Field Guide FAQs
Evoke Therapy Programs at Entrada is located in Santa Clara, Utah (just northwest of St. George). Washington County has over 100,000 residents. The city offers restaurants, movie theaters, and lots of outdoor activities. With over 300 sunny days a year, there is plenty of time to enjoy all the mountain biking, hiking, swimming, boating, and rock climbing that St. George has to offer. We are approximately five hours south of Salt Lake City off Highway 15 and under two hours northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. We are also less than an hour away from Zion National Park and two hours away from Bryce Canyon National Park.
The climate is semi-arid with two separate rainfall seasons in the early spring and late summer, which averages about eight inches of annual precipitation and over 300 days of sunshine. Temperatures in the summer range from the upper 90s during the day to mid-60s at night while winter temperatures are fairly mild with daily highs in the 50s and 60s and lows reaching into the teens and 20s. Although temperatures in the summer months can get very warm, the low humidity makes these temperatures agreeable. Winter months rarely see any measurable snowfall.
Evoke Instructors keep our participants safe while backpacking in the high desert of Southern Utah. They facilitate a clinically-focused wilderness experience that allows teens and young adults to actualize their potential. Our Instructors teach and role-model healthy expressions of emotion and appropriate behavior patterns. Instructors work with doctorate level therapists as a treatment team. In addition to facilitating therapeutic groups and assignments, Field Instructors teach primitive skills, backpacking skills, low-impact camping ethics, cooking, yoga and other mindfulness practices.
The job is both physically and emotionally challenging which creates the opportunity for personal growth and development every day. Aside from receiving feedback in the field, Field Guides receive weekly training from our therapists, medical coordinator, and health and wellness coordinator. They have the opportunity to attend a variety of professional conferences and free yoga classes. Along with personal growth, Field Guides facilitate and are directly involved in the growth, change, and development of our clients. To participate in another person’s journey toward a healthy and meaningful life might be the most rewarding and inspiring part of the job.
To work for Evoke Therapy Programs you must be at least 21 years of age and have current CPR and First Aid certifications. Evoke seeks creative, self-motivated, and compassionate people who have wilderness experience, either professional or personal. Our guides must be able to backpack six days a week between two to 10 miles a day. A Bachelor’s degree in a related field or an equivalent amount of relevant experience is preferred. The Field Guide position requires a one-year commitment.
Complete the online application for Evoke at Entrada and email a resume, and three letters of professional recommendation OR the names and contacts of three references to Evoke at Entrada. Our Recruiter will review your information and potentially contact you to schedule a telephone interview. After the interview, you may be invited to attend a seven-day orientation period in the field. The offer of employment will not be extended until the conclusion of the orientation period and is contingent on your performance during the orientation. Sending in all of the necessary information several weeks to months in advance will give you a better chance of participating in the orientation that best fits your schedule.
The orientation consists of seven days spent in the field, backpacking and learning from experienced trainers and other orientation participants. The orientation will be challenging and rewarding both emotionally and physically. You will be hiking anywhere from two to 10 miles a day over medium to rugged terrain with a backpack the entire week. Evoke trainers will ask you to be as open as you are willing to be. You will also have the chance to experientially learn about the program. The orientation is not a competition with the other potential hires. The Orientation represents the final interview process where you will be observed within the structure of the program. This also allows you to “interview” the program. Participating in the orientation does not guarantee you a job. However, if you have been selected to participate, you have already met some of the requirements and Evoke has high hopes for you to be hired!
Our Guides work an eight-day shift in the field with six days off to mountain bike, rock climb, travel, or simply relax. Staff change happens on Tuesday. Every Tuesday you will either be going into the field or coming out of the field.
At Entrada most Field Guides live in St. George, UT and the surrounding area. We do not provide living arrangements. Many people live with other Field Guides, sharing apartments or renting a house with a person/s on the opposite schedule. Entrada has a Facebook page where Field Guides can post the need for housing or roommates. Guides only have to commute once a week (remember the schedule is Tuesday to the following Tuesday), so living a few hours away is manageable. Several Field Guides travel during their off weeks.
Field Guides are paid hourly and work on average 15 hours a day. After the orientation, you will participate in a paid three-shift internship required of all new Field Guides. After completing the internship, you can move up from Level I to Level V. Advancing in levels is accomplished by fulfilling all of the requirements outlined by the Field Directors and the Therapists. Pay scale ranges from $40,552 to $47,032 within the first 12 months and can increase to as much as $57,200. For more information about pay please contact the recruiters from Entrada.
All new Guides begin by participating in an internship. This consists of three, eight-day shifts. During the internship, new Guides have the chance to learn the program by watching, doing, and listening to the experiences of senior staff. The internship is completed after (a minimum of) 24 days in the field and two excellent written evaluations.
