Just after deciding upon my topic of Wilderness Therapy for my research paper, I went to visit my sister who was vacationing with friends in the Outer Banks. After spending the weekend with them, they begged me to stay longer and not to go back to school. They joked that they had all of the knowledge they needed to teach me my classes. I asked, "Who knows about the wilderness as a sacred place?" assuming this class would surely throw them off. Sean, my sister's friend I had never met, said actually "I'm a wilderness therapy guide." I was astonished and also excited. I spent the next few hours learning about his experiences with the program. Sean works for Alaska Crossings, a wilderness therapy program based in Southeast Alaska.
They provide 51 day wilderness programs with "at risk youth" ages 12-18.Each program consists of a ocean canoeing, river canoeing and mountaineering expedition. At the foundation of their curriculum is the acronym P.A.D.D.L.E.R. It stands for Purposeful, Affiliation, Direction, Discipline, Leadership, Efficacy, and Risk reduction. It is the responsibility of the guides to introduce and develop upon these concepts, one for each week of the program. I exchanged phone numbers with Sean and got to speak to him again later into my research to ask more questions. I am so happy that I had the chance to meet Sean as he was a huge help in my research.
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