Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors

Phil Stallard is the founder of the New Wave Wild Project in Ireland. Philip is the first person outside of the U.S. to become a Certified Clinical Adventure Therapist. Philip's journey into the field was filled was paved with the intention of legitimizing the Adventure Therapy profession in Ireland. He shares his story of how he became interested in the field and why he choose to become a clinical social worker. He goes into the evolution of New Wave and why he was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year.

Bio from the New Wave Website:

Philip delivers every therapeutic session at New Wave Wild Project. He has over 15 years experience working with young people at-risk, with families, and within multi-disciplinary teams. Philip co-founded New Wave Adventure Therapy (2017) and then New Wave Wild Project (2019) to introduce creative modes of engagement within traditional, professional mental health approaches. His aim is to make effective and meaningful therapeutic opportunities available to everyone, and to help reduce burnout for practitioners by promoting self-care within the healthcare sector.

Philip is the only Adventure Therapist outside the U.S. who is clinically certified by the Association of Experiential Education (AEE), and he represents Ireland on the Adventure Therapy International Committee (ATIC).

In 2019 Philip won the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year award for Ireland at the European Business Awards and engages regularly with universities, organisations and social enterprises through print media, podcasts and lecture contributions.

As well as his major qualifications, Philip continuously engages in further training to extend and deepen his therapeutic toolkit and creative approaches. He is trained in the use of CBT (REBT), in mindfulness techniques for therapeutic practice, and is currently in training to also become a licensed psychotherapist.

Harpa Erlendsdottir is a clinical occupational therapist and the General Manager of the Icelandic Adventure Therapy Association. Growing up in the majestic beauty of Iceland inspired Harpa to become involved in the field. She shares her story of being involved in Scouting and learning about Experiential Education. She would travel to the U.S. to take a course at Project Adventure to learn more. She shares stories about her experiences in the field and the Gathering of Adventure Therapists in Europe.

Bio from adventuretherapy.eu website:

Harpa has a Bc.S in occupational therapy and a Ms. in organisational behaviour and talent management. She studied at the Academia of Via Experientia and has various courses connected to non formal education and experiential learning under her belt. Harpa also studied parent and infant psychotherapy at Anna Freud Center. She worked with youth with developmental and behavioural disabilities for 3 years, in a psychiatric unit for children and adolescent for a year and in a psychiatric unit for adults for 5 years. Facilitating Adventure therapy groups and non formal therapy groups with youngsters and young adults as well as individual therapy.

Currently Harpa works as a occupational therapist for the Kopavogur municipality welfare system in Iceland. Harpa was a scout and participating in all kinds of outdoor sports and nature has played a big role in her life from childhood. She has had the opportunity to experience the healing power of it through her work and the therapeutic values that nature provides.

Andy Hardie is the Clinical Manager of Venture Trust in the United Kingdom. Andy shares his journey into the field, which began when heading to the only university that accepted him to study Outdoor Leadership. He would go onto work at the original Outward Bound school. Andy shares how Venture Trust began as a 21-day "boot camp" style wilderness therapy program and has evolved to be a social change agent, including providing Outdoor Therapy for free to young people age 16-25 and ex-service members.

Cindy Ross is the author of the new book, "Walking Toward Peace- Veterans Healing on America's Trails," which profiles combat veterans who found healing through the outdoors as well as long-distance expeditions. She shares her journey of writing the book and what she learned from veterans. Cindy Ross has written numerous articles and books, including "The World is Our Classroom- How One Family Used Nature and Travel to Shape an Extraordinary Education" and "A Woman's Journey on the Appalachian Trail."

Bio from Cindy's Website

In April 2021, Walking Toward Peace- Veterans Healing on America's Trails, The Mountaineers Books, Seattle, will be released. The veterans' portraits were created by her son, Bryce Gladfelter.

Walking Toward Peace shares the intimate stories of veterans who, post-deployment, have wrestled with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Through a process called "ecotherapy," spending time in nature to promote healing and mental health, they have found new tools to deal with issues that have resulted from combat experiences: survivor's guilt, nightmares, lack of trust, depression, hypervigilance, thoughts of suicide, and lack of purpose. Some veterans profiled here have gone to extremes, spending months on long-distance expeditions, like hiking the 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail or canoeing the 2,320-mile Mississippi River. For many others, however, brief excursions in the outdoors offer an opportunity for healing. Author Cindy Ross examines current research and perspectives of professional therapists and provides information on organizations devoted to healing veterans in the outdoors. Each featured veteran is depicted in an illustrated portrait.