We offer full health and dental insurance, active within about 60 days from your first day of employment. We also offer paid vacations and a 401k after a year of employment. Evoke Entrada provides training stipends for WFR, professional conferences, hard-skills workshops, and other professional development. We also offer a variety of gear deals.
Dogs: Evoke is a dog-friendly company. We allow Field Guides to take well-mannered dogs into the field. The dogs must go through a trial period making certain they are obedient, friendly, and have adequate voice command control. They must not cause distraction or chaos during group therapy sessions or other important events.
Couples: Couples who want to work together may do so at Evoke. The Guides will spend the first three shifts working in separate groups in order to facilitate the development of their personal style outside of the relationship. After this time they can make a request to the Field Directors to work together.
Community: Evoke Therapy Programs offers a close-knit community of diverse personalities who work hard and play hard together.
We backpack and move camp a minimum of five days a week. Evoke Therapy Programs practices minimal impact camping techniques. We teach and role model for our clients low-impact ethics. Many of our Field Guides are Leave No Trace certified.
The Great Basin, the Colorado Plateau and the Mojave Desert converge at our Entrada location making our field area one of the rarest and most beautiful desert landscapes around. Our field boasts some of the most unique geographical formations in the world and varies from sand dunes and red rock cliffs to Ponderosa Pines and Aspen trees. Field Guides backpack with participants in the Clover Mountains and the Dixie National Forest. The elevation in this area ranges from 3,000 to 8,000 feet.
Field Guides are able to advance from Level I to Level V. The advancement depends upon meeting all the requirements of each level. When an opening arises within the management, it is advertised for Evoke employees before it is opened to the general public.
Evoke Therapy Programs operates 365 days a year. We ask for a one-year commitment from most Field Guides. We do offer internships for college students and seasonal employment during the summer months, our busiest time of year. Contact a recruiter for more information on short-term employment.
Gear needed varies with the season. Guides are expected to provide their own gear for the field. Evoke provides its Guides with many professional gear deals to assist with this. Most Guides have a better idea of what kind of gear they will need after they complete the orientation. A comprehensive gear list will be provided to help prepare you for the orientation and to work as a Field Guide.
Our participants and staff have access to many books in the Evoke Entrada library. Some of our staff's favorites are:
- Shouting At the Sky by Gary Ferguson
- Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
- The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
- Choice Theory by William Glasser, MD
- It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It by Robert Fulghum
- Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
Our close-knit community offers experiences for every type of outdoor enthusiast. Field Guides often coordinate climbing, biking and camping trips together during their off shifts.
St. George, Utah offers many outdoor activities including world class rock climbing and mountain biking within minutes of town. The Pine Valley Mountains and Snow Canyon State Park offer countless hiking trails and are a great escape just 30-45 minutes from town. Guides often find time to visit the several National Parks and Recreation Areas within a 1-2 hour driving distance from Saint George including Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyon National Parks. In the winter months, staff will escape to our local ski resorts Brianhead and Eagle Point for day trips or spend their off shift exploring the many resorts (www.skiutah.com) that the Salt Lake City area has to offer.
If you have any other questions about the Field Guide position, or if you are interested in applying to work as a Field Guide, please contact:
Evoke at Entrada
Brennan Dougherty, Assistant Field Director, Recruiter
- No matter the preparation, Mother Nature always surprises you.
- Hearing difficult stories and it’s emotionally challenging at times.
- Touching people’s feet every day. Instructors’ number one job is safety and sometimes it’s not that glamorous.
- The job requires you to push the boundary of your comfort zone every day.
- Figuring out all of the things “thing” refers to in the field, not to mention the other 100 ever evolving wilderness vocabulary terms.
- Even if patience is your biggest strength, it will be challenged in this job.
- Spending every other week away from family, friends, sports teams, cheeseburgers, air conditioning, heat, etc.
- Working with unhealthy young people who are trying to become healthy without access to their vices. It’s harder than it sounds.
- The difficulty with not taking it personally when a client is behaving negatively and takes it out on you.
- Working with people at the beginning of their journey and not always seeing the outcome of their journey.
- Your co-workers are the coolest people around and you are part of a passionate and diverse community.
- You never run out of activities to do with more than 160 days off per year.
- You have a voice and you are expected to use it.
- Part of the job description involves facilitating “mandatory fun time”.
- Being applauded for making fires and playing with knives.
- Getting to use all that outdoor gear you’ve been hoarding for years.
- Making powerful connections with people from all over.
- Helping to save lives every day.
- The countless number of sunny days and shooting stars witnessed.
- Learning how to communicate more effectively in your own life.