|  One way to make this shift from perceiving objects to perceiving context or relations is to observe the interface between water and land. Water flows all over rocks and sand. We can see water flow over, under, and around. We see water deflect, merge, lick, crash, and softly lap up against. We see water reflect like giant mirrors. We see it take away and give back, and we see all of this in relation to land. And we may notice that flow is the relationship. It is the dynamic property of what may be the most essential and contrasted material relationship within our experience. It is the interface between elemental forces; ocean and land, river and mountain. It is where erosion meets resistance, hard meets soft, still meets fluid, and where tawny-colored sand meets deep blue water.
—Laura Sewall In 1995, sixteen-year-old Aaron Bacon died at a Utah-based wilderness therapy program called North Star Expeditions. As a result, North Star's two directors and seven of its employees were tried on felony charges of abusing and neglecting a medically disabled child. An initial report was written by Christopher Smith in the well-regarded Outside Magazine, with the title “What happened out here?” and the subtitle, “A death in the wilderness raises disturbing questions about boot camps for troubled teens.” Then, four months later, the magazine published a follow-up investigative piece by Jon Krakauer, one of the top outdoor writers in the country, who had been, according to editor Larry Burke, “dispatched . . . to probe the merits and methods of wilderness therapy.” The article had the provocative title, “Loving them to death,” and the bold-print lead-in, “It's the ‘wilderness experience’ at its most extreme – rehabilitation of wayward teenagers delivered with the in-your-face discipline of a boot camp. But in the past five years at least four young people have died, the victims of alleged beatings, starvation, and emotional abuse, and the so-called therapy is looking more like murder.” In the same issue, Amanda Stuermer provided a sidebar on wilderness therapy programs entitled “Caveat emptorium: A user's guide to a very iffy marketplace.” Similarly, in December 1999, eight male juveniles, students at RedCliff Ascent, a wilderness-based youth custody facility, assaulted and overpowered their camp counselors, tied at least one of them up, and escaped into the hostile desert of southern Utah. The story was, again, extensively covered in Outside Magazine by Mark Jenkins. It seems that wilderness adventure and therapy programs have not been a matter of great public interest, except when something goes terribly wrong. The field, however, does not lack for self-examination; in many of the books discussed below, you will find ongoing debates about the field of wilderness adventure and therapy – what it is, who should do it, what it’s good for, whether it works, and, if it works, for whom and for how long. Was the North Star Expeditions program wilderness therapy at all? What went wrong at RedCliff Ascent – bad leaders? bad training? bad kids? bad idea?
 Ellen Cole, et al., Wilderness Therapy for Women: The Power of Adventure (New York NY: Harrington Park Press, 1994), ISBN 1-56023-058-4. This collection consists of papers specifically relating to the use of wilderness therapy for women, including general discussions, feminist analyses, first-person accounts by participants, and papers on specific populations, particularly sexual assault survivors. The articles collected in this volume were originally published in a special issue of the journal Women and Therapy in 1994.
 Jennifer Davis-Berman, et al., Wilderness Therapy: Foundations, Theory & Research (Dubuque IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1994), ISBN 0-8403-9060-2. This book is a comprehensive textbook on the subject of wilderness therapy. Written by two of the leaders in the field, it grew out of the Wilderness Therapy Program of Lifespan Counseling, which provided intensive therapy for troubled youth in outdoor settings. Chapters include discussions of the wilderness ethic, early wilderness programs, varieties of programs, theoretical understandings of wilderness experiences, and program design and evaluation. Although growing slowly out of date, this book, with its emphasis on outcomes research, remains probably the single best compact text on the subject.
 Gary Ferguson, Shouting at the Sky: Troubled Teens and the Promise of the Wild (New York NY: ST. Martin’s Press, 1999), ISBN 0-312-200008-0. This is not so much a textbook as an extended piece of journalism. It is a first-person, impressionistic account, by an experienced nature writer, of his season as a counselor in a wilderness therapy program for troubled teenagers. These teenagers, largely privileged suburbanites, have been placed in the program, largely as a last resort, by desperate parents wealthy enough to be able to afford it. There is no doubt that the participants gained from the program, although, of course, given his journalistic intent, the author can provide no long-term follow-up. Much of the book is moving, as children who are depressed, inarticulate, self-destructive, anorexic, or addicted gradually gain strength and self-reliance in the wilderness. But these kids are also experienced con artists, and it is hard to tell the extent to which the author – as opposed to the professional therapists – is scammed into buying their version of their history, motivations, intentions, and relationship with their parents.
