Wilderness therapy for mental health

Our soul flocks to places where nature reigns. We love Daniel Island for its marshes, walking trails, creeks and Wando River. We appreciate seeing herons and turtles sunning themselves on the edge of a pond and stop to watch a gaggle of geese cross the road. Even alligators remind us of nature’s predators that predate our arrival. However, modern living has resulted in a “nature deficit” and many natural settings are disappearing. 

 

It’s not surprising then that natural settings evoke healing and wilderness therapy has been shown to provide many benefits for kids who suffer from anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, school failure, relational problems and substance use disorders. Wilderness therapy interrupts these patterns of negative behaviors, may elicit a desire for life change and helps identify plans for long-term success. 

 

I’ve worked with parents who were hesitant to place their child or young adult in a primitive wilderness setting, but afterwards became proponents due to the improvements they saw in their children. In a wilderness setting young people are unplugged from their phones or online games and gain skills through fundamental task accomplishments, like starting a fire with a bow-drill or simply clicking together two stones to create a spark. These accomplishments lead to greater self-confidence, self-efficacy and self-reliance. 

 

In the wild outdoors, young people learn to work together for interdependent survival and leadership. Out of necessity, they learn to work with peers, staff members and therapists. Nature teaches that every action has a consequence, and they alone are governing their experiences. This experiential self-reliant learning can help open hearts, restore relationships, and heal old wounds. 

 

It’s not surprising that young people learn effective coping skills after living in this “nature container.” When I recently visited a group of young people in Alaska, the therapist told me: “It’s amazing how the Alaskan setting does 95% of the therapy here! The farther away from their comfort zone, the more self-reliant they grow.” 

 

In this therapy group there were eight boys from different parts of the world along with four staff members and a Master’s level therapist. Some of the boys were quite comfortable in their surroundings and assimilated the chores such as cooking breakfast burritos on an open fire. The boy nicknamed “Sir John” ate slowly and quietly, and eventually started telling me about his involvement with drugs and alcohol, school difficulties, and arrests. He was glad to be “away from it all” and was working on restoring his relationship with his parents. Another teen from a Ukraine orphanage suffered from Radical Attachment Disorder and suicidal ideation. The quiet of the forest was broken only by the gentle waves breaking on shore, and the boys whose voices were low as they calmly shared their stories. 

 

There was one 18 year old distressed boy, Aiden, who had just arrived from Manhattan and was crying. He couldn’t believe his parents had sent him to the wilderness. He’d demanded to go back home asap. When informed of the length of stay he was to endure, he’d bawled even more. Despite the outcries, his first reaction was to help the other boys do the chores. 

 

The program is licensed by the Alaska department of health and welfare, and founded by Sean, an experienced therapist. He invited the distressed New Yorker to go fishing with him and canoeing over to the motorboat. Several hours later he returned with a more hopeful-looking boy, a hefty halibut, and several king salmon that provided a hearty dinner for the group. Surviving in a wilderness setting brings a primordial will to live and an appreciation and internalization of lessons that nature is expert at providing. 

 

C. Claire Law, M.S. IECA, Certified Educational Planner, resides on Daniel Island since 2004.