Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors

Nick Slovak is the Executive Director of Green Hill Recovery located in North Carolina. When Nick was a teen he experienced several challenges including his father dying on Nick's 15th birthday. Nick shares his story of how he struggled and with his mother's support he ended up going to Summit Achievement where his life began to change. He shares how time in the wilderness with supportive peers he...

This episode is a follow up to Ep. 91: The Business of Wilderness Therapy. We crowdsourced questions related to the business of wilderness therapy from listeners and others to ask questions about the business side of the field. Some of the questions to be answered include: What qualifications do people have in running a wilderness therapy business? What are the business skills one has to have? How...

Have you ever thought about starting a wilderness therapy program? Have you ever wondered how and why the field of wilderness therapy went from being primarily dominated by non-profit programs to currently being inundated with for-profit programs? This episode focuses on the business side of wilderness therapy and the different models of operating in the field. This story explores the history of t...

Miriam Miller is a new field guide at Trails Carolina and former wilderness therapy student. Miriam grew up in South Carolina and faced many challenges during her childhood. By the time she got to college she became overwhelmed with issues related to trauma that she reached out to her mother to get her into a wilderness therapy program. Miriam shares her treatment journey and why she choose wilder...

Emma Stein is an undergraduate student in Outdoor Education at the University of New Hampshire . When Emma was young she suffered a great deal of loss as her father died when she was 9 and her mother died when she was 16. Emma shares the story of challenges related to the pain she was suffering and how traditional mental health treatment had limited impact. At 16 she went to Summit Achievement a w...

Kaiumati Roche is co-founder of Sojourn Consulting which supports and consults companies and individuals in Experiential Education and Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare.  Kai shares his story of struggling in college and going to a wilderness therapy program in Utah which changed the course of his life to pursue a career in wilderness therapy.  He has been a field guide or director at Wingate, New Vis...

Tom Whalen is an undergraduate student at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, N.H.  Tom grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut, and really struggled high school. Tom shares how outpatient and inpatients interventions did not help him.  While in a residential treatment center a clinician recommended wilderness and he decided to give it a try.  Tom shares his transformational story of being a student...

Sarah Stusek of Stusek Studios has worked in the film and television industry since childhood. When she was 17 years old she was brought to a wilderness therapy program in Montana called Three Rivers. The transporter told her, "You should write a book about this" and now, 13 years later, she has finished the book and it will soon be a motion picture. Sarah shares her challenging journey into the w...

Bryce Bauer is a relationship coach in Utah. Bryce shares his story of mental health and substance abuse challenges as a teen and young adult which eventually led to a traumatic car accident. After a family intervention, he reluctantly enrolled in a wilderness therapy program. He shares how his journey into the field and the challenges of being a student that shifted the course of his life. Bryce...

Judith Sadora, Therapist at Evoke Cascades. Judith shares her story of being the first black woman therapist in a program that is part of the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Council, and perhaps, the first-ever black woman therapist in wilderness therapy. She shares her challenges in the field and how she connected with allies who encouraged her along the way. Judith also educates the listener on ho...

This episode will delve into the history of wilderness therapy and how the field responded to five pandemics (crisis) during its long evolution. Will White will share the story of how different national and global calamities were catalysts for the evolution of wilderness therapy including a viral pandemic in 1901, global strife in 1941, the civil rights movement in 1968, the great recession of 200...

Alex White is an adventure therapy outpatient clinician. His journey into the field began as a child as his parents were mental health professionals. In college, he led outdoor orientation trips for incoming students and fell in love with the work. He went onto be a field guide at Red Top Meadows a state-funded wilderness therapy program in Wyoming. He shares his journey from field staff to clinic...

Katie Asmus is the founder of the Somatic Wilderness Therapy Institute in Boulder, Colorado. Katie shares her journey into the field which began when she learned about outdoor education and committed to pursuing a path of growth. Katie is an inspiring therapist, coach, guide, teacher, mentor, and workshop facilitator. Her story includes being Assitant Director of Naropa University's wilderness the...

