Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors

Patrick Hawkins is the founder of  Triple Divide Lodge  in Montana.  Triple Divide Lodge  is a 90-day program that combines residential treatment and wilderness therapy expeditions for boys ages 14-19. Patrick founded the program in 2021 and shares how this substance abuse treatment program works and how it differs from other wilderness programs. Patrick talks about what inspired him to work in wi...

Lucy Pritzker is an author, educational consultant, and founder of Elm Street Placements, Inc .  Lucy shares her journey into the field which began with one of her children began struggling at a young age.  She reveals the challenges the family went through to get the help they needed and how the long and difficult journey resulted in her pivoting in her career to become an educational consultant....

Matt Nannis is the Founder and Executive Director of PIVOTpoint. PIVOTpoint is a non-profit organization that provides outpatient "Therapeutic Adventure Work" through various outdoor programs in and around the Asheville, North Carolina area. Matt shares his journey into the field and how he experienced the power of therapeutic wilderness experiences while going through a healing process for himsel...

Beth Laughlin is the Program Director and owner of 360 Transition Services which "helps adolescents and young adults successfully transition from treatment to home, college, or independence." Beth shares her journey into the field, the history of 360 transitions, and the benefits of coaching for parents and young people. Beth reveals how young people often prefer " therapy incognito," how parents...

Dr. Todd Corelli ( Drtoddtalks.com ) is a clinical psychologist who has been providing psychological testing for young people in wilderness therapy programs for over 20 years. Todd discusses the benefits of delivering testing in wilderness settings, some of the major issues he sees, and how testing results have changed in the last decade. Todd shares how the pandemic and isolation have taken a tol...

Mark Adamski is the founder of Wilderness Reboot, a new "alumni network for students after leaving wilderness therapy." Mark shares his journey into the field, from learning about outdoor leadership in high school to working as an outdoor guide in Norway to transitioning to being a wilderness therapy field guide at Pacific Quest in Hawaii and then working at Pure Life in Costa Rica. When the pande...

In this episode, we talk with Shayna Abraham, the founder of Prepare to Bloom , a therapeutic consulting practice, and the Therapeutic Consultant Association (TCA) co-founder. Shayna shares the origin story of TCA, how a Therapeutic Consultant can help parents and each other grow, and how TCA is evolving. Shayna shares her wisdom of almost 20 years in the field, how therapeutic programs are needed...

Dave Herz is the founder of Wonder: A Confident Living Company , which "supports families through coaching and therapy in real-life settings." Dave shares a brief history of Wonder , how the organization began and evolved over twenty years and how he met co-founder Willow Rubin. Dave discusses the differences between coaching and therapy and how coaching can help young people and their parents bef...

Joanna Lilley is the Chairperson of the Therapeutic Consultant Association (TCA) and a practicing Therapeutic Consultant who previously worked in wilderness therapy. In this episode, Joanna shares a brief history of TCA, why the organization began, and how a Therapeutic Consultant can help parents and other caregivers when considering a wilderness therapy program for their teen or young adult. She...

Hilary Moses is co-owner and parent coach of Solutions Parenting Support and has a long history of working in wilderness therapy. In this episode, Hilary shares how being authentic and compassionate bad-ass has allowed her to challenge systems, whether it be a parent system or the field of wilderness therapy as a whole. Hilary shares how she became frustrated with how so many young people she work...

We explore the All Kinds of Therapy (AKOT) website which provides a resource for those interested in learning more about behavioral healthcare, including wilderness therapy. In this episode, we dialogue with the founder of AKOT , Jenney Wilder, about the intention of the website, the monthly newsletter , program listings , jobs section , blog posts and the Expert Section . Season 13 of Stories fro...

Dr. Fred Peipman is a therapist at Second Nature and works primarily with an adolescent all-gender group. Fred shares his fascinating story of growing up on the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea and leaving there at 15 to go to school in the United States. He reveals his unique path to becoming a psychologist, his research background, and how he learned about wilderness therapy by bringing sev...

