Horizon Family Solutions specializes in helping troubled teens and defiant teens with behavioral, emotional and substance abuse issues
The truth is these programs are often the initial intervention in a plan to assist a family with a pre-teen, teen or young adult involved in negative and self defeating behaviors.
Your troubled teen will experience the highest standards of safety and therapy in the context of one of the most powerful settings for real change - the wilderness - which happens right then and there. These outdoor therapy programs specialize in working with adolescents who have behavioral, emotional and substance abuse issues as well as defiant teens, out of control teens, teens with ADD, teens with ADHD and troubled teens. Wilderness programs help to teach teens discipline and to gain self-esteem. Wilderness programs are located all across the United States.
The truth is there is no expectation that the adolescent will go willingly.
Experts have found that the out-of-doors is beneficial for working with young people exhibiting emotion-driven behavior problems.
Are you asking yourself - How is it that my teen who is unable to learn the values of honesty, responsibility, and trust at home or school can acquire this awareness by attending a wilderness program? The majority of teens enrolled in wilderness programs have been unable to find relief and success at home through traditional therapies or counseling because when an issue arises it is not dealt with right then and there.
Successful wilderness programs work to interrupt this unsuccessful pattern by empowering teens through a challenging, structured emotional and physical growth curriculum in which each adolescent can seek out and discover the tools he or she needs to move forward toward adulthood.
Wilderness programs work well with the challenging and defiant teen that has a low self-image and finds it difficult to trust anyone.
Many of these teens see manipulation of others as the best way to get what they feel they need. They are terrific at manipulation.
The truth is, in their view there are no consequences for their actions, only bargaining sessions; often, their favored tactic is to try to confuse or shift the issue away from the focus which is on themselves.
When that fails, they may become depressed, self-destructive, violent, or run away.
Wilderness programs are designed to address and identify the root causes of each teens failure to accept personal accountability.
This is accomplished by taking advantage of the heightened emotional access that an outdoor wilderness environment produces.
Troubled teens find themselves in unfamiliar surroundings where verbal manipulation no longer works.
In the wilderness, consequences are easily seen and quickly felt, right then and there. 
What nature teaches your troubled teen in the wilderness:
- Consequences (they cannot talk their way out of it)
- Decision-making (what they decide to do determines how the experience turns out)
- Goal setting (their comfort is within their power)
- The need for action (it won’t happen unless they make it happen)
- To take responsibility for themselves (nobody else is going to do it for them)
Valuable life lessons are taught to your teen throughout the experience:
- Crossing a river as a group can teach trust and teamwork
- Hiking farther than they thought possible brings light to their own self-imposed limitations
- Preparing a fire requires discipline and patience
Basic and vital lessons are learned every day in the wilderness program.
One important advantage of living close to nature is that behavioral choices are limited, and their consequences are clear and immediate.
Back at home, available choices are almost unlimited, and the consequences are frequently unclear.
When a teen is lagging in her or his emotional growth, sometimes a well-structured wilderness program w
hich is highly-supportive can change attitudes when everything else has failed. Most wilderness programs focus on family and interpersonal relationships as well as individual accountability. This type of program also has proven to be highly effective as a first intervention for teens going on to a specialized boarding school or emotional growth program.
The truth is that wilderness helps adolescents begin to learn that they can be independent, safe and successful away from their family and friends.
When the adolescent is going on to another program, it is very important that parental involvement remain a primary part of the teen's treatment.
Parental involvement is a powerful reinforcing tool to ensure that each teen will continue to grow and learn long after the program ends.
The programs run about six to eight weeks long and begin the process for the student in gaining insight into their behavioral patterns.
This time also gives parents and their educational consultant an opportunity to assess the next best steps.Some wilderness programs arrange formal psychological testing in the field. Test results can be invaluable to understanding past behaviors as well as what the teen may need in their next environment. Selecting an appropriate wilderness program requires great care. They are not all the same.
Communication policies, insurance records, licensing documents, program philosophies, safety protocols, staff qualifications, and the type of terrain are some of the things a parent needs to learn about before committing to an outdoor wilderness program.
It also is strongly recommended that recent parent references (and, when possible, student references) be obtained.
The only way most parents can get comfortable with the notion of their teen receiving any benefit from sleeping on the ground is to talk to parents who once had the same reservations.
Wilderness does work for most families who have a troubled teen.
