The Wilderness Expedition
Many youth today have never experienced a day without technology.
From the time they were old enough to touch a screen, they have been interfacing continuously with technology. As many parents are learning by hard experience, unplugging a child from his/her technology can be a disruptive ordeal for the entire family.
Wilderness treatment places a youth in an outdoor setting, surrounded by nature and completely disconnected from technology and the conveniences of modern society.
Fewer and fewer youth are actually spending time outdoors and connected to the natural world; but instead, become engulfed by the world of cyberspace. Being in nature allows for immediate disruption of one's artificial cyber-space perspectives which then opens the door for genuine reflection regarding one's place in the universe. Many youth have become entitled and detached from the reality of their vulnerabilities as teens. Time in the wilderness can be a "wake-up Call" and provide a needed sense of humility and insight.
Wilderness treatment adds a physical dimension to a youth's experience
Being comfortable in nature requires constant effort and work. It will most likely require a greater degree of physical effort than what most youth are accustomed to exerting. Many youth have become creatures of comfort and unable to deal with discomfort, whether physical or emotional, on any level.
Everything from hiking to the top of a desert peak, enjoying that vista only seen from the summit he/she just hiked to the excitement of finally blowing a small coal into flame and creating fire from sticks - time spent in the wilderness allows youth to experience a core sense of peace, accomplishment and satisfaction that simply can't be found in cyberspace or any other dependency in which many of today's youth become entangled.
Wilderness Treatment demands personal responsibility
Wilderness treatment involves youth cooking, cleaning and maintaining their own equipment. IIt also means they will learn to reside in a group community setting with other youth, and most importantly, learning to find a sense of okayness within themselves away from all other artificial dependencies in their life.
Lying beneath the bright, desert stars
after an eventful day of hiking, learning to build fire with sticks, building a shelter and cooking his/her own meals over a camp fire, your child will experience a feeling that is largely unknown to many youth today.
Due to the onslaught of technology, many youth spend their waking hours in front of a computer screen or on a hand-held device, texting, gaming and surfing endlessly. Too many youth today have developed a dependency to being entertained by their technology and have lost the ability to manage the emotional demands of the lives without escaping into technology.
With skilled outdoor specialists guiding them, the youth spend a minimum of five days learning how to experience the remote, high desert of Southern Utah with only the supplies they can strap to their back. Being unplugged from ALL technology and outside communication provides a strong "wake up call moment" for the youth to focus and take responsibility for all aspects of their well-being including cooking, caring for their supplies and learning to use only the elements of the desert to live.
Participants are guided by a team of highly skilled clinical therapists who share more than 55 years of experience guiding youth and their families to successful resolution of their issues.
The wilderness has a way of naturally disrupting the resistance that teens and young adults have to talking about the issues with which they struggle. Under these conditions, participants are able to find new perspective and begin a focused, purposeful journey to make the changes needed to improve their lives.
Successful completion of a wilderness expedition becomes a building block for the development of healthy coping skills and learning how to face life challenges rather than medicate, avoid or run from them.