Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors

Ryan DeLayna shares his life experiences and the journey that led him to co-write his memoir with his father, "Without Restraint." Ryan shares how he spent most of his academic career in therapeutic schools due to behavioral challenges where he experienced various medications and restrictive interventions, including regular physical restraints. After voluntarily committing to a psychiatric hospital, his parents were advised to place him in a group home until adulthood. However, his father began to question the authorities overseeing Ryan's care, and everything changed when they discovered Ryan's dream of becoming a professional ski mountaineer. Ryan shares the mental health impacts of high-risk adventure has been for him and the turning points in his life. He also shares how he and his father co-authored their remarkable book, "Without Restraint: How Skiing Saved My Son's Life," and how he transformed to become a well-known ski mountaineer known as "Extreme Ryan."

Season 16 is focused on how high-risk adventure impacts mental health and is underwritten by wmai.org

Here is Ryan's bio from his website: Ryan DeLena is currently studying Outdoor Education at Northern Vermont University. For years, he's posted content as "Extreme Ryan" – a nickname given to him by his father, after he became obsessed with skiing. A decade later, Ryan is believed to be the youngest person to ski tour in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, having completed expeditions in Antarctica (2018) and Svalbard (2022).

Ryan was featured on the cover of Backcountry Ski Maps, and he's climbed and skied peaks in Oregon, Washington, Utah, California, Nevada, and Wyoming, while also conquering many of the world's signature runs including Super-C Couloir in Chile, Little Couloir in Montana, and Tuckerman Ravine in New Hampshire.

When he's not on skis, Ryan is an enthusiastic rock climber, ice climber, and avid hiker, summiting the Grand Teton twice and completing the "Hundred Highest" hiking peaks in New England.

He plans to ski and rock guide professionally and has earned advanced certifications from the American Mountain Guides Association and the Professional Ski Instructors of America.

If you are unfamiliar with Ryan's struggles as a boy, here is an excerpt from Without Restraint…

In this special episode, we discuss the recent announcement that two long-standing and accredited Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Council member programs - SUWS of the Carolinas in North Carolina and Aspiro in Utah will soon close. We will dive into the potential impacts of these closures on the greater field and the historical significance of the events. We'll examine the reasons behind the closures, the implications for the field, and what this means for the individuals and families seeking help from these types of programs wilderness/adventure programs.

We will also explore the challenges and opportunities wilderness therapy programs face in today's rapidly changing healthcare landscape. Whether you're a staff, clinician, referring professional, parent, or simply curious about the world of wilderness therapy, this episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of mental health and outdoor adventure.

Listen to this special episode and join us as we navigate the latest developments and historical trends in this evolving field.

Tammy Marks is the parent of a former wilderness therapy student who enrolled in a program at 12 years old. Tammy shares her family's story of how her son struggled with his mood and behavior from an early age and how they tried to help him. When her son was in his later elementary school years, he was often suspended from school for oppositional behavior toward teachers and coaches. He brought her son to numerous mental health professionals with different treatment strategies, but nothing seemed to help. One clinician informed Tammy about wilderness therapy, and shortly after the pandemic started, she decided that something had to change as her son really struggled. Tammy and her husband brought their son to a wilderness program in North Carolina, and things began to improve. Tammy shares what she learned about parenting style while her son was in wilderness and "how to hold boundaries lovingly and compassionately." Tammy reveals what she thinks parents should know about wilderness therapy and what she wants everyone in the field to understand.

Season 15 of Stories from the Field is focused on parents' stories and is underwritten by Other Parents Like Me (OPLM.com). We are grateful for all OPLM.com does to support parents whose children are struggling with mental health and substance use disorders. We want to thank OPLM.com for underwriting Season 15!

Jen Murphy and Hilary Moses are the co-authors of "H.O.M.E.: Strategies for Making Home a SUCCESS During and After Treatment." Jen and Hilary discuss that after years of working together at Solutions Parenting Support, they wrote a book about the many issues they address when coaching parents whose teens and young adults are in wilderness therapy. "H.O.M.E." offers profound insights into the journey of wilderness therapy and other treatment options from two skilled practitioners and teachers. The two authors reveal how they went about co-writing the book, what they hope are the key takeaways for readers, and why the H.O.M.E. acronym works so well. Hilary and Jen also share their backgrounds in wilderness therapy, how they first met, and how they ended up starting Solutions Parenting Support.

Season 15 of Stories from the Field is focused on parents' stories and is underwritten by Other Parents Like Me (OPLM.com). We are grateful for all OPLM.com does to support parents whose children are struggling with mental health and substance use disorders.

