Stories from the Field: Mental Health and the Outdoors

Tony Alvarez is the founder of Alvarez Consulting. Tony's journey into the field starts in the Philippines, where he was born and raised before coming to the U.S. Tony shares his story of being part of social justice in the 1970s to helping marginalized young people in Michigan with adventure work for much of his career. Tony has mentored many of the leaders in the field through his work as a college professor, books, and numerous talks about how the field can help promote social justice and healing.

Aaron Leonard is Campaign Representative for Sierra Club Military Outdoors. He became involved in the field while serving in the U.S. Army when he participated in an Outward Bound for Veterans expedition, which would start a chain of events that would change his life. He shares this story and more about what caused him to retire from the army after 27 years to begin leading and promoting outdoor experiences for veterans. Aaron has been working at the Sierra Club to help veterans via the outdoors since 2012.

Aaron's bio from the Sierra Club website: Aaron Leonard is a combat veteran who retired in 2014 as a lieutenant colonel after more than 27 years in the U.S. Army. He has been leading wilderness adventures for service members and veterans since 2012.

Will Dobud is a lecturer at Charles Sturt University in Australia. He is co-editor of the book "Outdoor Therapies" and is the founder of True North Expeditions located in Australia. Will shares his journey into the field that began at age 8 when he agreed to attend summer camp. So began a long journey of "being in the dirt," including stints at Alldredge Academy, Potomac Pathways as well as Alaskan Crossing. He would fall in love with an Australian, move there to get his Ph.D., and begin practicing outpatient adventure work.

Bio from Will's website: My name is Will Dobud and I am a master social worker with over 15 years of clinical experience as a therapist, researcher, and manager of adventure therapy programs for adolescents. I am the director of True North Expeditions, an adventure therapy program for adolescents, the South Australian Representative for the Australian Association for Bush Adventure Therapy, and a social work lecturer with Charles Sturt University.

Bobbi Beale is Co-founder of Life Adventures for All Consulting which supports programs, agencies, and organizations to achieve their goals for improving the lives of their clients by providing training, consulting and technical assistance to implement Adventure Therapy locally. Bobbi's journey into the field began at a young age as she grew up on her family's campground. Bobbi shares collaboration stories including the new book, "Adventure Group Psychotherapy" and the podcast "Pondering Life Adventures."

Her Bio from Life Adventures for All Consulting website: Bobbi Beale, PsyD, launched Life Adventures for All with her AT colleagues specifically to make Adventure Therapy accessible to our most vulnerable youth and their families. Dr. Beale's recent projects include increasing resiliency characteristics and reducing trauma symptoms (emotional and behavioral dysregulation) in youth identified for behavioral health services, specifically targeting youth involved with child protection. Children and youth who are involved with the child protection system encounter specific trauma including separation from and loss of parental figures, as well as the challenges related to placement stability, both educational and home, and permanency achievement. Bobbi also currently works with the Center for Innovative Practices at Case Western Reserve University, promoting evidence supported behavioral health services through training, consultation and technical assistance, primarily around home-based treatment, trauma and resilience. She is a clinical psychologist, serving at-risk youth and families in Ohio since 1991; first as a home-based therapist, then a program supervisor, program designer and division director. Bobbi has specialized in designing non-traditional therapy programs for high risk youth populations with trauma histories. Her evidence supported programs have utilized adventure therapy (AT) to increase youth skills and resiliency.

Russell Chamberlain is the founder of LifeSTREAM Therapy located in Portland, OR. LifeSTREAM's motto is "Life Success Through Relationship in Experiential & Adventure Modes." Russell has worked in the field for almost 40 years from being a field guide to a field director to an outpatient clinician. He has worked at NOLS, Outward Bound, as well as for programs all over the nation. He shares his journey in the field which includes being a parent of a teen who went to a wilderness therapy program in Oregon.

Russell's bio from LifeSTREAM website:

Who I am is an important consideration as we decide to work together. This doesn't mean I can only work with folks exactly like me or with similar life experience. Nor that I believe I'm in some way "better than". Rather these are things I bring to our time together and are part of safety and connection. They also reflect awareness of my privileges in this culture. So I'm:

• White, middle class, heterosexual, cis-gender male (I see myself aligned with the body I was born with)
• Not in recovery from substance use disorders or compulsive behaviors. I do attend Al-Anon weekly.
• I do not have experiences of childhood, complex, developmental trauma
• I struggle as an adult with ADHD (focus related to paperwork only)
• I have done individual, couples and family therapy myself through the years. Therapists who have never "looked under the hood" are probably folks to steer clear of.