Casie Fariello is the co-founder of Other Parents Like Me ( OPLM.com ), a subscription-based online platform designed to support parents of young people struggling with mental health and substance abuse challenges.  Casie shares how she met the other two co-founders of OPLM during one of the most challenging times in their lives when their children were in treatment. She shares how the organizatio...

Dr. Thomas Doherty is one of the foremost authorities on Ecopsychology and is a widely sought-after researcher and speaker on how climate change impacts mental health. He is the co-host of the new podcast, Climate Change and Happiness , and has a private practice in Portland, Oregon. Thomas shares his early career highlights of being a field guide in a wilderness therapy program for inner-city you...

How can wilderness therapy help young people suffering from trauma? Is transporting young people to wilderness therapy traumatizing? We explore these topics and more  with Steve Sawyer, Co-Founder/Chief Clinical Consultant of New Vision Wilderness . Steve has been a long-time champion of trauma-informed care and entered the wilderness therapy field when there was little discussion about trauma in...

In this special episode, we honor and explore the legacy of the late Adam Tsapis, Summit Achievement co-founder, tall ship captain, father, partner, friend to all, and advocate for wilderness therapy in its many forms. The first segment features archival audio recordings of Adam sharing some stories about his life and the early years of Summit Achievement with other Summit co-founders. The second...

Dr. Madolyn ("Maddy") Liebing is the Clinical Director of Legacy Outdoor Adventures and Juniper Recovery Center for Women . Maddy is a historical figure in wilderness therapy and has worked in the field since the 1970s. She was the first licensed psychologist to work in a primitive skills-oriented wilderness therapy program and helped develop many accreditation standards. She shares several storie...

Dawn McCord is the author of the new book, "Chasing Carson: A Family's Journey through Adolescence, Addiction and Recovery ," a powerful memoir about her family's experience with addiction, which includes participating in a wilderness therapy program that helped them all begin to heal.  Dawn shares the story of how her son, Carson, a natural athlete and risk-taker and, by high school, progressed t...

How is the field of wilderness therapy changing, and is it changing faster than ever before? In this special 150th episode, we will explore these questions by looking at the impact of the controversies related to the field and how the pandemic is changing many aspects of providing services. This episode will dive into different episodes from the podcast to reveal which interviews and topics were t...

Tami Ann is the author of the new book, "A Wilderness Journey: The Story of a Teen's Road to Healing" which is a heartfelt memoir about her son's and her family's wilderness therapy journey at a primitive skills-oriented wilderness program. Tami describes the writing of the book, the influence of Joseph Campbell on the framework, and how she involved family in the process. Tami shares what she lea...

What happens after a young person discharges from a wilderness therapy program? Do they transition home, therapeutic boarding school, or to a traditional school environment? This episode discusses aftercare planning at wilderness therapy programs for teens and how it has changed over 20 years, with more young people returning home or other traditional settings with support from coaches and outpati...

Wilderness therapy programs have evolved over the last twenty years to better help those with learning differences that impact mental health. Many young people who enroll in wilderness therapy programs have undiagnosed learning differences, including dyslexia, ADHD, etc., that need to be addressed for a healthy change to occur. In this episode, we dive into this topic with Sanford Shapiro, a learn...

Margo Kelly, MSW, MEd (they/them/theirs) is a course leader/therapist at True North in Vermont. Their journey to wilderness therapy began on a backpacking trip on the Long Trail when they came upon three different people who pointed them in the direction of True North. Margo was intrigued with an offer to be a therapist for the all-gender team and took the job. Margo shares their gender journey, t...

Jamila Minnifield is a therapist at First Light Wilderness in Georgia. Jamila shares the story of her unusual journey to becoming a wilderness therapist, from her serendipitous learning about wilderness therapy on a backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail to being a field guide for over two years, although having already achieved her masters in counseling. Jamila is a trailblazer as she is the s...

Mary Covington is the President of Denials Management , a healthcare advocacy firm specializing in mental health billing, claims, and appeals. Mary explains the critical steps in getting insurance reimbursement for wilderness therapy and how to appeal a denied insurance claim. Mary shares how insurance companies view outdoor behavioral healthcare and how Denials Management has helped parents recou...