Nature Therapy for Troubled Teens: Why It Works and When It Doesn’t

It was early afternoon and hot under clear desert skies. My guide had driven an hour into the interior of the country so that he could meet me with a group of six teenagers and their two adult leaders. The introductions began with Evan. “Hello, my name is Evan. I’m fifteen years old, I’ve been here four weeks. I’m here because I was doing drugs, doing poorly in school, and not getting along with my parents.” One by one, the six teenagers introduced themselves.

That’s what they usually do in nature: in the west, south and northeast, in each nature therapy program I visit them, these young people uniformly introduce themselves telling a stranger what were once their most closely guarded secrets. are what we call troubled teens. Some have abused alcohol, while others describe themselves as drug addicts. They tell me of defiance, anger, unhealthy relationships, and families in crisis.

They speak because something works in desert therapy. Before saying more, I want to make it clear that nature therapy programs are not tea answer (or even year response) for each child. Also, everyone wildlife programs they are not the same nor have I visited all of them nature therapy programs. However, I have visited quite a few and have my own experiences along with those of some respected colleagues in the field to inform me. So what works is this: self-reflection. Teenagers have a remarkable ability to find the truth within themselves, especially when they don’t resist adults who have answers for them. It’s the kind of self-reflection that can only happen without the distraction of family, friends, school, and “stuff”: computers, designer clothes… you know what I mean. In the desert these adolescents and young adults with difficulties they have little to distract them. If they’re lucky, they have a backpack, but sometimes they just roll up their gear in a plastic tarp. They have water bottles and sleeping bags, and everyone is dressed in poly-pro-like clothing.

The first thing these teenagers in the desert learning is controlling what they can control and letting go of what they cannot. For example, they learn that they can control how securely they lay down their tarps to keep out the rain. When they don’t do it right, they don’t need an adult to remind them that they can’t control the rain. They learn that their couch potato bodies can walk miles each day, survive without “stuff,” bond with adults, and form meaningful friendships with other teens.

Tea desert experience It gives you challenges, yes, but it also gives you time, hours of time, days of time, weeks of time. It is not unusual for a group to leave camp in the morning with the goal of walking many miles to point B, only to stop for the day a long way from point B so the group can “process” someone’s behavior or thought. . In addition to group processing, most students meet with a designated therapist once or twice a week, the same therapist who communicates with parents about their child’s progress. Group work, individual therapy, and “alone” time while hiking in the wilderness or journaling by firelight are moments for self-reflection that lead to self-discovery and change. “I don’t need drugs anymore,” they tell me. “I miss my parents and can’t wait to be home with them” is another common theme. They have found these truths within themselves.

So what doesn’t work in the desert?

• desert therapy does not work when the child needs another type of intervention first–active cutters and those with recent suicide attempts, just to give you two examples, are generally not welcome in the desert.
• desert therapy does not work well when the child needs another type of intervention instead. Wilderness is not for all children or for all problems.
• desert therapy it doesn’t work well when the mix of kids is not right for reasons like age, gender, issues, etc.
• desert therapy it often doesn’t work well with “leaving” parents the kind of parents who want to leave their child with a “fix my child” attitude. Wilderness usually works best when parents are involved in the healing process as well. It is not always just the child’s behavior that needs to change.

Finally, this note of caution: Saying that desert therapy “works” is not the same as desert therapy “cures”. Sometimes a child’s troubles only last six weeks, which means that for some children, a six-week nature experience may be all they need. For many at-risk youthHowever, the best that can be hoped for is a child with a deeper understanding of their problems, a child with a good set of practical coping skills, and a child ready to move on to the next step in the healing process. -such as a return home and counseling or a transfer to a therapeutic boarding school.