 Michael Gass, editor, Adventure Therapy: Therapeutic Applications of Adventure Programming (Dubuque IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1993), ISBN 0-7872-0187-1. This book was originally a project of the Therapeutic Adventure Group of the Association for Experiential Education. In many away a pioneering compilation, the goal was to establish “a common set of information that can help us to more clearly delineate what it is that we do – both to our colleagues and our critics.” Thus, the thirty-nine articles in the book cover research, theory, and application of adventure therapy to specific populations – borderline adolescents, survivors of violence, juvenile sex offenders, and families. Importantly, a number of articles discuss the development of adventure therapy as a professional discipline, including professionalization, ethics, staff development, and legal regulation. The debate over adventure therapy – what it is, who should do it, what it’s good for – continues.
 Thom Henley, Rediscovery: Ancient Pathways, New Discoveries: Outdoor Activities Based on Native Traditions (Edmonton AB: Lone Pine Publishing, 1996), ISBN 1-55105-077-3. I will put aside all pretense of impartiality and say that this is an absolutely wonderful book. Rediscovery is an international network of affiliated summer outdoor programs, primarily for Native North American youth but for non-Natives as well, all community-founded and community-based, which draw from the strength of native traditions, the wisdom of elders, a philosophy of love and respect for the land and each other, and a focus on the spirituality of all life. Urban Indian teens, long separated from their cultural traditions, spend time in the wilderness being taught traditional skills and values by elders and volunteers. This book, with numerous color photographs, is a manual for those programs, setting forth the Rediscovery philosophy and model, and filled with games, exercises, and discussion topics for teaching about the world within us, the cultural worlds between us, and the world around us. I found it inspiring.
 Christian Itin, editor, Exploring the Boundaries of Wilderness Therapy: International Perspectives (Boulder CO: Therapeutic Adventure Professional Group, 1998). The editor, for many years the head of the Therapeutic Adventure Professional Group of the Association for Experiential Education, has here collected the papers presented at the First International Adventure Therapy Conference, held in Perth, Australia, in July 1997. The papers cover a wide range of subjects, and the book brings together material on wilderness therapy programs in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Articles range from theory to facilitation to practice with a diverse range of clients, including adolescents, offenders and sexual perpetrators, psychiatric patients, and families. As in many such compilations of conference papers, the tone of the articles ranges from the scholarly to the speculative and conversational.
 Clifford Knapp, In Accord with Nature (Charleston WV: Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools, 1999), ISBN 1-880785-20-X. How do you teach middle-school and high-school students about environmental ethics? This book sets out ways to help students understand and define their relationship to nature and assess the importance of protecting the environment, using alternative teaching strategies and structured activities to connect students with both the natural and built worlds. The book stresses the relationship between environmental concerns and more universal values – consideration for others, doing something because it is the right thing to do, fulfilling responsibilities. Most important, through discussions of the history of environmental ethics and the diversity of views held by people in our society, the book provides teachers with ways to stimulate critical reflection, debate, and the development of a personal ecological ethic.
 John Miles, et al., editors, Adventure Education (State College PA: Venture Publishing, 1990), ISBN 0-910251-39-8. This 467-page book is a collection of brief, individually authored essays organized somewhat uncomfortably under ten headings, covering model programs, origins of adventure education, foundations of adventure education, the social psychology of adventure education, learning, leadership, management, settings, clients, and, finally, a global perspective. The book is clearly intended as a text for college programs, and it does provide an academic overview of pretty much the whole field of adventure education.
 Colin Mortlock, The Adventure Alternative (Milnthorpe UK: Cicerone Press, 1994), ISBN 1-85284-012-9. This is a very thoughtful book by a longtime British advocate for outdoor adventure experiences, especially in the schools. The first six chapters establish a broad framework of levels of adventure as well as addressing issues of the quality of the experience. Subsequent chapters develop a personal philosophy of the potential value of adventure experiences. In our skeptical times, these chapters have a somewhat quaint ring; the author speaks about integrity, compassion, unselfishness, and courage, culminating in what he calls, simply, maturity – the full development of the heart, soul, conscience, spirit. Where other books speak of enhanced self-concept and coping skills, this book addresses itself to irreducibly moral issues.
