Copyright 2002
Wilderness Drum, Inc.
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A Typology of Wilderness Programs
Steve Beyer

It is difficult to define wilderness therapy, for two reasons. First, there are a large number of often overlapping terms used in the field of wilderness education; and, second, there are a large number of activities and programs which take place in an outdoor or wilderness setting, and which are held to provide psychological benefits of one sort or another for participants. For example, a program may claim that rock climbing, in and of itself, aids recovery for female victims of sexual assault, by helping to shift the locus of control from others to self; another program may believe that an extended voyage as the crew of a sailing ship has therapeutic benefits for troubled teenage boys, largely by the imposition of discipline and teamwork. It is not clear whether or to what extent either or both of these programs should be considered wilderness therapy, as opposed, say, to wilderness challenges. It may thus be useful to clarify some of these terms. In the following paragraphs, we will attempt to distinguish four types of wilderness program – wilderness skills, wilderness awareness, wilderness challenge, and wilderness therapy.

Wilderness skills

What we will call wilderness skills – also called wilderness education, outdoor education, or camping education – are the skills of traveling, living, or surviving in the wilderness. These skills include wilderness survival skills, primitive living skills, wilderness navigation, weather prediction, wilderness medicine, and leave-no-trace wilderness travel, and are taught by such schools as the well-known Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS), National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), and Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities (SOLO).

Wilderness awareness

What we will call wilderness awareness – also called nature education, earth education, environmental education, and, confusingly, outdoor education – is the study, in an outdoor setting, of nature, ecology, and the environment, including nature awareness and nature appreciation. There are several approaches to wilderness awareness. Some programs, such as the Institute for Earth Education, develop materials and approaches for teaching ecology to children and youth which emphasize the flow of energy and cycling of materials on earth, the interdependence of living communities, and the instrumental value of the wilderness. The emphasis in such programs is, broadly speaking, pedagogical rather than experiential, although most include experiential components.

Some programs emphasize simply experiencing the living world, the healing power of the earth, the “life-sustaining integrity, beauty and intelligence of nature” (Cohen, 1997, p. 20). Such programs can involve nature trips, “medicine walks,” communion with plant spirits, and other – generally non-strenuous – means of observing and participating in the natural world. Entering into nature is seen as in itself an experience of “depth and complexity . . . of exquisite beauty and clear impact” (Greenway, 1995). Such programs cite, for example, the well-respected Lakota medicine man Pete S. Catches, Sr., who lived in a remote cabin where, he said, “[t]he soul might constantly expand in the presence of natural beauty” (Lewis, 1990, p. 50). Participants in such programs are held to have “the courage and faith to return to our Earth as a source of emotional healing, as a way to go from being lost to being found” (Chard, 1994, p. 17).

Such immersion in the natural world is often combined with other modalities as well. Experience of the natural world may be part of an overall therapeutic program – for example, “reconnecting with nature” (Cohen, 1997), “coming back to life” (Macy, 1998), “ecotherapy” (Clinebell, 1996), “the healing earth” (Chard, 1994), or “nature-guided therapy” (Burns, 1998). Frequently, nature awareness is an integral part of wilderness skills courses; teachers such as Tom Elpel of the Hollowtop Outdoor Primitive School and Tamarack Song of the Teaching Drum Outdoor School emphasize that primitive living skills, for example, are a means to feel more attuned and in harmony with nature, and provide “a model for living that gives us the basic foundations, the very laws of nature, upon which all of our solutions, in primitive and contemporary living, must be built” (Elpel, 1999, p. 5). For a listing and description of a number of wilderness skills and wilderness awareness schools, see Bigley (2000).

A specific subset of such programs is the use of animal tracking as a way to achieve a deeper awareness of nature – and, in some settings, a spiritual contact with the wilderness. Most such programs ultimately derive from the tracking school and the teachings of the sometimes controversial Tom Brown, Jr. , who claims to pass on to his students both the tracking techniques and the nature spirituality of an Apache scout named Stalking Wolf (e.g., Brown, 1987, 1991, 1996a, 1996b). Other trackers, such as Paul Rezendes, make similar claims for the relationship between tracking and the ability “to move away from the tiny perspective of thought and self into all-encompassing awareness” (Rezendes, 1999, p. 22).

