It is understandable to be skeptical about wildern...

It is understandable to be skeptical about wilderness therapy, especially in this age of sensational and unreliable information. Reading many of these reviews, written by students, I cannot blame them, (in crisis, anxiously trying to save face, lacking both life experience and a fully developed frontal lobe,) for resisting, and resenting treatment. They are acting in accordance with their instincts, as their biological, psychological, and social development compels them to assert their desired autonomy. It is a stable caregiver s responsibility to provide a path, with barriers to bump against, guiding them to a safe adulthood. This is an adult s decision. The painful and terrifying task of getting an unwilling loved one into life saving treatment is a challenge beyond description. My heart aches, and goes out to any parent exploring this. As a therapist, and a person with 20 years experience working with teens and their parents, I can offer this truth - It is well understood throughout the adolescent treatment community that Second Nature employs the wilderness, not in a punitive way, rather, in a nurturing way, as a means of removing distractions, so young people can focus on sobriety, healing emotional wounds, repairing relationships with family, and building resiliency that will last a lifetime. The program makes safety in the outdoors its priority. The clinicians are sharp and experienced, working with the student and the family system simultaneously. I have nothing to gain when I say that I would advise anyone I care about, who is seeking help for their adolescent, because out patient therapy is just not enough, to talk with Second Nature.