Wilderness therapy

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Wilderness therapy, also known as outdoor behavioral healthcare, is a treatment option for behavioral disorders, substance abuse, and mental health issues in adolescents.^[1] Patients spend time living outdoors with peers. Reports of abuse, deaths, and lack of research into efficacy have led to controversy, and there is no solid proof of its effectiveness in treating such behavioral disorders, substance abuse, and mental health issues in adolescents.

The term "wilderness therapy" is sometimes used interchangeably with "challenge courses, adventure-based therapy, wilderness experience programs, nature therapy, therapeutic camping, recreation therapy, outdoor therapy, open-air therapy and adventure camps."^[2] The lack of a consistent definition has created problems with comparing studies into the effectiveness of programs.^[2] To address this, an integrated definition of a wilderness therapy program is offered as one which "utilizes outdoor adventure activities, such as primitive skills and reflection, to enhance personal and interpersonal growth."^[2] Fernee et al. further distinguish wilderness therapy from adventure therapy by placing it within wilderness settings where the location and remoteness becomes a central part of the procedure, while also separating wilderness therapy from other forms of wilderness-based behavioural programs through the "clinical and therapeutic methods" that are applied.^[3]

In part, the lack of a concise definition comes from the different environments in which these therapies have developed: for example, within the US wilderness therapy can be seen to have emerged from youth camps and experiential education; in Scandinavia the approach is connected to the outdoor life tradition; in Australia and Canada it is tied more to Indigenous practises.^[2][4]