Veterans share their stories, frequently as they sit by a campfire, describing wartime traumas and their present lives. Through their collective voices what becomes clear is that anyone suffering from any form of PTSD may discover the powerful comfort and healing that can be found in the outdoors.

Cindy and Her family

Cindy lives near the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania with her husband, Todd in a log home they built themselves from raw trees. They grow much of their own food on their rural property.

As a family, besides the Continental Divide Trail, they have traveled to Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe hiking, cycling and paddling and have traveled extensively throughout the US.

Besides Cindy's nine published books, she has written over 1,000 magazine articles for such national magazines as Outside, Backpacker, Paddler, Gray's Sporting Journal, Outdoor Life, Canoe & Kayak, Adventure Cyclist, Sailing, Wooden Boat, Scouting, Native Peoples, etc. Travel stories in newspapers include The LA Times, The San Francisco Examiner, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Toronto Star, The Christian Science Monitor, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, etc.

Cindy has appeared on Philadelphia's NBC "The 10 Show;" Philadelphia's ABC "Sunday Live"; NYC's CBS News "Up to the Minute;" NYC's Channel 11Warner Bros., "The Morning News," and Denver's CBS. Her family and llamas were featured on a half-hour show on Animal Planet, called "Pet Story."

Jorge Venceslau is the program director and co-founder of Age of Discoveries, located in Portugal. Jorge's journey into the field began in his early 20's when he struggled with several issues and found wilderness to be a place of healing. He would become a recovery coach and worked in programs worldwide, including The Crossroads Center in Antigua. He always dreamed of starting his own program, and in this episode, he shares the joys and challenges of creating the first adventure therapy program in Portugal

Bio from Age of Discoveries website:

Jorge comes to Age Of Discoveries with 23 years of years of experience, education and leadership in helping families and there loved ones to overcome addictions and clinical challenges. His real passion is helping young people find their purpose and meaning in life.

Jorge returned to Portugal in 2007 and loves the many outdoor activities like trekking, biking, paragliding, surfing and horseback riding. Jorge shares with passion the history of Portugal and all the beautiful sea, land and air adventures that we can do in Portugal. The world heritage villages and historical monuments are unique as the people with there traditions and food.

Jorge states, "What is most important is my work with young adults who are lost in their future, and how the experiential outdoor activities are so important in self-development and finding a meaning in life. The greatest gift is in helping young adults to change, and the families finding happiness."

Jorge's work in the field of addiction treatment centres has taken him around the world. Some of his favourite experiences took place at the Crossroads Centre on the Caribbean island of Antigua. The Crossroads Centre was founded by music legend Eric Clapton. Jorge's work takes him to the United Kindom, Brasil, South Africa and of course, in Portugal.

Today, Jorge incorporates daily habits of healthy lifestyles, meditation, gratitude and acts of service that helps him to realize his potential, and to share it with others.

Dr. Virginie Gargano is the founder of Dehors an adventure therapy training program located in Quebec, Canada. She is also a professor of Social Work at Université Laval and is a researcher, teacher, and practitioner of adventure therapy. Virginie shares her journey from being a guide at a program that worked with adjudicated youth in the outdoors to going on to get her Masters and Doctorate in Social Work. Virginie also shares her involvement in the International Adventure Therapy Conference and much more.

Graham Pringle is the program director at Youth Flourish Outdoors (YFO) in Australia. Graham shares his story of how he became involved in outdoor therapy after a stint in the military and why it is referred to as Bush Adventure Therapy. Graham compares the similarities and differences in how outdoor therapies are practiced in his country versus the US. He shares how YFO works with traumatized youth in outdoor adventure settings as well as how the organization functions with little government support.

Bio from YFO: Graham Pringle (PhD Candidate, MA (Outdoor Education), DipSocSci (Psych), CIV Adventure Based Youth Work) is the Program Director of YFO. He conducts the research behind our model and frequently trains adults and presents at conferences domestically and internationally.

Ray Burke is the founder of Active Connections in Ireland. Ray shares his story of growing up in Dublin and finding solace in the woods from the challenges of the city. He would venture to the US to work at summer camps and Outward Bound in Oregon. He learned about wilderness therapy at Catherine Freer Wilderness and returned to Ireland for more education so he could bring adventure therapy home. Ray tells the story of starting Active Connections over a decade ago to help transform lives through adventure.

