Participants and field guides leave family and friends behind and arrive to what most experience as quite foreign. The wilderness, with just a backpack filled with the basic needs; a tarp and sleeping bag for shelter, clothing layers for warmth and protection, and food. Participants and field guides are camping, cooking on a fire, hiking, and all while living in a small group isolated from the outside world. They are without everyday comforts like a toilet, bed, or cell phone and there are emotional and mental stressors; living outside in the rain, snow and sunshine while being a part of a group, doing chores, sharing your feelings, and participating in individual and group therapy.
Evoke Therapy Programs has always incorporated the family into our therapeutic approach. When we started doing wilderness therapy more than 20 years ago we knew how essential it was to involve the family. Back then it looked like phone calls, letter writing, and what we called a transition camp where families were reunited with their child and practiced their newly learned tools. Now, it’s so much more.
I thought that would grab your attention. 2020 was, as they say, a dumpster fire. Like most, if not all of you, I and my family began physically/socially distancing in order to minimize the spread of Covid-19 almost one year ago. It was challenging and depressing being physically isolated from extended family, friends, co-workers, and normal in-person interactions. Generally speaking, I would consider myself an introvert and don’t mind being by myself. Going on a fishing trip or spending a few nights on a solo in the wilderness renews me. With that said, I would not associate the word "renew" with 2020! Isolating for such a long period of time didn’t feel rejuvenating to me at all.
It has taken some time for Evoke to make a formal statement regarding the racial injustices in our country. Theses injustices have always been here, and the recent footage of the abuse and murders of people of color along with the systemic oppression laid bare by the Black Lives Matter movement—lack of basic healthcare, higher infant mortality rates, stunted access to housing and jobs, dramatically higher rates of incarceration—have led our nation, and Evoke itself, to an inescapable reckoning.
It has been over a year since my previous blog article addressed the changes in insurance coverage for Wilderness Therapy Programs. While it continues to be a gradual process, we are making headway.
Last week I received another call from a law office looking for background information about Evoke’s Wilderness Therapy Program. She let me know her client, a previous parent of our program, was bringing a suit against their family’s insurance company. As I got off the phone I noted this case would make 7 current cases I’m aware of just this year, and 3 more already settled in favor of the families. Wilderness Therapy is making significant headway in getting families insurance coverage.
“Wilderness? What’s Wilderness Therapy?” When telling people where I work I frequently get this question. After explaining they often follow up with, “Wow, that sounds amazing!”
Earth Day started in 1970 to bring environmental issues to the forefront of our awareness. Today Earth Day is observed by communities around the world. In support of this day, communities come together to plant trees, initiate recycling programs, host educational events and simply gather together at a local park or beach to collect trash.
Evoke Therapy Programs is pleased to announce Evoke at Entrada has received its Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Accreditation from the Association of Experiential Education (AEE). As a member of the Outdoor Behavior Healthcare (OBH) Council, Evoke at Entrada has made a commitment to uphold the OBH Mission, Ethical Standards and Best Practices. This also includes contributing to the collective research of OBH members making up the OBH Research Center, and being OBH Accredited.
One of Evoke’s founding principles is to, “Continually be a transformative program and company.” This, in part, means we are committed to the health of our employees, organization, and our communities. We believe it’s our responsibility to make efforts to better the health of our local, regional and global communities. At Evoke we do this through a variety of means, including how we spend and donate our money and time as well as providing other acts of service.
Participants and field guides leave family and friends behind and arrive to what most experience as quite foreign. The wilderness, with just a backpack filled with the basic needs; a tarp and sleeping bag for shelter, clothing layers for warmth and protection, and food. Participants and field guides are camping, cooking on a fire, hiking, and all while living in a small group isolated from the outside world. They are without everyday comforts like a toilet, bed, or cell phone and there are emotional and mental stressors; living outside in the rain, snow and sunshine while being a part of a group, doing chores, sharing your feelings, and participating in individual and group therapy.
It has been over a year since my previous 
“Wilderness? What’s Wilderness Therapy?” When telling people where I work I frequently get this question. After explaining they often follow up with, “Wow, that sounds amazing!”