why wilderness
Living outside, free of a roof and walls, provides a person with a sense of space, of enough room. This wide open arena can create a sense of exposure, of no where to hide. Both of these psychological responses provide access to areas within a person that have become a source of disease, of illness, due to suppression or repression. This power, inherent in wilderness, becomes a foundation for a unique spiritual life altering experience.
Chemically dependent persons often use substances to avoid emotional discomfort that results from daily stressors. The addicted person uses drugs in an attempt to manage their feelings. In turn, they use addictive behaviors to manipulate people and their surroundings in order to protect their relationship with the drug. This may lead a person to perceive that they have things "under control" when in reality their life is becoming unmanageable. Consequences of a person's choices and actions become readily apparent in the wilderness setting. The inescapable conclusion is that a person is responsible for the results of his or her actions. As this experience sinks in, a kind of confidence grows, a sense of competency and self-advocacy develops and a person becomes more deliberate in thought and action.
When this succession takes place within the social context of a small interdependent group, the potential for developing true intimacy with others is exponential. This experience can alter a person's understanding of the potential of human relatedness, and can form the basis of an optimistic and socially responsible adulthood. Living in small nomadic groups within a wilderness setting requires you to cooperate to solve challenges presented by the environment. Overcoming these challenges offers you a chance to practice assertive communication, to express your needs and your feelings. You build self confidence by being resourceful and using primitive living skills to solve problems. Friendships formed in wilderness are not based on drug use or maladaptive behaviors. Wilderness is a great equalizer.
Generations of humans have ventured into the wilderness to search for healing and meaning in their lives. In returning to the natural world you regain a sense of humility and awe. The environment seems to have a way of making a person "right sized." Most people actively engaged in addiction are usually engaged in emotionally and physically unhealthy behaviors. In the wilderness setting, we see how we generate most of the misery and upset in our lives by constantly seeking some form of diversion, some way to manipulate our experience to alter our thoughts and feelings. The natural world has an innate ability to heal people and this has profound effects on a person's mood and physical health. Simply being in the wilderness is therapeutic, inspirational. It is in identifying with nature, the power and the beauty both beyond and within simultaneously, that a person develops the capacity to withstand his or her own experience.
Basic activities and routines like hiking, regulating sleep and a balanced diet help the chemically dependent person start their recovery. The simplicity of life in the wilderness brings rich meaning to acts that can be taken for granted in our "modern world." The spiritual journey, clinical interventions and over 1200 square miles of land in our course area combine to shape a powerful treatment experience.