Another special subset of wilderness awareness is the wilderness vision quest or vision fast. The wilderness vision quest has increasingly become a recognized part of the repertoire of both transpersonal psychotherapy and personal growth (Segal, 1998; see generally Foster, 1992; Foster & Little, 1984; Linn, 1997). The complex history of the contemporary vision quest movement has yet to be written; but there is little question that at its center stand Steven Foster and Meredith Little and their profoundly influential School of Lost Borders (Foster & Little, 1984; Foster & Little, 1987; Foster, 1992; Foster, 1996; Foster & Little, 1997; Foster, 1998).Other first-generation founders of the movement include John P. Milton of The Way of Nature and Joseph Jastrab of Earth Rise Foundation. In addition, there is now what we can call the second generation of vision quest leaders, most of whom have either received training in or been strongly influenced by the School of Lost Borders, including Sparrow Hart of Circles of Air and Stone, Bill Plotkin of the Animas Valley Institute, John Davis of High Desert Passages, and Marilyn Foster Riley of Wilderness Transitions. The movement is also becoming increasingly professionalized. John Davis, for example, is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the Metropolitan State College of Denver and a senior adjunct faculty member in the Transpersonal Counseling Psychology Department at the Naropa Institute. There is also now a professional organization of wilderness vision quest guides and leaders, called the Wilderness Guides Council, which currently has more than 200 members, and which seeks, among other things, to establish standards for the conduct of ecologically sound vision quests.

Wilderness challenge

What we will call wilderness challenge is also called challenge education or adventure education; indeed, a wide variety of terms are used, including “adventure recreation, high adventure, natural challenge activities, outdoor pursuits, and risk education” (Ewert, 1989, p. 2). Ewert defines these activities as “[a] variety of . . . activities utilizing an interaction with the natural environment, that contain elements of real or apparent danger, in which the outcome, while uncertain, can be influenced by the participant and the circumstance” (p. 6). In general, then, wilderness challenge consists of adventure activities in an outdoor setting, paradigmatically ropes courses, but also embracing hiking, climbing, sailing, and similar challenges, ranging in time from an afternoon to a year, and intended primarily to promote self-esteem, team building, and personal growth, as taught, prototypically, by Outward Bound and Project Adventure. Wilderness challenge has generated a large descriptive and research literature; see generally Priest & Gass (1997), Smith et al. (1992), Miles & Priest (1990), Ewert (1989), and Mortlock (1984). On ropes courses in particular, see Rohnke et al. (1997).

Wilderness therapy

In contrast to all these programs, wilderness therapy – also called adventure therapy – “involves the use of traditional therapy techniques, especially those for group therapy, in out-of-door settings, utilizing outdoor adventure pursuits and other activities to enhance growth” (Davis-Berman & Berman, 1994, p. 13). We have to distinguish – somehow – between the claimed beneficial effects of other types of wilderness programs and the effectiveness of wilderness therapy with specific clinical populations. For example, wilderness survival training may have therapeutic benefits for troubled teens (Adams, 1969/1970), but that does not turn wilderness survival training into wilderness therapy. Larry Dean Olsen, one of the founders of modern wilderness survival, says that mastery of stone age living skills implies two things – “first, an immersion within the affective domain of life and secondly, a life centered away from comfort and ease” (Olsen, 1967/1990, p. 5). While these are, to me, laudable goals, the goals do not necessarily turn flintknapping into therapy.

Indeed, questions of definition have frequently troubled practitioners of wilderness therapy. Michael Gass, a leading writer in the field, has suggested a continuum on which therapy is at the “deep end” of a range across recreation, enrichment, adjunctive therapy, and primary therapy (Gass, 1993a). Others urge a clear boundary between therapy and enrichment. Jenny Bunce suggests separating out therapy from education. Therapy, she says, is “an intentional intervention process designed to address specific individual problems.” When this process involves adventure programming or wilderness settings, it becomes adventure therapy or wilderness therapy (Bunce, 1998, p. 51).

Wilderness therapy has traditionally been used with troubled youth, and there is little doubt that this is still its primary focus. However, a number of efforts have been made to extend wilderness therapy to clinical populations such as substance abusers (Gass & McPhee, 1993), juvenile sex offenders (e.g., Eger & Kilby, 1998), survivors of violence (e.g., Webb, 1993), psychiatric patients (e.g., Roberts, et al., 1998), and families (Gass, 1993b).

References

Bigley, J. A. (2000). Aboman's guide to wilderness schools and primitive events. Salt Lake City, UT: Gibbs Smith.

Brown, T. (1987). The search: The continuing story of the tracker (Reissue ed.). New York, NY: Berkley Publishing.

Brown, T. (1991). The vision (Reprint ed.). New York, NY: Berkley Publishing.

Brown, T. (1996a). Grandfather. New York, NY: Berkley Publishing.

Brown, T. (1996b). The Tracker (Reissue ed.). New York, NY: Berkley Publishing.

Bunce, J. (1998). A question of identity. In Itin, C. (Ed.), Exploring the boundaries of adventure therapy: International perspectives (pp. 46-55). Boulder, CO: Association for Experiential Education.