 Karl Rohnke, et al., Quicksilver: Adventure Games, Initiative Problems, Trust Activities and a Guide to Effective Leadership (Dubuque IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1995), ISBN 0-7872-2103-1. Karl Rohnke of Project Adventure is the king of games. This book – one of many he has written – contains a tremendous variety of games for group integration and team building, including ice breakers, trust activities, and opportunities for people to act silly. The book also discusses group dynamics and leadership. Whatever your tolerance may be for these sorts of activities, there is probably something in here you can adapt and use. You can also look at Karl Rohnke, Silver bullets: A Guide to Initiative Problems, Adventure Games, and Trust Activities (Dubuque IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1984), ISBN 0-84035-682-X; Karl Rohnke, Cowstails and Cobras II: A Guide to Games, Initiatives, Ropes Courses and Adventure Curriculum (Dubuque IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1989), ISBN 0-84035-434-7; and Karl Rohnke, The Bottomless Bag Again (Dubuque IA: Kendall/Hunt, 2nd edition, 1994), ISBN 0-7872-6772-4.
 Karl Rohnke, et al., The Complete Ropes Course (Dubuque IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1997), ISBN 0-7872-28313-1. The ropes course has become, for better or for worse, the paradigm of adventure methods. Whether you are just curious or want to build and facilitate a ropes course, this book is an essential manual, covering both history and risks, and offering practical advice and strategies for effective and safe management. Chapters include safety and equipment, rescues, maintenance and inspection, knots, facilitation, and descriptions of both high and low ropes course elements.
 Jim Schoel, et al., Islands of Healing: A Guide to Adventure Based Counseling (Hamilton MA: Project Adventure, 1988), ISBN 0-934-38700-1. This is the Project Adventure handbook for what it calls adventure-based counseling – providing troubled participants with an improved self-concept by pursuing a sense of trust and competence, using challenge courses, games, and group activities in the outdoors. The book discusses the history and theoretical perspectives of adventure based counseling; sets out the threefold sequence of briefing, leading, and debriefing the adventure experience; and gives examples of the use of adventure based counseling at schools, hospitals and treatment facilities, and programs for court-referred youth.
 Thomas Smith, et al., The Theory and Practice of Challenge Education (Dubuque IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1992), ISBN 0-8403-8042-0. This is intended as a college-level text, a tool for practitioners, and a reference tool for writers and researchers. It traces the historical roots of challenge education, its philosophical foundations, and its operational guidelines, including discussions of safety standards, goal setting, team building, and evaluation and research. A chapter on contemporary issues provides a collection of original papers dealing with questions of accessibility, environmental ethics, leadership development, corporate training, interdisciplinary communication, and other subjects.
 Scott Wurdinger, Controversial Issues in Adventure Education (Dubuque IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1999), ISBN 0-7872-6299-4. This book is a collection of paired pro and con articles on issues in the field of adventure education, covering such areas as gender-specific programming, challenge course instructor certification, mandatory debriefing, restrictions of wilderness areas, and use of modern communications systems in the wilderness. For example – Should challenge course instructors be certified? Should there be rescue-free wilderness areas? Have adventure programs eliminated too much risk? Do contrived adventure experiences, such as ropes courses, hinder participants from developing a connection to the natural world? Should wildlands be made available to more people, or subject to more restrictions and limitations?
 Scott Wurdinger, Philosophical Issues in Adventure Education (Dubuque IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1997), ISBN 0-7872-3623-3. This book is not, certainly, a sophisticated philosophical text. Rather, it uses an approach it calls critical analysis – identify assertions, draw out assumptions, and raise questions – to analyze outdoor programs. The book applies this commonsense process to views on the learning process, risk, human nature, and the aims of education as set forth by a variety of programs and educators. The book also discusses the philosophical underpinnings of adventure education, beginning with Plato’s question in the Republic, “Well, then, if risks must be run, should one not run them where success will improve people?” and briefly discussing Rousseau, Dewey, Freud, Erikson, and Maslow.
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