Wilderness treatment programs for teens provide alternative living and teaching structures for teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 who are having trouble getting along in school or at home, are displaying signs of substance abuse or who are getting in trouble with the law. Wilderness treatment programs, also referred to as outdoor therapy or wilderness therapy, typically are long-term residential facilities that provide a natural environment for teens to learn new coping skills and to change their behavior.
Boot Camps
Highly structured and well-disciplined programs that operate like boot camps are very popular with parents who struggle with discipline at home with their teen. Boot camp type treatment programs such as Westridge Academy emphasize military-style discipline and punishment to retrain teens and provide consequences for their behavior.
Nature
Wilderness therapy programs teach cooperation and team building in natural environments that carry their own consequences. The emphasis is more on discipline that is natural and positive. While following strict codes of conduct and guidelines, troubled teens find that they cannot manipulate nature and must learn how to work with other participants to overcome obstacles and survive. Teens often build self-esteem through wilderness adventures and usually react to authority in a more positive manner than teens sent to more clinical facilities.
Challenge
Counselors at Wilderness Quest, a wilderness treatment program in Utah that has been working with troubled teens since the early 1970s, report that the undeveloped wilderness provides challenges to teens, often spoiled by technology and the comforts of home. They learn how to prepare for and understand their new environment, developing skills that transfer well back into society. Teens are given an opportunity to discipline themselves while learning about their own capabilities. Personal responsibility is a cornerstone of most successful wilderness treatment programs.
Staff
Staff members at wilderness treatment programs for teens typically are trained adolescent counselors. Long-term facilities employ teachers to maintain students' educational progress. Staffs at outdoor programs receive CPR and other emergency medical training and outdoor survival skills training. Facilities that treat minors also require extensive background checks for their employees.
Family
Families typically become involved in the teen's therapy on other levels. While the teen lives away at the camp for anywhere from one to two years, families at home must work on their own issues through separate therapy or programs suggested by the wilderness program. Parents and siblings need to be prepared to communicate with the teen when he returns home in order to foster a more positive relationship. Families often are taught many of the same principles used in the therapeutic community such as personal responsibility, teamwork and accepting consequences. Families usually visit the teems during their treatment and participate in family programs on-site.