Nick Magle-Haberek is the clinical director of BaMidbar Wilderness Therapy and co-founder of Adventure-Therapist.com. Nick shares his story of experiences from working as a field guide at Second Nature to being the first student in the dual master's program in Social Work and Outdoor Education at the University of New Hampshire. He has served as a clinician at Wendigo Lakes in Canada, Soltreks in...

Lorri Hanna is co-founder of Soltreks . Lorri has had a long career in the field from being a field guide, program director, clinician and owner of a program. Her passion for wilderness therapy began in 1980 when she hitchhiked across the country and fell in love with the outdoors. She shares her stories of working at Outward Bound, Wilderness Education Association, Ascent, and others before start...

Dr. Scott Bandoroff is the founder of Peak Experience Training , which provides the Clinical First Responder Certification for those working in the field.  Scott has worked in the field since the 1980s.  Scott was a field guide at SUWS, where he researched family dynamics while working on his doctoral dissertation. Scott shares his thirty-year journey from being a field guide to a clinician and de...

 What is going on in the field, and where is it going? Wilderness therapy is an essential service in every state in the nation, and most programs are operating during this early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Will White shares a summary of research as to how wilderness therapy is adapting and changing to meet the challenge COVID 19. He focuses on Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Council Programs, wh...

David Wieder is a therapist at Legacy Outdoor Adventures . He grew up in New Mexico and ended up, after traveling through Asia, going to Prescott College. He got his first job in wilderness in 2003 as a guide at Second Nature. David shares why he was drawn to high-risk adventures like paragliding. David tells his long history of working in the field, including at Wilderness Quest, Open Sky, and As...

Jacob Thomason is a Parent and Family Specialist at Trails Carolina.  Jacob's journey into wilderness therapy began in his last semester in graduate school when he saw a help wanted flyer at an outdoor store.  He went home and applied to every wilderness therapy job he could find as he was just about to complete his degree in clinical psychology. He shares his stories of working as a clinician at...

Dr. Steve DeMille, Executive Director, RedCliff Ascent . He grew up outside of Las Vegas and was encouraged to work at a wilderness program by his sister after he was laid off from a job. He was hired by RedCliff and then had an experience with a student, which inspired him to make wilderness therapy his career. Steve shares his inspiring story as to how he worked his way through college while wor...

Anne Wilzbacher is a therapist at Blue Ridge Wilderness Therapy's Emerald Arrow . Her journey into the field began as a child growing up in a state park as her father was a park manager. She worked at Eckerd Youth Alternatives as field staff for three years and then onto Naropa University for her Master's degree. Her vast experiences include working at AIM House and Open Sky. She also shares her i...

Josh White is the Executive Director/Co-founder of Red Mountain Sedona. Josh's journey into the wilderness therapy field began while he was at Naropa University, where he first heard about the field. Josh would meet his future wife, Maureen, at Naropa, and they would both, later on, co-found Red Mountain. Josh, who is a "teacher at heart," worked at Wingate as a therapist for young adults. Josh sh...

Steve Swayer is Co-Founder/Chief Clinical Consultant of New Visions Wilderness . Steve's journey into the wilderness field began after he had spent many years practicing as a licensed psychotherapist and was a director of a large outpatient mental practice in Wisconsin. His focus was on trauma-informed care, and when a tragedy happened in his own life, he went to Alaska to spend time in the wilder...

Dr. Brad Reedy is the Clinical Director/Co-Owner of Evoke Therapy Programs . Brad discusses his long career as a wilderness clinician as well as his newest book, "The Audacity to be You." He shares his remarkable journey from being a high school drop out in California to earning his Ph. D. at Brigham Young University to getting hired as a clinician at Aspen Achievement without any wilderness exper...

Kirsten Bolt is a clinical therapist at Open Sky .  She is a licensed marriage and family therapist and began her journey into the field in 2004 as a field guide at Aspen Achievement Academy (AAA).  She shares her story of being a field guide to being a clinician in a wilderness program.  Kirsten shares her heartbreaking experience of being a clinician at AAA as it closed. After AAA closed Kirsten...