The trio of authors created a book directed towards professionals, including mental health experts, and even mainstreams school administrators that are interested in incorporating adventure therapy into their curriculum to enhance their knowledge and showcase the value of this up-and-coming therapy.
Adventure Therapy is an excellent read that carries much value and well-researched information. For those that are seeking an alternate form of therapy that reform schools for boys simply cannot provide, you might be in for a huge surprise.
Wilderness therapy programs are popping up all over the place. And, according to the authors, the field has evolved from a simple “divergent therapy” to an efficacious form of therapy that engages clients on cognitive and behavioral levels. The authors masterfully weave together both well-reasoned theory and promising research that showcases how much of a benefit these programs are to society.
The writing style is extremely easy to read, informative, and honest. As mentioned earlier, this book will most likely find itself in the hands of educators or health professionals, but those that are unfamiliar with the field will find that there’s a lot more to understand about wilderness therapy than people think. For instance, if parents that are seeking out a school for troubled teens have second thoughts about the value and efficiency of what the school is promising, they can become more informed about the how the challenged youth have overcome their struggles and eliminate their inner demons by simply investing themselves into adventure therapy.
Furthermore, this book is completely unbiased. The authors even go into detail about how certain programs dealt with deaths from dehydration, accidents, etc., due to inadequate training or lack of leadership from the staff. The controversial aspects of adventure therapy aren’t overlooked and are thrown right at you. There’s no hiding the fact that there have been mishaps at certain camps, no doubt that. And, the authors aren’t trying to cover these errors up in any way either. Rather, they’re primary goal is to inform the reader about everything that adventure therapy has achieved up to today.