Pathfinder Wilderness Placement

After working with families coming out of wilderness programs, residential treatment centers, and therapeutic boarding schools for years we have seen that a majority of our families come out of whichever treatment track tend to have very similar experiences of struggle as they integrate back into a family unit. With many kids, they are able to accept that they needed some level of intervention and that wilderness fulfilled that role effectively. We had a sense that a significant percentage of the adolescents and young adults being sent to wilderness were, in turn, being over treated with the secondary placement into a long term program.

Making the decision to send your child to a Wilderness Therapy program is one of the biggest you will make at this phase of their lives. For most families, the intervention of Wilderness, when properly prepared for, is enough to realign the family dynamics sufficiently enough to allow their child to come home after completing their treatment.

There were several refrains throughout my childhood and adolescence; “He can’t wait to be called on in class.” “He would have had an A if he turned in any homework.” And my favorite, “He has so much potential, if only he would apply himself.” Any kid growing up with undiagnosed ADHD could name a dozen others that sting somewhere deep. I had the double-edged sword of intellectual abilities that both allowed me to compensate and fall through the cracks.