Burns, G. (1998). Nature-guided therapy: Brief integrative strategies for health and well-being. Philadelphia, PA: Brunner/Mazel.

Chard, P. (1994). The healing earth: nature's medicine for the troubled soul. Minnetonka, MN: NorthWord Press.

Clinebell, H. (1996). Ecotherapy: healing ourselves, healing the earth. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.

Cohen, M. (1997). Reconnecting with nature: finding your wellness through restoring your bond with the Earth. Corvallis, OR: Ecopress.

Davis-Berman, J., & Berman, D. S. (1994). Wilderness therapy: Foundations, theory and research. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

Eger, D., & Kilby, S. (1998). Integrating adventure therapy into an adolescent sex offender program. In Itin, C. (Ed.), Exploring the boundaries of adventure therapy: International perspectives (pp. 305-317). Boulder, CO: Association for Experiential Education.

Elpel, T. (1999). Participating in nature: Thomas J. Elpel's field guide to primitive living skills (4th ed.). Pony, MT: HOPS Press.

Ewert, A. (1989). Outdoor adventure pursuits: Foundations, models, and theories. Columbus, OH: Publishing Horizons.

Foster, S. (1992). The book of the vision quest: personal transformation in the wilderness (Rev. ed.). New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Foster, S. (1996). Filming a modern wilderness rite of passage for youth. In Mahdi, L., Christopher, N., & Meade, M. (Eds.), Crossroads: the quest for contemporary rites of passage (pp. 369-378). Chicago, IL: Open Court.

Foster, S. (1998). The four shields: the initiatory seasons of human nature. Big Pine, CA: Lost Borders Press.

Foster, S., & Little, M. (1984). The sacred mountain: a vision quest handbook for adults. Big Pine, CA: Rites of Passage Press.

Foster, S. & Little, M. (1987). The vision quest: passing from childhood to adulthood. In Mahdi, L., Foster, S., & Little, M. (Eds.), Betwixt and between: patterns of masculine and feminine initiation (pp. 79-110). LaSalle, IL: Open Court.

Foster, S., & Little, M. (1997). The roaring of the sacred river: the wilderness quest for vision and self-healing (2nd ed.). Big Pine, CA: Lost Borders Press.

Gass, M. (1993a). Programming applications of adventure therapy. In Gass, M. (Ed.), Adventure therapy: Therapeutic applications of adventure programming (pp. 77-81). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

Gass, M. (1993b). The theoretical foundations for adventure family therapy. In Gass, M. (Ed.), Adventure therapy: Therapeutic applications of adventure programming (pp. 123-138). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

Gass, M., & McPhee, P. (1993). Emerging for recovery: A descriptive analysis of adventure therapy for substance abusers. In Gass, M. (Ed.), Adventure therapy: Therapeutic applications of adventure programming (pp. 311-322). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

Greenway, R. (1995). The wilderness effect and ecopsychology. In Roszak, T., Gomes, M., & Kanner, A. (Eds.), Ecopsychology: restoring the earth, healing the mind (pp. 122-135). San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books.

Lewis, T. (1990). The medicine men: Oglala Sioux ceremony and healing. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

Linn, D. (1997). Quest: a guide for creating your own vision quest. New York, NY: Ballantine Wellspring.

Macy, J. (1998). Coming back to life: Practices to reconnect our lives, our world. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.

Miles, J., & Priest, S. (Eds.). (1990). Adventure education. State College, PA: Venture Publishing.

Mortlock, C. (1984). The adventure alternative. Milnthorpe UK: Cicerone Press.

Olsen, L. (1990). Outdoor survival skills (5th ed.). Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press. (Original work published 1967).

Priest, S., & Gass, M. (1997). Effective leadership in adventure programming. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Rezendes, P. (1999). The wild within: Adventures in Nature and Animal Teachings. New York, NY: Berkley Publishing.

Roberts, B., Horwood, S., Aunger, N., & Wong, M. (1998). Adventure with adults living with psychiatric disabilities. In Itin, C. (Ed.), Exploring the boundaries of adventure therapy: International perspectives (pp. 368-376). Boulder, CO: Association for Experiential Education.

Rohnke, K., Tait, C., & Wall, J. (1997). The complete ropes course manual (2nd ed.). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

Segal, F. (1998). Ecopsychology and holistic health. In Bassman, L. (Ed.), The whole mind (pp. 198-212). Novato, CA: New World Library.

Smith, T., Roland, C., Havens, M., & Hoyt, J. (1992). The theory and practice of challenge education. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

Webb, B. (1993). The use of a three-day therapeutic wilderness adjunct by the Colorado Outward Bound School with survivors of violence. In Gass, M. (Ed.), Adventure therapy: Therapeutic applications of adventure programming (pp. 95-102). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company

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