Rays Bio from the Active Connections website:

Hi, I'm Ray (founder and CEO of Active Connections)I set up active connections when I saw that lots of young people would benefit from therapeutic work but could not get on board with clinical-based supports on offer. I had previously work in the USA in wilderness and adventure therapy services and wanted to see if it could work in Ireland. I found out YES IT DOES.

I'm an outdoor nut and love to spend time in nature, whether that's rock climbing or just resting in a hammock.

One of my fondest memories was on a 7-day rafting trip, I had recently given out to one of the young people on the trip for messing around when he should have been helping someone out of the water. Moments later I was hit in the back of the head with what I thought was a stone. I turned to and looked at the kid, (about to loose my cool) when all of the sudden the skies open up with gold ball-sized hail stone. We rafted up flipped one of the rafts hid under and waited it out. For the remainder of that day we experienced the strangest weather I have ever seen which finished with us hunkered down on the side of the river surrounded by a massive thunder storm with absolutely no way off the river. Before that day, the group struggled after that day the group radiated confidence, togetherness and resilience. I'm still in contact with some of those young people, they still thanks me and Mark V for getting them through it. Myself and Mark V have and always will say all we did was not panic (on the outside), we all got one another through that 24-36 hours.

Natalia Ruiz de Cortázar Gracia is a psychologist and general director of Experientia located in Spain. Natalia shares how she first heard about wilderness therapy when she was a graduate student in the U.S. and describes how she worked at Wingate and Anasazi. After two years she returned to Spain to work at Experientia. Natalia describes how Experientia is helping young people with mental health challenges with outdoor treatment as well as differences and similarities between the U.S. and Spanish models.

Bio from Experientia:

I was born and raised in Santiago de Compostela. From a very young age I learned to live and function in the mountains thanks to my belonging to the scouts, where I acquired values ​​such as companionship, commitment and respect that are still part of me today. As a teenager, it was in nature where I learned to connect with myself and discovered in myself potentialities that school and other environments did not allow me at that time. As an adult, I was a volunteer monitor for several years, an experience that gave me the opportunity to continue growing and acquiring skills such as teamwork and assertiveness.

I travel a lot, although it never seems enough to me. I like the sun and the sea, appreciate the details in the great things and find solutions to the little discomforts in life (and the big ones too). I am creative and resourceful, and I try to make the world a better place.

I graduated in Psychology and did postgraduate studies as an Expert in Family Intervention. I had the opportunity to enjoy a scholarship that allowed me to study a master's degree in "Mental Health Counseling" (Counseling in Mental Health) in New York, USA, for a year and a half. This training deeply enriched me on a personal, academic and professional level.

My professional experience, both in Spain and in the US, revolves around the field of family therapy and mental health counseling, until I heard for the first time the magic words: "Wilderness Therapy". Even without knowing very well what this type of therapy consisted of, at that moment I knew that it was the combination of my two passions: psychology and nature.

I worked for a year in two "Wilderness Therapy" rehabilitation programs in the US, as an educator / mentor and as a family psychologist. For many months, my job consisted of living with a group of troubled youth in the Utah desert. The profound transformation that this experience led to in me, both personally and professionally, makes Experientia a personal project. What I had already learned since I was a little girl in the humid Galician forests through my experiences in the scouts, were confirmed in the arid places of the west: the therapeutic power of the natural environment and the connection with oneself through nature .

If I have learned anything from these experiences, it is that "there is no growth within the comfort zone, and no comfort within the growth zone."

My connection with Experientia arises from my determination to be able to implement Therapy through adventure in Spain. As the association's technical coordinator and secretary, I give training and participate in the design and implementation of our projects with enthusiasm and a team of great professionals and better people.

This second research episode examines a recently published qualitative study regarding transporting teens to wilderness therapy programs with the researcher Dr. Will Dobud, an affiliated research scientist at the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Center at the UNH. The study is titled "Experiences of secure transport in Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare- A Narrative Inquiry." Dr. Dobud talks about this study through a social work and a trauma-informed lens and shares its implications for the field.

Bio from Charle Sturt University website:

Will Dobud has worked predominately with adolescents in the private and public sector. Coming to Australia from the United States in 2009, Will built True North Expeditions, a non-profit program in Adelaide, SA, providing adventure therapy experiences and social work services for adolescents from all over the country. In 2015, Will was awarded the Australian Postgraduate Award for research promise.

Will's ongoing research and publications focuses on participant experiences of care in a variety of settings and exploring what works to deliver more effective social work services. Will is particularly interested in Feedback-Informed Treatment, the Outdoor Therapies, and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy.