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What Is Wilderness Therapy for Troubled Girls from La Grande, OR?

Wilderness therapy is a form of adventure-based, outdoor-residential therapy used to address underlying mental, emotional, and even spiritual issues that cause self-destructive living habits in troubled girls (including those from La Grande, OR).

What sets wilderness programs apart from other types of residential treatment is that the entire healing process takes place outdoors in a natural, wild environment - typically, many miles removed from civilization; even hundreds of miles removed from La Grande, OR.


Wilderness Therapy for Troubled Teen Girls La Grande Oregon OR

Does Wilderness Therapy Work? 

Wilderness therapy is defined as a treatment that uses outdoor expeditions as a means of addressing and psychiatrically treating behavioral and mental health issues. Established in the mid-20th century, wilderness therapy has quickly become one of the most popular and most successful forms of troubled teen treatment in America. 

Wilderness therapy has become one of the most popularly used troubled teen treatment methods in America today. As for its ever-rising popularity, experts say it's because of wilderness therapy’s unique approach to treating the behavioral and mental health issues in troubled teens, which are unquestionably successful in rehabilitating the nation’s troubled teenage boys and girls. 

The methodology behind the nation’s most successful wilderness therapy programs is simple: to provide a secure, non-critical, and supportive environment in which troubled teens can achieve ‘self-discovery.’ While engaged, teens in wilderness therapy are able to examine the maladaptive behaviors which led them to their current state, and furthermore, fully realize why they acted on such behaviors in the first place. 

The remote and naturally healing environment of the wilderness then allows teens to reconcile with the reasons why they were sent there, and most importantly, it allows them to work through the underlying issues which caused their ‘out of control behaviors in the first place. This epiphany of self-discovery is the key to most of the most skilled and expert wilderness therapy program’s overwhelming success rate of rehabilitation. 

Further research into why wilderness therapy is successful shows us that its functionality, both that of natural and psychiatrically added, are responsible. You see, challenges that teens face during their time at wilderness therapy are designed to mirror the challenges of the outside world. The only difference between facing challenges simulated in the wilderness is that they are faced in an environment that is void of any negative distractions.   

Wilderness Therapy is Clinically Proven to be Effective in Treating Serious Mental Health Issues

There is no more significant threat to our nation's youth (including teenage girls from La Grande, OR) than mental health-related issues in today's America. Recent polls show that one out of five teens lives with depression, anxiety, or a mixture of the two.

These epidemic-like numbers are even more concerning because suicide is currently the third-leading cause of death among teenagers.

Luckily for parents of depressed teenage girls from the La Grande, OR area, wilderness therapy is a research-supported treatment provenly effective in treating depression, anxiety, and stress - more so than more traditional, indoor-based facilities.

As for why outdoor-based treatment programs are better suited to treat mental health-related issues than indoor programs, research says it combines several factors. For example, hiking (an obviously significant part of outdoor-based therapy) is clinically proven to reduce negative thinking patterns and harmful brain activity, known as rumination.

Studies have also shown that when immersed in nature, a teenage girl's brain improve her neuroplasticity, causing them to become increasingly open to receiving therapy.

Navigating the challenging environment of the wilderness also helps form bonds between teens and clinical staff. This organic relational development builds long-lasting trust between teen and their therapist. Developing and building upon the trust between camper and caregiver is crucial in a mentally ill teenage girl's willingness, ability, and overall likelihood of effectively treating their underlying mental health-related issues.

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. - Ephesians 4:11–16

Mental Health Counseling in La Grande, OR for Struggling Teenage Girls

Families from La Grande, OR have made MasterNet their first choice for child recovery and support. Parents, investigating assistance for their child, can expect a team of compassionate, licensed therapists and leaders here at MasterNet. MasterNet operates from the understanding that "recovery" must come from the inside-out, not from the outside-in. We are devoted to the life skills development and experiential education for all teenage girls, who may be wrestling with gender dysphoria, pornography addiction (online or magazines), or separation anxiety challenges, but also the entire family; with the support they need for lasting recovery.

MasterNet recognizes that the circumstances of one at-risk child does not always apply to other girls. As a result, our expert therapists are devoted to the administration of each student’s needs; a commitment illustrated by their expert professionalism and sympathy. Here at MasterNet, we include the entire family (especially the parents) in the process of our student’s therapy, recovery, and progress.

Our purpose is to see your at-risk child make a successful transition into adulthood, while living independently as a dignified young adult. Don’t hesitate to contact MasterNet’s intake counselors for more information regarding enrollment, tuition, and insurance options. For testimonials from current and past MasterNet families, reach out to our team; call one of our licensed intake counselors at (435) 574-4518, and discover how we can offer a variety of relevant residential treatment strategies (equine, life training, behavioral therapy) for your struggling child today!

“Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness; Revive me, O Lord, according to Your ordinances.” Psalms 119:149