Why It Works

The Wilderness Setting Naturally Stimulates Change

For youth and young adults who have grown up with all the conveniences of a modern age, the wilderness is an intimidating and uncertain place. There is a heightened perception of risk that motivates students to work hard to understand and adapt to their new environment in order to achieve a sense of comfort and self-discipline. Wilderness Quest therapists and direct-care staff carefully guide this process of introspection, self-discovery and personal preparedness. The wilderness experience inspires renewed confidence and a sense of self-worth and maturity, which are critical steps to accepting self-responsibility.

The Wilderness Naturally Teaches About Action and Consequences

Wilderness Quest students are governed by principles of safety, yet they are not rescued from the consequences of their own choices. After students are provided with education and counsel regarding laws of nature and wilderness survival skills, they are given the opportunity to exercise choice. In the wilderness, students begin to learn the powerful lessons of choice and consequences in a natural way.

The Wilderness Accelerates Trusting Therapeutic Relationships

Strong relationships of trust which are grounded in shared experience are the key to lasting change. At Wilderness Quest, staff share a variety of experiences together, creating a powerful therapeutic alliance. This alliance creates a willingness and openness within the student to explore and evaluate themselves and their family relationships with a new, more positive perspective.

The Wilderness Helps Students Control Their Behavior

The dynamic nature of the wilderness provides a rich environment which elicits a variety of emotions from the students. Students learn through these experiences to navigate through emotions and develop the personal responsibility to make appropriate choices. As students become more responsible, they learn that behavior is a choice. While feelings are extremely important, feelings and emotions do not justify destructive behavior. This understanding helps students gain conscious control of their choices, maximizing their feelings of self-worth.

The Wilderness Helps Students Learn Communication Skills

Daily living in the wilderness requires students to practice conscious choices about how they respond to physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges that they face. Gaining confidence in the understanding of emotions and sharing those emotions with others is critical to the students’ healing and recovery.

The Wilderness Builds Personal Strength

In the wilderness, students are without the distractions and daily conveniences of everyday life. The incredible beauty and vastness of the wilderness inspires an acknowledgement of a Higher Power and naturally encourages students to look inward. Students often discover formerly unknown sources of strength and a sense that they are connected to a Higher Power. Feeling a connectedness to this Higher Power, students begin to demonstrate a sense of humble confidence as they face physical and emotional challenges.