Marcie Steinberg is the parent of a former wilderness therapy student and peer parent at Other Parents Like Me (OPLM.com). Marcie shares her family's story of how her son struggled with substance abuse disorder in his teens, the different interventions they tried to help him, and how Marcie and her husband ultimately decided to have their son transported to a wilderness therapy program in Georgia. Marcie shares how the transport process with their son occurred and the first letter they received after he went to a wilderness therapy program. Marcie reveals how wilderness therapy saved her son's life, what they did while he was in the program, and why there is much hope in their story. Marcie shares how the connection is the opposite of addiction and how other parents helped her to become a peer parent at OPLM.Com

Season 15 of Stories from the Field is focused on parents' stories and is underwritten by Other Parents Like Me (OPLM.com). We are grateful for all OPLM.com does to support parents whose children are struggling with mental health and substance use disorders.

Carrie McLaughlin is the parent of a former wilderness therapy student. Carrie shares her story about the family's struggles when their son, while in his teens, battled with substance use disorder. She shares incidents of her son refusing school, a mobile crisis unit, and a house party that went out of control. Carrie discusses outpatient and residential treatment and how her son wouldn't participate or take advantage of it. Carrie reveals how she learned about a wilderness therapy program in Idaho and how she felt after he was taken from their home and brought to the program. Carrie talks about their family's treatment journey, including a relapse in which her son returned to the wilderness program for more help. Carrie informs us as to what is going on with her son now. Carrie also shares how she decided "I needed help," how other parents helped her while her son was in treatment, and how she decided to become a peer parent at OPLM.com.

Season 15 of Stories from the Field is focused on parents' stories and is underwritten by Other Parents Like Me (OPLM.com). We are grateful for all OPLM.com does to support parents whose children are struggling with mental health and substance use disorders.

Jon Fariello is a former wilderness therapy student who was transported to a wilderness therapy program as a teenager. He shares his thoughts and feelings about being transported to a wilderness program and an earlier transport to a residential treatment center. Jon talks about his life before going to the wilderness and his experiences in aftercare at a therapeutic boarding school. Jon reveals how his perspective on his life changed in the wilderness in part because he believed "there was no place to hide." Jon shares his thoughts about the controversies related to wilderness therapy, what parents should do while their child is in wilderness as well as his perspective on his, Casie, starting Other Parents Like Me (OPLM.com)

Season 15 of Stories from the Field is focused on parents' stories and is underwritten by Other Parents Like Me (OPLM.com). We are grateful for all OPLM.com does to support parents whose children are struggling with mental health and substance use disorders.

Casie Fariello co-founded Other Parents Like Me (OPLM.com), an online parent support platform, and is the parent of a former wilderness therapy student. Casie reflects on this podcast's last episode, which featured her husband, Mike Fariello, who shared his version of their family's story of behavioral healthcare treatment, including wilderness therapy, and his thoughts on Casie starting OPLM after retiring from the airline industry. Casie also reveals her feelings about having her son transported to a wilderness therapy program after a mental health professional and the educational consultant recommended it after numerous treatment options did not seem to help. Casie also shares the future of OPLM and how she wants the organization to help more families.

Season 15 of Stories from the Field is focused on parents' stories and is underwritten by Other Parents Like Me (OPLM.com). We are grateful for all OPLM.com does to support parents whose children are struggling with mental health and substance use disorders.

Michael Fariello is the parent of a wilderness therapy student and a peer parent at Other Parents Like Me (OPLM.com), an online parent support platform. Michael shares his family's story of how they learned about wilderness therapy after their son went through outpatient therapy, intensive outpatient therapy, and a residential treatment center with little success in addressing his son's substance use disorder. Mental health professionals and an educational consultant encouraged Michael and his wife, Casie, to have their son transported to a wilderness program. Michael shares how he and Casie believed they did not have long before his son would die, so they agreed to have him transported to a wilderness therapy program in Utah. Michael reveals that everything in their family's life changed during his son's time in a wilderness program and a therapeutic boarding school, as Casie would come up with the idea for Other Parents Like Me. Michael shares how he supported his wife's dream of starting OPLM.com and why she is a perfect person for the job of helping others. He shares his love for being a peer parent at OPLM and how he continues to support families struggling with addiction.

Season 15 of Stories from the Field is focused on parents' stories and is underwritten by Other Parents Like Me (OPLM.com). We are grateful for all OPLM.com does to support parents whose children are struggling with mental health and substance use disorders.

Richard Curtis is a Certified Clinical Interventionist, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, and Parent Coach who helps parents and their teens and young adults through in-home interventions. Richard shares how his intervention style focuses on connecting with parents and their teens when they are in one of the most challenging spots in their family's life and helping them all make changes for the better. He dives into how the opportunity for change is helped through an intervention that includes family members and mentors who can help guide the way to a better path in life which may involve enrolling in a wilderness therapy program. Richard shares his background of being an experiential educator, getting his master's degree in counseling, and how working in a therapeutic school helped him to become an interventionist.

Richard also shares information about his coming talk for OPLM.com and his view that parenting is more challenging than ever. Richard can be reached at https://www.richardcurtisci.com/

Season 15 is focused on parents' stories and is underwritten by Other Parents Like Me (OPLM.com).