Blog

What Else Changes in Wilderness? Moving Beyond Outcome

Posted by Matt Hoag, Ph.D., Owner, Clinical Director and Therapist at Entrada on March 07, 2016 | 0 comment(s)

1matt resizedA cairn is a pile of stones or rocks, often used as a trail marker, landmark, or memorial. We use cairns in the field to mark where the group is so we can find it when we go to the field. Wilderness participants also look forward to cairns, as they mark where camp is and represent the end of a hike. On a solo, the cairn represents where staff will come to deliver water, food, or other needs while the young man or woman is reflecting and considering things. Over the course of a stay in Wilderness Therapy, the young person will see and build many cairns which represent a variety of things: starting and ending points, art in general, part of a sculpture of some kind, something done in group while they listen to others, and steps along the journey of their experience. In many ways, research in outdoor behavioral healthcare is like cairns, marking the way, representing steps as we investigate and evaluate this innovative therapeutic intervention.

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What Led Me To Evoke & My Experience There

Posted by An Alumni Student on February 22, 2016 | 6 comment(s)

Beginning in the eighth grade I lived in the spurious bubble of my own mind. I based my priorities on my desire for acceptance from peers. This led to a dangerous lifestyle, and on August 23rd, 2015, my life changed forever. I was sent to Evoke's Wilderness Therapy program in Santa Clara, Utah. Before jumping into this incredible experience, I need to explain what led me here.

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Dexter the Therapist Dog

Posted by Sabrina Marie Hadeed, MA, LPC, NCC Assistant Clinical Director & Therapist on February 16, 2016 | 6 comment(s)

Imagine a girl who struggles to connect with others. Imagine this girl afraid and angry. Imagine her longing to be understood but finding it hard to trust. Then picture this girl in a primitive central Oregon desert wilderness therapy program, trying desperately to cling to her defenses. She is hiding in her sleeping bag, curled up like a caterpillar in a cocoon. She is refusing to come out. Field staff and peers in her group have all tried to encourage her out of her cocoon sleeping bag, with no success.

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The Meaning of the Solo Experience

Posted by Matt Hoag, Ph.D., Owner, Clinical Director & Therapist at Entrada on February 11, 2016 | 1 comment(s)

1matt resizedMany of the young people we work with identify the solo experience as one of the more significant interventions during their time in the wilderness. This opportunity often creates some apprehension for the young person as they anticipate the challenge and consider how they will handle this alone time without people or things as distractions. The wilderness represents a break from a person’s lifestyle, and the solo is an additional step away from the daily group therapeutic process to focus further on one’s self. During their time away from group they have the opportunity to sit with themselves in nature, to consider their sense of self in relation to the natural world, consider further their relationships with family and other loved ones, at times do some reading and writing and engage in some meditation and reflection. We find that this experience tends to facilitate growth and development in the treatment and personal awareness with the young adults and adolescents in the program.

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Recovery From Trauma

Posted by Caitlin Tharaldson, LCSW, Therapist at Entrada on February 02, 2016 | 0 comment(s)

Judith Herman, author of Trauma and Recovery wrote; “Recovery can take place only within then context of relationships; it cannot occur in isolation. In her renewed connection with other people, the survivor re-creates the psychological facilities that were damaged or deformed by the traumatic experience. These faculties include the basic operations of trust, autonomy, initiative, competence, identity, and intimacy. Just as these capabilities are formed in relationships with other people, they must be reformed in such relationships. The first principle of recovery is empowerment of the survivor. She must be the author and arbiter of her own recovery. Others may offer advice, support, assistance, affection, and care, but not cure.” These wise and astute statements so vividly describe the experience for an individual entering wilderness therapy at Evoke, particularly one who has experienced trauma and is in the process of recovery.

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The Struggle is Real

Posted by Morgan Robak, CSWA, Therapist at Cascades on February 01, 2016 | 5 comment(s)

I worked for 11 months as a field staff before becoming a Wilderness Therapist. As a member of the field staff team, I have memories of the therapists coming into the groups and shaking things up after we developed a rhythm within our group for the week. At the time, I did not understand this approach. Why leave students feeling sad or upset, letting them deal with these feelings on their own?

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Letter Writing for Effective Communication

Posted by Lindsey Bosse on January 26, 2016 | 2 comment(s)

Lindsey BosseAt Evoke, we practice family communication through letter writing. One of the reasons we do this is the obvious lack of technology that our participants have in the wilderness – they are free of the usual convenience of texting, messaging, emailing and social media. Instead, they are left with pen and paper, and therefore, are only able to communicate with their loved ones through handwritten letters. Because of this, families have to respond through letter writing as well.

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Doing Your Own Work At An Evoke Intensive

Posted by Brad Reedy, Ph.D., Owner and Clinical Director on January 05, 2016 | 0 comment(s)

Evoke Brad Headshot 3 of 3It was just over five years ago when I attended the personal growth workshop that would change and shape my life going forward. For me, it was a crossroads in an inescapable torrent of anxiety and confusion. For others in attendance, it was time to refuel and reassess the direction in their lives. We all came together with the belief that we had work to do. I came to it after many years of outpatient work with a gifted therapist, while others came as an initial foray into their own personal work. In either case, what was promised was, “You will get out of it exactly what you need.”

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Letting Go of Expectations

Posted by Michael Griffin, MS, CADCIII, Owner and Therapist at Cascades on December 22, 2015 | 0 comment(s)

1Griff ResizedDespite the ideals of connectedness, family and merriment, holidays can be a tough time for anyone. This is exceptionally so for families who have loved ones in treatment. This certainly wasn’t “the plan” was it? John Lennon’s lyric from the song Beautiful Boy rings true, “Life is what happens when we are busy making other plans.” Evaluating our beliefs about what it is supposed to look like or what “should be” is really an integral part of the process. The clients in my group spend a lot of time assessing their patterns of thinking. The disease of Addiction requires a circuitous logic that allows the addict to justify, minimize, externalize and rationalize their behaviors. Under every drinking problem is a thinking problem and the process of recovery requires us to step away from our own best problem-solving. The concept of letting go is a central theme in recovery literature. Letting go of expectations is especially important. We often say that expectations are premeditated resentments. When we have expectations of ourselves, others, or situations, we are planning in advance to be upset when things don’t go the way we expect them too.

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