Adventure Therapy for Young Adults Colorado
Expanse Wilderness, a branch of WinGate Wilderness Therapy, is one of the premier adventure therapy programs in the U.S. We serve at-risk young adults ages 18 to 28, offering an effective and life changing alternative to traditional long-term residential rehab programs.
At Expanse Wilderness, emotionally challenged emerging adults from Colorado have a unique opportunity to learn the skills necessary for change from drug abuse (prescription/otc), attentional deficit disorders (ADD/ADHD), behavioral issues, and other issues associated with mental health through the benefits of adventure therapy for young adults from Colorado.
Young adult men or women who are in the grips of troubles more than they can handle on their own, are often at a loss of where to turn for help. Too often traditional therapy can be ineffective, as young adult men or women from Colorado may drop out or merely go through the motions of therapy, only to return to maladaptive escapist tendencies once back home.
Expanse Wilderness, through their parent company WinGate Wilderness Therapy, also helps adolescents, ages 13-17. For more information, please visit the WinGate Wilderness Therapy program for youth website, or call them at (800) 560-1599.
The environment in which our therapy program takes place is one that is naturally free of distractions and intimately teaches responsibility as young adults face immediate consequences for their actions in a way that only living in the wilderness can do.
The results are that emerging adults from Colorado find themselves both simultaneously humbled and empowered, with their confidence strengthened as they realize their inner strength and that they can finally walk the path of transformation and have everything it takes to move forward successfully in life.
Wilderness Programs for Young Adults from Colorado
As one of the premier wilderness programs for young adults from Colorado, Expanse Wilderness provides recognized help to young adult men or women from Colorado struggling with substance abuse (including marijuana) and/or depression. We further this approach with alliance based treatment that contributes to our young adult participants feeling secure enough to explore the root of their issues and to then move forward.
The ability to form this connection and deep sense of trust between troubled adult wilderness students and our staff of clinicians is facilitated greatly by the wilderness environment of adventure therapy for young adults. As young adults learn natural consequences, our staff is able to take a step back and rather than pursue an authoritarian stance, we can focus upon building that relationship of equals that encourages and motivates young adult participants to address their issues.
As part of our dedication to results, Expanse Wilderness utilizes the philosophy of the Arbinger Institute to make our wilderness camp program truly effective, unlike other wilderness programs for young adults from Colorado. Rather than focusing simply on results, we focus on supporting emerging adults from Colorado identify what is causing their problems, why they are turning to drugs and alcohol or behaving aggressively toward their peers, for example.
In doing so, we help to transform mindsets and attitudes - not just teach new behaviors and skills. The results are truly life changing as once our adult wilderness students understand what is the driving force behind their issues, they can work to change that. And that naturally leads to a decrease in the troubling situations that have been plaguing them.
Therapeutic Wilderness Programs for Adults from Colorado
Wilderness therapy is much more than simply backpacking in the desert or an extended camping trip. As one of the top therapeutic wilderness programs for adults from Colorado, and as part of our therapy program, young adult men or women will be grouped with other individuals in their age group who are going through their own issues. Led by a team of accredited clinicians, this group will live outdoors, going through the wilderness is an intimate way that can only be experienced to truly understand just how deep the effect is.
While no one is placed in a situation that is unsafe, finding oneself fully enveloped in the vast beauty of nature and needing to rely on oneself, and to endure the natural consequences if one isn't up to the task of personal responsibility, forces one to behave with integrity. It creates an environment where one learns to transform their internal focus to an external focus. This allows young adults to see their place in the world and how their actions affect the people around them.
Current research has found therapeutic wilderness programs for adults can offer results in a shorter amount of time than traditional therapy programs, with improved mood and behavior changes lasting once the participants return home. This efficacy is one of the reasons why many emerging adults are referred to our program for aftercare treatment, to better encourage and help them with remaining on the path of change and sobriety.
It is our unique approach, facilitated and multiplied by the therapeutic effect the wilderness has, that enables the Expanse Wilderness program to make a difference in a young adult man or woman's life when other treatment methods have failed them. Expanse Wilderness creates an environment built to help emerging adults find a new direction and purpose in life. This synergistic program combines the life-changing elements of a wilderness experience with the best of proven therapeutic practices.