Discover
Your Potential
Wilderness Therapy is an effective approach to engaging young people who are struggling with a variety of difficult life circumstances through a participatory process of change.
The combination of nature, small group and adventure activities are found to provide powerful experiences of learning and change in both educational and therapeutic contexts.
Exodus programs are committed to helping adolescents and youth at risk. They aim to assist these young people in overcoming emotional, adjustment, addiction and psychological problems through challenging themselves both physically and mentally. This is achieved by placing the client/group in activities that challenge dysfunctional behaviours and reward functional change.
Therapeutic programs offered are either ‘hard skill’ based or ‘soft skill’ based. Programs which are hard skilled or soft skilled will foster different forms of personal growth and inspiration. The programs that are hard skilled involve vigorous exercise and elements of risk – real or perceived, and activities with competition. Hard skill activities include:
- Hikes
- Rock climbing
- Abseiling
- Rope courses
- River crossings
- White water canoeing
- Mountain biking
A soft skilled program promotes insight, evaluation and reflection about one’s patterns of behaviour, values, beliefs, and motivations. Soft skill activities include:
- Trust activities
- Group problem solving
- Reflection
- Solo activities
- Journals
- Cooperation
- Time management / planning
Through utilising a combination of hard skilled and soft skilled activities each individual is encouraged and supported to foster different forms of personal growth and inspiration. Programs can be tailored to focus on one of or a combination of the following risk factors:
- Social skills and interpersonal competence
- Anger management
- Impulse control
- Empathy
- Respect
- Trust
- Substance abuse
- Teamwork
- Communication
- Problem solving
- Early aggressiveness
- Boundaries
- Low school commitment
- Personal health
- Bullying
- Peer leadership
- Self awareness
- Self esteem
- Self confidence
Exodus has a strength-based focus. The best and most effective programs do not focus on a single risk domain such as the family, community or the peer group, but instead focuses on several domains. This can be achieved by assessing client‚s individual protective factors. Through identifying each individual‚s strengths, it enables the program facilitators to determine which activities and interventions are likely to work. This is achieved through an assessment period conducted prior to activities/camps by a qualified and highly experienced counsellor.