Locations
Admissions
Menu
Admissions
Locations
Counselor teaching wilderness skills

Adventure Therapy

The benefits of adventure therapy while remaining connected to families, support systems, schools, and social environments

 

A New Approach to Adventure Therapy

The growth and transformation that occurs in the outdoors is often exponentially greater than “talk therapy” can provide alone. However, the key is integrating the changes into the home and community environment. We offer a unique and fresh approach to adventure and experiential interventions to foster positive change in the moment, then immediately bring those changes back home to sustain progress.

Wilderness adventure rafting trip collage

EQUINOX ADVENTURE EXPERIENCES

Venues and specific activities—to include rock and ice climbing, backpacking, peak ascents, rafting, and mountain biking—are purposefully chosen to cultivate personal responsibility, self-worth, empowerment and connection in relationships.

Counselor leading a pair of teens on a hike during wilderness therapy

Empowerment

Equinox believes the use of expert-led adventure therapy is a necessary complement to traditional therapies and is often a critical component in helping those with complex emotional, behavioral and psychological challenges.

 

Teens holding hands during wilderness adventure

Family & Connection

Adventure therapy supports lasting self-confidence and relationship skills when youth remain connected with their families and community.

We're here to help! Get started by completing our initial qualification form.

×

Shorter in Length

Our adventure therapy experiences are purposefully shorter in length and scheduled with a frequency that supports the treatment goals of therapy. Weekend or multi-day programs are designed to address your child’s therapeutic needs and create a balance of fun, healthy challenges, and treatment-specific interventions which allow them to generalize these experiences into "real-life" situations.

Engage the Whole Family

Each family has opportunities for action-based learning and challenging experiences to practice relationship skills, new belief systems, and coping skills.  These complement what is being learned in Individual or Family Therapy and we design an experience that involves everyone.

Keep Families Together

Most wilderness therapy programs are designed to occur over several weeks or months in a remote wilderness environment with little to no interaction with family and local communities. While this approach may be beneficial for some, Equinox believes that lasting results of wilderness therapy are much more likely to occur when youth remain connected with their families, support systems, schools, and social environments.

Personalized for Every Client

This is not "one experience fits all." We recommend interventions at very specific junctures of your child’s treatment and choose the adventure activities or experiential settings based on their individual needs. Group adventures are incorporated in situations where several clients would benefit from shared experiences with peers.

Bringing the Experience Home

Adventure and experiential programs can become a prime opportunity for families to practice what has been learned outside of the home. They develop effective new skills, habits and responses for successfully navigating day-to-day challenges while empowering them to engage in a way that promotes fun, teamwork, and problem-solving as a family.

Extending the work done

Equinox delivers an advanced level of care for transitioning youth home from their therapeutic adventure experience. Creating this level of care extends the valuable work done through the therapeutic adventures and gives the parent a new option for sustained results when transitioning youth back to their homes and families.

Learning New Skills

Learning many new skills from therapeutic adventures allows kids to find a sense of self-confidence, and trust their ability to count on peers and leaders. Families need guidance and support to ensure the significant learning that occurred in the wilderness is brought back to everyday relationships and interactions.

Learn More About Our Components of Care

Proof of Success →

Learn More About Why We’re Different →

Get to Know Us

Find out if we're a good fit for your family.

Learn More