“Growth doesn't take place in a vacuum. Awareness of self must be experienced in the full capacity of life. Working with individuals now, I see them take newfound skills into new environments, where they can grapple with change. This is where the rubber meets the road, in the real world.
What we’ve learned is that personal transformation can be as subtle as the beauty we see in nature. When we experience the shift— together, in community—the capacity for growth expands exponentially. We share successes, “failures”, doubts, and excitement. What’s more, we start to understand that all of this is life, ups and downs. How beautiful is it that we get to color it with all of our experience? This is the canvas, this is the landscape for change. Outside.”—Nate Bennick, National Field Director for Adventure Recovery
One of our peers is a psychotherapist in the field of mental health and addiction treatment and he refers to Adventure Recovery as “wilderness outpatient”. It’s not quite the exact definition that encompasses what we do but for the sake of conversation, it works. Our team, including Nate Bennick, National Field Director at Adventure Recovery, has direct experience in traditional wilderness therapy models, having served as milieu coordinator and field guide. We are familiar with wilderness treatment, and we sought to create something distinctive and complimentary. What do we really mean when we say wilderness outpatient?
What Does Wilderness Outpatient Mean?
Traditionally, the word outpatient is defined as healthcare services provided on an outpatient basis, receiving structured support while still engaging in your day-to-day life. This type of treatment can be appealing because one is able to heal in the context of home, in other words — one’s natural habitat.
We know that environment and habits impact us greatly. Where we spend our time, who we spend it with, and how we fill our days can determine our mental and physical well-being. There are some basic elements that go into a healthy lifestyle. Exercise, rest, connection, self-care, challenging ourselves, asking for help—all of these areas are part of our well-being. We’ve learned that sitting shortens our life spans and exercise is vital for our health, both physical and mental. In addition, relationships play a significant role and studies show that social connection can help prevent a sedentary lifestyle and depression. Furthermore, research shows that when we feel a sense of community and purpose, we tend to bounce back from setbacks, with deeper resilience and emotional stability overall.
Time in nature has many positive benefits and serves as a perfect backdrop to learn and apply new behaviors. The research reveals that the outdoors has a favorable impact on mood and disposition, brain function and cognition, and boosts our immunity. In addition, there are multiple evidence-based reasons cited in scientific studies as to why nature and adventure serve mental health. Adventure in nature can be utilized as a prevention tool for dangerous high-risk behaviors, and studies show greenspaces can positively affect substance use disorder. Some factors contributing to the outcomes include diminished stress, greater capacity for healthy relationship building, and self-awareness. These factors are significant when it comes to addiction and mental health care.
When we move our bodies intentionally in natural settings, we initiate multiple avenues of well-being. Exercise invigorates and releases happy hormones, which benefit physiology and psychology. What’s more, the immune system is influenced, as recent studies show. The evidence is clear that when regularly immersed in activities outside, immunity is strengthened, mood is improved, and our general disposition is uplifted. We feel better, period. Furthermore, the results for mental health support increase with coaching and peer support. Together, we learn new tools, challenge ourselves and one another, and develop healthy capacity and self-efficacy. We build confidence and community simultaneously. This is powerful and appealing for many since learning adventure skills ensures consistent and sustainable results that one can apply daily in their own lives. To reap the benefits, we must develop new habits and skills and exploring outdoors is the perfect way to cultivate a healthy body and a healthy mind. Adventure is a mindset—a way of life. And, the bottom line is, it works. We see it time and again. Movement, connection, growth.
Wilderness as a Way of Life
Wilderness therapy can have a powerful affect on mental health and substance use disorder clients. There are challenges to being removed from daily life for treatment to consider, especially upon re-entry. When we are trying to learn new, healthful habits it can feel easy to apply when we’re in a new place. But, applying the positive patterns in the same environment where we developed toxic, destructive behaviors is a whole other story. What happens when we return home from a wilderness or residential treatment program, and we’re faced with the same stressors that existed before we went into treatment? And how do we maintain the positive habits we acquired while in the treatment environment? These are the important questions we set out to answer.
Many of us know this experience first-hand. We went away to treatment and upon returning home, we lose momentum, fall into old patterns, or fall off the path. Perhaps we’re triggered or we are influenced by unhealthy peers or family members. We may end up back in an abusive situation or feel unable to change. Or we may not feel confident to face the world or engage in activities outside. So, what do we need? Support, guidance, connection—these are all key. And, for many of us, sitting in a group setting helps, but we need more—we need to move our bodies, breathe fresh air, create new patterns.
