The Benefits of Wilderness Therapeutic Programs

If your teenager is struggling to control his or her behavior, there may be a solution.

There have been numerous successes of teens transitioning from an angry and out of control individual to being controlled and calm. Therapeutic wilderness programs are week-long activities where teenagers are led on a hike through the mountains to prevent their problems from completely consuming them.

During these wilderness programs, a group of teenagers are led by counselors to a remote area where they hike to an undisclosed location. During this trip, physical exhaustion brings down their defensive nature and forces them to work with each other to accomplish multiple tasks that are set before them. The program also gives the teens an opportunity to express their feelings, regardless of what they say. By giving them opportunities to speak out loud, the counselors tend to find out what caused their troubled past.

One of the most challenging aspects of this program is the physical demands and tolls that it takes on the teenagers. The trek is such a demand that they need to develop a natural sense of awareness and teamwork or deal with the untimely consequences. For some of the teens that enter this program, it may be the last chance that they get to turn their lives around. This is only one of the various types of programs that are available for troubled children and teenagers. A boot camp for teenagers is another alternative that parents send children to. Utilizing a strict and disciplinary regimen, they undergo a grueling schedule that is both physically and mentally demanding.

Wood Creek Academy is a therapeutic boarding school for boys offering wilderness therapy programs unlike a typical juvenile boot camp.