Adventure Therapy

What Is Adventure Therapy?

Adventure therapy is a type of experiential therapy that employs outdoor adventure to assist young adults and adolescents with mental health and behavioral concerns.

It is a type of psychotherapy that uses the learning-by-doing method. Adventure therapy combines community, nature, and daring exercises for treatment, thus promoting healthy identity development, help-seeking behavior, self-esteem, enhanced social engagement, and problem-solving abilities by employing demanding outdoor adventure activities to aid the therapeutic healing process.

This therapy improves a person’s physical, social, spiritual, and psychological well-being through the healing power of nature and the wilderness by doing outdoor physical activities. Adventure therapy helps groups, families, and individuals as they work to overcome their addictions.

Types of Adventure Therapy

Adventure therapy is classified into three types:

• Wilderness therapy: The wilderness therapy program is a very intensive type of therapy often done in distant wilderness locations in small groups over many days.
• Adventure-based therapy: These sessions are commonly offered at or near the place where the client is receiving treatment—typically for individuals enrolled in multi-day programs such as intensive outpatient therapy or residential treatment. It works by encouraging young adults to step outside of their comfort zones.Examples of activities are rock climbing walls explicitly built for therapeutic purposes instead of those found in the wild.
• Long-term residential camping: This is a type of adventure therapy in which people are placed in outdoor camps for an extended period, often a year, to teach them how to develop a positive attitude, trust others, solve daily life problems, solve, deal with natural consequences of actions, and survive in different environments.

Whom Is Adventure Therapy Intended For?

Adventure Therapy may help people of all ages, especially those conquering various mental health difficulties. Consequently, our treatment provides options for those recovering from eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and teen substance misuse to receive mental health care.

Adventure Therapy vs. Wilderness Therapy

The terms adventure therapy and wilderness therapy are frequently used interchangeably. Adventure therapy is also known as outdoor behavioral healthcare. It is a therapeutic approach that addresses behavioral and mental health concerns by engaging in outdoor therapy activities that mental health professionals supervise.

In contrast, wilderness therapy frequently includes overcoming artificial barriers. The fundamental focus of wilderness treatment is adaptation and endurance, as opposed to adventure therapy’s emotional and physical challenge. Furthermore, wilderness therapy is risky, and it combines various strategies and tactics.

Benefits of Adventure Therapy At Recreate Life Counseling

Adventure therapy has been proven to be very beneficial and highly effective. Adventure therapy offers prevention, early intervention approach, and treatment for persons with behavioral, psychological, and psychosocial disorders. Experiential education is the central principle of adventure therapy. Clients gain self-esteem, help-seeking habits, and self-efficacy by learning about what they’re doing as they do it, which leads to a more excellent grasp of the world and enhances their ability to learn.

Some of the benefits of adventure therapy at Recreate Life Counseling can include the following:

• Excellent treatment for anxiety, depression, trauma, PTSD, and other mental illness issues co-occurring with substance misuse.
• Great for all different ages and mental health disorders 
• Allows individuals to experience the therapeutic properties of nature.
• Allows engagement in real-world experiences.
• It helps individuals to discover new strengths, build relationships, and find a sense of self-esteem.
• Great for personal development.
• Increases interpersonal and social skills 
• It allows being physically active.
• Encourages self-reflection.

Addiction breaks down trust with family and friends. Adventure therapy at Recreate Life Counseling also helps build that trust. In addition, it improves executive functioning and allows individuals to learn to self-advocate for their needs.

How Does Adventure Therapy Work?

Adventure therapy in Boynton Beach helps to promote rehabilitation, development, and growth and enhances an individual’s physical, social, and psychological well-being through structured activities. Adventure therapy uses activities supported by traditional therapy. It is often done in a group or with family. In addition, adventure therapy uses the outdoors to help promote change by using experience with collaborative games, problem-solving, trust, high adventure activities, and outdoor endeavors. 

After each activity, the group comes together to talk about their experiences. During this discussion, the adventure therapist helps each client discuss what they experienced in correlation with their therapeutic goals. 

Adventure therapy is the utilization of adventure experiences offered by mental health professionals, especially in natural settings, including common outdoor activities such as

• rope courses
• biking
• camping
• skiing
• backpacking
• paddleboarding
• kayaking
• brush walking

Adventure Therapy At Recreate Life Counseling

Are you looking for an adventure therapy program for yourself or a loved one?

At Recreate Life Counseling Treatment Center, we use the power of adventure therapy as part of our client’s recovery process. We offer various evidence-based treatment programs and therapy that focus on each individual, and we use the most current theories and methods. Recreate Life Counseling’s effective therapy approach includes developing a unique treatment plan because it is critical for the long-term recovery of our clients.

Recreate Life Counseling helps each client recreate themselves and their lives so that they can achieve long-lasting recovery. Our team of substance abuse professionals is always available to answer any questions you may have. If you need help for yourself or a loved one, call us and talk to one of our experts today.