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Alex Douglas-Kane shares her experiences and understanding of Discover Nature Awareness


Friday 13 February 2009

Once again an extract from Simon Crisp’s:

International Models of Best Practice in Wilderness and Adventure Therapy on key terms used within the world on Nature-based Therapy.


Wilderness-adventure Therapy

‘Wilderness-adventure therapy’ can be thought of as distinct from, but related to the previous two types. Here wilderness activities may be done in a short session format, or where a natural (but not necessarily isolated) environment is used for an adventure therapy type of activity. Examples include: rock-climbing or abseiling on natural rock or a caving activity conducted in a real cave, over several hours or within a day. The activity does not extend over night (so there is minimal emphasis on community living), but the activities utilize qualities of the natural environment. For research purposes ‘Wilderness-adventure therapy’ in particular should be differentiated from ‘wilderness therapy’ and from ‘adventure therapy’.


Therapeutic Wilderness Camping

Therapeutic wilderness camping involves long-term residential camping in primitive accommodation in an isolated area (see Gass, 1993, p10). Typically, the isolated setting underscores a model of community living. Emphasis is placed on the development of pro-social relationships through a structured program of behaviourally moderated privileges. It can be distinguished from ‘base camp wilderness therapy’ through its extended time-frame format (usually a minimum of 12-15 months full-time). Additionally, a focus is given to the comfort that comes from individual effort in shaping the environment through hut building, furniture making, etc. The setting also often involves a developed site with permanent fixtures and ancillary buildings and facilities.

Simon Crisp 1996 pages 10 – 11.

Were does Natural Awareness I guess it falls between these categories? Primarily it falls under Wilderness-adventure Therapy unless of course I take people to a remote location in which case it comes under Therapeutic Wilderness Camping.

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