Most importantly I am experiencing the joy and occasional challenge of being a single, co-parent, as the Father of twin boy and girl teenagers.

Education & Licensure:

• Bachelor of Arts degree from The Evergreen State College
• Master of Social Work degree from Arizona State University
• LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker #5425) in Oregon was first registered in 2001 with the Oregon Board of Licensed Social Workers.
• CADCIII/MAC. Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor III/Master Addiction Counselor. First credentialed in 2001. Mental Health & Addiction Certification Board of Oregon (MHACBO) & NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals

Certification & Training: specific to current work with LifeSTREAM Therapy & Energy Matters

• Bonnie Badenoch: Nurturing the Heart with the Brain in Mind. 2020-21 training cohort.
• Polvagal Theory in clinical practice — two day training with Deb Dana
• Adoptive & Foster Family Therapy Post Graduate Certificate Program– Portland State University (70 CE hour program)
• Collaborative Problem Solving — Tier 2 — Think Kids (Massachusetts General Hospital)

• Trauma Focused Equine Assisted Psychotherapy through Natural Lifemanship Institute — Fundamentals training in 2018. Natural Lifemanship Intensive postponed to 2021?

• Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA) as a Mental Health Professional. First in 2000 then renewed in 2017.

• 500 field days — Field Guide/Wilderness Instructor/Field Director: NW Outward Bound School, programs in Hawaii and Pennsylvania

• National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) Instructors and Outdoor Educators Courses. Wilderness First Responder.
• Trainer & facilitator in using portable, low and high Challenge Ropes courses and experiential therapy activities

• Acceptance & Commitment Therapy — experiential training with Jason Luoma, Ph.D & Jenna LeJeune, Ph.D

• Functional Family Therapy — While with Lifeworks NW in 2001 in Portland — I participated in a year long training and supervision process with FFT) before they had the Functional Family Probation Certification that Multnomah County Juvenile Court uses.

Dr. Nevin Harper is an Associate Professor at the University of Victoria and co-edited the books "Outdoor Therapies" and "Nature Based-Therapies." Nevin shares his journey from being raised in rural Canada to working as a field guide and running wilderness programs. He shares why he decided to become a graduate student in the U.S. and his time assisting at the Outdoor Behavioral Research Center. Nevin returned to Canada to teach, write books, and be a counselor at the Human-Nature Counselling Society.

Bio from Nevinharper.com- For more than 25 years I have traversed front-lines through management, training and consulting, research, and education in the outdoor adventure and social service sectors. My work is focused on ethical and effective practice and I offer my services to organizations and leaders who want to improve, learn, and grow with their programs. I continue to learn and develop as a practitioner of outdoor therapies and continue teaching in child and youth care and counselor training at the University of Victoria.

Kim Sacksteder is co-founder of Adventure-Therapist.com and residential clinical supervisor of the adventure therapy program at the Buckeye Ranch in Ohio. Kim shares her journey into the field and how she has worked tirelessly for over 20 years to help the field evolve by volunteering. Kim is a true servant leader and received the 2020 Heart of Adventure Therapy Award from the Therapeutic Adventure Professionals Group. She is also co-author of the just-released book, "Adventure Group Psychotherapy."

Bio from Adventure-Therapist website:

Growing up in rural western Ohio, Kim developed both a love of the outdoors and a passion for helping youth. She took these with her to Columbus, Ohio where she earned a Bachelor's in Psychology and Master's in Social Work at The Ohio State University. Throughout her education, Kim worked in the mental health field gaining experience supporting youth with mental health needs and trauma. In this work, she realized the effectiveness of activity in engaging youth and found adventure therapy. In 1999, Kim was hired to build an adventure therapy program at Camp Mary Orton. In this capacity, the importance of mentors and a professional network were highlighted as she found herself on an "island" of adventure therapy in Ohio. She became involved with AEE's Therapeutic Adventure Professionals Group and was lucky to find her "professional home." For Kim, this experience created a drive to increase access to training and mentorship for emerging adventure therapy professionals, many of whom find themselves on professional islands as well. Over the next 20 years, Kim gained experience in many aspects of adventure therapy – direct practice with diverse population groups, program development and management of community-based adventure therapy programs, training and supervision for emerging professionals, and leadership within professional organizations. In addition to this, Kim has served AEE as TAPG Best Practices Committee Chair, TAPG Leadership Council Secretary and Chair, and AEE Accreditation Council Member. As co-owner of Adventure Therapist, LLC, Kim is excited to provide adventure therapy training for professionals looking to incorporate adventure into their work!