Time outside is an impactful intervention, and the goal is to learn how to apply an adventure mindset to our daily lives. Here, at AR, we aren’t just weekend warriors. Immersive time outdoors is a huge part of our lives and our habit patterns. It informs our perspective. We’ve learned that in order to sustain the healing power of the tools we cultivate outside; we have to be consistent. When we learn new ways to care for ourselves, develop relationships with like-minded individuals, and feel motivated each day, it is far easier to create lasting change. This is how we find healing—in the ongoing community striving towards the same goal of adventure. At the end of the day, it’s the joy we experience outside, together, that keeps us coming back. Life is meant to be joyful. It is challenging, but also fun.
Hence, wilderness outpatient is a slight misnomer but helps others understand the work we do. Traditional outpatient offers structured time in a clinic or facility, often including one-on-one therapy and group activities to help a client feel connected and continue on the recovery path with a continuum of support. These programs tend to be clinical and insurance driven. Some use experiential therapies but to comply with the rigor of medical, insurance-based models, programming is usually with licensed clinicians, typically indoors. This can limit the opportunity for integration and real-life application.
The Adventure Model
Research shows that adventure compliments mental health therapy and is a therapeutic path used by many. What makes adventure unique is that the therapeutic space is outdoors, in nature, and clients determine the path. One client may need an expedition for extended days, another may want to meet with an AR Guide once a week for a few months to build on skills and develop accountability and camaraderie.
Traditional models of addiction and mental health treatment often involve talk and group therapy and a fair amount of time is sedentary and spent indoors. What’s more, in traditional treatment, insurance reimbursement may limit what is considered efficacious drug and alcohol addiction treatment. This can narrow the focus for clients.
However, many highly skilled therapists are trauma-informed, somatically literate, and well-versed in progressive approaches. Furthermore, clinical behavioral treatment can be a vital component of mental healthcare and habit modification. The rubber hitting the road is when we learn to apply what we have learned in real life. This is the core component to the adventure model. Adventure-based skill-focused activities, such as rock climbing or whitewater river sports, help clients to be completely in the present moment while navigating physical and emotional endeavors in real time. In addition, they learn to trust others and access vulnerable feelings that may be easy to suppress in a more traditional talk therapy model. Adventure can enhance one’s emotional access, allowing for transformational experiences that generate healing. This occurs as shifts in behavior are applied in real time. What’s more, we’ve learned that with a holistic approach to our overall wellness, talk therapy has the space to incorporate into our consciousness in subtle ways.
Outdoor adventure brings us into our bodies, to inhabit the skin we’re in. Also, interpersonal skills development accelerates efficacy and self-actualization. For many of us, development was stunted at a younger age—typically during adolescence—due to substance use or trauma, so we need opportunities to grow and evolve on multiple levels. Healing is about integrating modalities for a holistically informed experience of transformation. This is the work we do.
Nature, Now More Than Ever
Nature is a place for healing. We’re blessed to have outdoor skills know-how, along with the mental health expertise and training on our team, to support teens, young adults, parents, and adults. Families are often seeking new experiences, together. We can go for a hike, paddle a whitewater rapid, climb a multi-pitch, and/or offer an in-depth clinical session with our licensed consulting team. Furthermore, this is all with our clients living in a non-inpatient setting. Wilderness outpatient is an easy way to explain what we do, though it may not encompass the full scope. AR offers prevention programs and provides instruction, training, group programming and activities, individual support, mentorship, access to coaching and clinical experts, and recovery guidance. What we do is tailored to each client. Consequently, we see profound impacts when folks receive the instruction, peer support, and oversight.
Wilderness as Continuum of Care
“I was so fortunate to see so many young people find profound change while working in Wilderness Therapy. Shedding layers of themselves, they were able to greet their values and dreams in a way they hadn't before. As a field guide, I was one of the lucky ones to witness the "Ah-Ha" moments. These same individuals would reach out to me months and, sometimes, years later and check in. So often, I heard the common theme of things going really well for a while after discharge, and then similar patterns emerging. It can be a painful experience to go through such drastic change and not be able to keep that momentum going. I always try to remind them of the same thing: Nature goes through seasons of change. Some of are filled with immense beauty and emergence, when we enjoy the beauty of the bloom. Then, we go back to periods of shedding and quiet reflection. The key is that we show up consistently, to get to know all of these parts of our journey. What I love about what we do now is, the continuum is there. Instant connection to our crew ensures that individuals apply what they learn in real life and sustain the growth. This is so powerful to witness.”Nate Bennick, National Field Director, Adventure Recovery
Healing is a personal experience and traverses many paths. What we know for sure is that outdoor experiences are impactful and translate directly to our mental health and well-being. What we also know for sure is that one of the most important components of healthy living is developing and sustaining behavior patterns that promote positivity, connection, and wellness. We find all of this, and more, outside.
*Nate Bennick, National Field Director of Adventure Recovery, has direct experience in traditional wilderness therapy models, having served as milieu coordinator and field guide.