Wilderness Therapy as a Specialized Competency

Abstract

Wilderness Therapy (WT) is an emerging psychotherapeutic intervention for the treatment of youth and other populations and is unique in that it is a competency area of psychology that differs from traditional psychotherapy. Because of this, clinical training received in doctoral psychology programs may not be sufficient to ensure competent practice of wilderness therapy. The goal of this article was to address the need for standardization and the development of core competencies for WT as a specialty area. Furthermore, because WT is a specialty area, this article proposes an outline of key competencies for psychologists looking to practice within the field of WT. Given that the majority of programs serve adolescent populations, the competencies outlined in this article will be specifically targeted at this population.

Effects of Adventure Based Group Counselling on Cognitive Flexibility and Intolerance of Uncertainty Levels of Counselling Psychologists Candidates

“…Each participant has the right to withdraw when they see that there is a tremendous risk to continue as a part of achieving elections (Albright, 2011). Since the risk or perceived risk is the essence of many rural programs, theoretically, clients should be open or inclined to change in this process (Houston, Knabb, Welsh, Houskamp, & Brokaw, 2010). "The adventure park has prompted me to try new things.…”

“…They rated the change they experienced in relation to the nature, activity, participants, leader and connection with the daily life in a scale from 1 to 5. These factors are elements of the adventure therapy that lead to change (Gillis, & Milledgeville, 1992;Amesberger, 1994;Gass, 1995;Hans, 2000;Glass, & Myers, 2001;Itin, 2001;Fletcher, & Hinkle, 2002;Beringer, & Martin, 2003;Jones, Lowe, Risler, 2004;Beringer, & Martin, 2003;Newes&Bandoroff, 2004;Stevens at al., 2004;Tucker, 2009;Stevens, 2009;Houston, Knabb, Welsh, Houskamp, & Brokaw, 2010;Bishow-Semevolos, 2012;Hoag, Massey, Roberts, & Logan, 2013). The arithmetical average of the answers of each participant to each question asked by the form is given in the graph below.…”

Psikolojik Danışma Sürecinde Yeni Bir Model: Macera Terapisi / A New Model for the Psychological Counseling: Adventure Therapy

“…Bu aşamada, danışanlar yeni davranışsal becerileri kullanma fırsatına sahiptirler. Bu yeni davranışları deneyimleyerek başarı hissetmeleri ve bu yeni becerileri kendi davranış repertuarlarına eklemeleri beklenmektedir (Houston, Knabb, Welsh, Houskamp ve Brokaw, 2010).…”

Natural Medicine

“…WEPs are defined as “organizations that conduct outdoor programs in the wilderness or comparable lands for purposes of personal growth, therapy, rehabilitation, education, or leadership/organization development” (Friese, Hendee, & Kinziger, 1998, p. 40). The literature is rife with terms used interchangeably to describe using nature as part of the healing process, including wilderness therapy (Russell, 2001), adventure therapy, adventure-based counseling, and outdoor behavioral health care (Houston, Knobb, Welsh, Houskamp, & David, 2010). In this article, we use the term WEP because it encompasses most of these other terms.…”