure Work" through various outdoor programs in and around the Asheville, North Carolina area. Matt shares his journey into the field and how he experienced the power of therapeutic wilderness experiences while going through a healing process for himself. Matt describes what inspired him to start Pivotpoint, why it is a non-profit organization, and the different programs that Pivotpoint provides for its participants. Allkindsoftherapy.com is...
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165. Beth Laughlin, Director of 360 Transition Services
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Beth Laughlin is the Program Director and owner of which "helps adolescents and young adults successfully transition from treatment to home, college, or independence." Beth shares her journey into the field, the history of 360 transitions, and the benefits of coaching for parents and young people. Beth reveals how young people often prefer " therapy incognito," how parents should look at regression after discharge from wilderness treatment, and how the field has changed over the last five years. Beth reveals the many insights she has gained from coaching families for over a decade....
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164. Psychological Testing and Wilderness Therapy
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Dr. Todd Corelli () is a clinical psychologist who has been providing psychological testing for young people in wilderness therapy programs for over 20 years. Todd discusses the benefits of delivering testing in wilderness settings, some of the major issues he sees, and how testing results have changed in the last decade. Todd shares how the pandemic and isolation have taken a toll on young people and what helps to get them through it. He reveals an upcoming book and video series about connection and parenting. Todd also discusses what every person in wilderness therapy should know about...
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163: Mark Adamski, Founder of Wilderness Reboot
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Mark Adamski is the founder of Wilderness Reboot, a new "alumni network for students after leaving wilderness therapy." Mark shares his journey into the field, from learning about outdoor leadership in high school to working as an outdoor guide in Norway to transitioning to being a wilderness therapy field guide at Pacific Quest in Hawaii and then working at Pure Life in Costa Rica. When the pandemic began, Mark left wilderness therapy to pursue a graduate school education and started a coaching service. Mark discusses how Wilderness Reboot helps alumni of wilderness therapy programs through...
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162: Shayna Abraham, Founder of Prepare to Bloom and Co-founder of Therapeutic Consulting Association
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
In this episode, we talk with Shayna Abraham, the founder of , a therapeutic consulting practice, and the (TCA) co-founder. Shayna shares the origin story of TCA, how a Therapeutic Consultant can help parents and each other grow, and how TCA is evolving. Shayna shares her wisdom of almost 20 years in the field, how therapeutic programs are needed now more than ever, and what she would say to a room full of wilderness therapy practitioners. is sponsoring Season 13 of the podcast and will focus on experts who help families navigate treatment options. You can find Prepare to Bloom in the...
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161. What is Coaching, and how does Wonder help families?
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Dave Herz is the founder of , which "supports families through coaching and therapy in real-life settings." Dave shares a brief history of , how the organization began and evolved over twenty years and how he met co-founder Willow Rubin. Dave discusses the differences between coaching and therapy and how coaching can help young people and their parents before, during, or after attending a wilderness therapy program. Dave also explores the changes he has seen in the field over his 23 plus years of coaching and where he thinks the field is going. is sponsoring Season 13 of the podcast and will...
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160. What is a "Therapeutic Consultant" ?
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Joanna Lilley is the Chairperson of the (TCA) and a practicing Therapeutic Consultant who previously worked in wilderness therapy. In this episode, Joanna shares a brief history of TCA, why the organization began, and how a Therapeutic Consultant can help parents and other caregivers when considering a wilderness therapy program for their teen or young adult. She also dives into the different approaches that a therapeutic consultant may use to help a family. is the sponsor of Season 13 which will focus on experts who help families navigate treatment options. You can find a T and on...
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159: What is "Solutions Parenting Support"?
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Hilary Moses is co-owner and parent coach of and has a long history of working in wilderness therapy. In this episode, Hilary shares how being authentic and compassionate bad-ass has allowed her to challenge systems, whether it be a parent system or the field of wilderness therapy as a whole. Hilary shares how she became frustrated with how so many young people she worked with as a therapist in a wilderness therapy program in the 2010s went onto residential treatment or therapeutic schools and how she started to question that approach. She and the other powerful women teammates at have...
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158: Exploring "All Kinds of Therapy"
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
We explore the (AKOT) website which provides a resource for those interested in learning more about behavioral healthcare, including wilderness therapy. In this episode, we dialogue with the founder of , Jenney Wilder, about the intention of the website, the monthly , , , and the . Season 13 of Stories from the Field is sponsored by AKOT and will focus on experts who help families navigate treatment options. Link to
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157: Dr. Fred Peipman, Primary Therapist at Second Nature
Stories from the Field: Demystifying Wilderness Therapy
Dr. Fred Peipman is a therapist at and works primarily with an adolescent all-gender group. Fred shares his fascinating story of growing up on the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea and leaving there at 15 to go to school in the United States. He reveals his unique path to becoming a psychologist, his research background, and how he learned about wilderness therapy by bringing several private practice adolescent clients in Miami to enroll in different programs in Utah in the early 2000s. Fred shares how he found his calling in wilderness therapy by working with gender-expansive,...
info_outlineWill talks with Lynn Smith, Co-Founder and Director of Family Services of Elements Wilderness Program. Lynn shares his journey from growing up in California to joining Aspen Achievement Academy in 1994 to co-founding Elements Wilderness in 2008.