Tim Walsh is the founder of Adventure Recovery in CT. Tim's journey into the field started at a young age due to trauma and addiction. Tim shares that in his 20's while in treatment he "walked through fire" to realize that mentors in his life including a mobster, a judge, and a friend's mother had changed the course of his life from going to jail to a path of service. He shares his journey and how he founded Adventure Recovery which is a recovery-focused adventure guide service and so much more.

Bio from Adventure Recovery website:

Tim is an outdoor educator and recovery coach trainer who specializes in guiding people through the external and internal wilderness. Over the last 25 years, he has founded and lead numerous programs and institutions in the youth development and addictions recovery and prevention fields, as well as offered individualized support for those seeking purpose and spiritual development.

Tim advises and develops experiential education, adventure therapy, and substance abuse awareness programs for private schools, youth development programs, treatment centers, and national conferences. He's a pioneer in the field of adventure-based counseling, he was one of the founding team members of Mountainside Treatment Center. As Founding Director of Adventure-Based Counseling at Mountainside and was eventually promoted to Executive Director. Tim served in this capacity for four years and left to start his own consulting business and successfully create exceptional adventure curriculums for top-tier mental healthcare providers.

Tim holds Instructor Trainer levels of certification in ACA whitewater canoe, pro-rescuer first aid & CPR and lifeguarding as well as certifications in advanced whitewater kayak instruction, BCU star 3 sea kayaking, wilderness first responder, recovery coaching and adventure-based counseling. He studies various wisdom traditions and receives healing rites and practical tools from elders and practitioners from both Western and Eastern disciplines. With a deep reverence and respect for ceremony and ritual, he facilitates a tailored approach to the personal transformative process. Furthermore, he provides healing experiences for individuals of all ages. When not on the river, Tim is with his wife and family, exploring the natural world, paddling the New England rivers, working in the garden, playing with their puppy, and creating.

Emily Isaacs is the founder of Emily Isaacs Counseling in Colorado. Emily's journey into the wilderness therapy field began in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco where she grew up. Emily shares stories including going from being a city kid to a field guide at Open Sky to contributing to diversity in the outdoors as the Executive Director of Women's Wilderness. Emily shares her work with women veterans and the Climbing Grief Project. Emily has a thriving outpatient wilderness therapy practice.

Bio from the Emily Isaacs Counseling Website: I have over fifteen years of clinical experience, in settings ranging from intensive wilderness therapy treatment programs, a walk-in crisis clinic, Boulder Community Hospital, retreats with female veterans, and private practice. My education includes a Masters degree from Naropa University in Transpersonal Psychology, an approach that honors the importance of body / mind / heart / and spirit in the therapeutic process. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in both Colorado and Wyoming. I have training in and draw from the following modalities:

• Mindfulness and Meditation
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
• Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT)
• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
• Gestalt Therapy
• Motivational Interviewing
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion via the Avarna Group and OUT Boulder
• Non-Violent Communication

As an educator and outdoor professional, I have fifteen years of experience guiding and instructing backpacking, climbing, and boating expeditions from one to twelve weeks in length. For ten of these years, I was working year-round in the deserts and mountains of Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, California and Oregon, living, working, and teaching in conditions ranging from 70 degrees and sunny to a zero degree blizzard. I absolutely love teaching outdoors and particularly love sharing my passion for baking back-country pizza, reading maps, and making fire from a bow-drill set. I have worked extensively with teens and young adults navigating complex mental health issues. ​ My leadership resume includes hiring and training guides for Open Sky Wilderness Therapy, serving as a lead instructor for Outward Bound and The National Outdoor Leadership School, and serving as the Executive Director for Women's Wilderness for four years. As the Executive Director, I rescued an iconic outdoor program when it was about to close doors, tripled the operation budget over the course of 4 years, and led a team of up to 7 office staff in launching transformational new programming, including the Queer Wilderness Project, Trailblazers: Outdoor Leadership for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and Summit Sisters, an annual 3-day retreat for over 120 participants. Additionally, I founded "Jumping Mouse, the Gathering of the Guides," a wilderness therapy guide conference that ran for 9 years, and Women's Climbing Circle, a women's climbing series at Movement Climbing and Fitness in Boulder that has skyrocketed in popularity. Additionally, I hold a Masters in Education from the University of California at Santa Cruz and have classroom experience teaching in middle and high schools.

Patrick McMillion is the Clinical Director of Adventure Works of Dekalb which is a non-profit adventure therapy program located in Illinois. Patrick began his journey into the field at the age of 3 when he vividly recalls camping with his father. Patrick shares this story and many more including his time as the Chair of the Therapeutic Adventure Professional Group of the Association of Experiential Education and how the evolution of the Certified Clinical Adventure Therapist credential came into being.

Adventure Works of Dekalbs website link.