Adventure based therapy
Adventure based therapy (ABT) uses adventurous activities to elicit participant disequilibrium. This provides opportunities for the facilitator to co-regulate with the participant, assist them to overcome challenges and transfer the skills and knowledge gained during the experience to real life applications. It exposes participants to a safe but uncomfortable level of risk to intentionally create disequilibrium (Fletcher and Hinkle, 2002).
ABT can be adapted for different populations to achieve a broad range of desired outcomes. Studies show that ABT can be an effective therapy for at risk youth (Norton et al, 2014), victims of abuse (Fletcher and Hinkle), families (Liermann and Norton, 2016) and the homeless (Shehade. And Kyriakopoulos, 2021). ABT can work synergistically with more conventional counselling or psychological therapies. It can often unlock the participants’ ability to identify thoughts, feelings and beliefs, bringing them to the surface so they can be explored further with qualified professionals.
Improvements in psychological, sociological and physical well-being are typical in participants of ABT. Psychological benefits can include improvements in self-concept, confidence, logical reasoning, reflective thinking, decision making and problem solving. When participating in a group, participants may also enhance communication skills, leadership skills and co-operation with others. Other sociological benefits include improved conflict resolution, increased likelihood of collaboration with others and increased trust in others (Fletcher and Hinkle). ABT is usually physically challenging and brings with it the all of the benefits of physical activity including improved cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health.
Simply participating in an adventure is not sufficient enough to achieve desired outcomes. The role of the facilitator is essential for transference of the ABT experience to real life applications. Programming, facilitating and debriefing are vital elements for transference. Facilitators must build a therapeutic relationship with participants. This requires the use of soft skills such as attuning with participants, building trust, empathy, reflective listening and observation. It also requires hard skills such as the skills necessary to conduct activities like abseiling, rock climbing and hiking (Newman et al, 2023).
Luke is a trusted professional. With 7+ years of experience as a residential youth worker, 2+ years of experience facilitating outdoor recreation camps and a lifetime of experience exploring the outdoors, Luke is well equipped to get the most out of each and every adventure experience. He holds qualifications in community services, youth work, out of home care, fitness, abseiling, rock climbing and hiking. Luke is also undertaking an undergraduate degree in applied social science majoring in counselling. While Luke isn’t qualified to conduct professional counselling yet, he possesses suitable qualifications and life experience to offer therapeutic, adventure-based experiences, assist participants to transfer the skills gained during adventure activities to real life applications and creating a “restore point” for participants to come back to when experiencing real life challenges.
ABT can be adapted for different populations to achieve a broad range of desired outcomes. Studies show that ABT can be an effective therapy for at risk youth (Norton et al, 2014), victims of abuse (Fletcher and Hinkle), families (Liermann and Norton, 2016) and the homeless (Shehade. And Kyriakopoulos, 2021). ABT can work synergistically with more conventional counselling or psychological therapies. It can often unlock the participants’ ability to identify thoughts, feelings and beliefs, bringing them to the surface so they can be explored further with qualified professionals.
Improvements in psychological, sociological and physical well-being are typical in participants of ABT. Psychological benefits can include improvements in self-concept, confidence, logical reasoning, reflective thinking, decision making and problem solving. When participating in a group, participants may also enhance communication skills, leadership skills and co-operation with others. Other sociological benefits include improved conflict resolution, increased likelihood of collaboration with others and increased trust in others (Fletcher and Hinkle). ABT is usually physically challenging and brings with it the all of the benefits of physical activity including improved cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health.
Simply participating in an adventure is not sufficient enough to achieve desired outcomes. The role of the facilitator is essential for transference of the ABT experience to real life applications. Programming, facilitating and debriefing are vital elements for transference. Facilitators must build a therapeutic relationship with participants. This requires the use of soft skills such as attuning with participants, building trust, empathy, reflective listening and observation. It also requires hard skills such as the skills necessary to conduct activities like abseiling, rock climbing and hiking (Newman et al, 2023).
Luke is a trusted professional. With 7+ years of experience as a residential youth worker, 2+ years of experience facilitating outdoor recreation camps and a lifetime of experience exploring the outdoors, Luke is well equipped to get the most out of each and every adventure experience. He holds qualifications in community services, youth work, out of home care, fitness, abseiling, rock climbing and hiking. Luke is also undertaking an undergraduate degree in applied social science majoring in counselling. While Luke isn’t qualified to conduct professional counselling yet, he possesses suitable qualifications and life experience to offer therapeutic, adventure-based experiences, assist participants to transfer the skills gained during adventure activities to real life applications and creating a “restore point” for participants to come back to when experiencing real life challenges.
accessing abt services
ABT is available by referral only. Government and non government organisations, not for profit community services and private mental health clinicians can access ABT for their clients. We offer individual or group sessions. Contact us to arrange an obligation free consultation to discuss how we can use ABT to achieve desired outcomes for your clients.