Wilderness Therapy is a form of treatment that uses the natural world and wilderness settings to address behavioral and mental health issues in teens. With a history dating back to the nation’s earliest summer camps, the idea of nature as healer has deep roots. But with a tattered history of institutional abuse, patchwork oversight, and absent legislation, is this treatment option too wild to be trusted? We partner with NHPR's Outside/In to explores these issues.
GUESTS:
- Tim Duggan - local parent who credits a wilderness therapy program for helping their son through a severe period of depression.
- Mike Gass - Director of Outdoor Behavioral Health Care research center at UNH, and a professor in the Kinesiology Department and a licensed family therapist.
- Jimmy Gutierrez - producer of NHPR's Outside/In, a show about the natural world and how we use it. Their podcast episode on Wilderness Therapy was recently released.
- Maia Szalavitz - author of Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids. Her findings were used in the 2007 federal investigation into abusive youth programs at residential treatment facilities.
Listen to the latest episode of Outside/In which explores using the natural world to help with mental health issues.
