01
On Our Grounds
A clinician, an appropriate staff ratio, and a plan for a teen who wants to quit. The challenge is chosen in advance, never sprung on anyone.
Adventure Therapy For Teens
A clinician-led group challenge on our campus, for teenagers who shut down when they have to sit and talk, followed by a real conversation about what happened.
- 30-90 days
- Ages 12-17
- Optional
What this is
Doing The Hard Thing Instead Of Discussing It
This is a group challenge on our campus, with a clinician taking part and a conversation afterward. The point is fear, trust, and a teenager doing something they would never have started in a therapy room. Individual therapy still leads the plan. This is not a wilderness program and not a survival course run somewhere else.
When sitting in a chair is not working
- 01
Courage That Only Exists In Conversation
Your teen can talk about the difficult thing and still cannot do it, so we build a smaller version they can attempt.
- 02
A Group That Will Not Form Indoors
Peers and a shared task can create a team that a circle of chairs never manages to create.
- 03
Depression That Will Not Get Up
Activation that is not a pep talk. Your teen's body has to show up first, and then we find language for what that cost them.
- 04
Anxiety That Needs A Graded Step
A challenge on our grounds can be one step on the ladder, paced exactly like any other exposure work, with an easier version available.
- 05
ADHD That Needs A Real Task
Something with moving parts holds attention in a way a worksheet cannot, and we still have the conversation afterward.
- 06
Parents Who Hear Field Trip
We will tell you what the task was working on, and if it sounds like summer camp, we will say plainly that it is not.
How it works
Where The Group Challenge Happens
A group task on our grounds, a conversation afterward that names the fear, and a dinner table where your teen has to use it.
02
In The Debrief
What your teen's body did and who they relied on get put into words, because the session is not over when the activity ends.
03
Back At The Table
The same fear, in a smaller form, at dinner. Staff know what your teen is working on so the courage does not stay outside.
Our approach
Difficult Things That Are Still Treatment
An easier version always available, a clinician taking part, and skipped when weather, safety, or a refusal rules it out.
- Core of the plan
A Smaller Version Always Available
Your teen can take an easier version or decline entirely. This is a graded challenge with a debrief, not a dare.
A Clinician Takes Part
This is not recreation staff with a therapy label. The conversation afterward is required, or the hour was just a game.
Connected To The Exposure Plan
Anxiety work uses the same graded steps. A campus challenge is one step, and walking into a school hallway is another.
The Group Is Half The Treatment
Trust, having a role, and repairing things after snapping at someone all happen in the same hour.
- When needed
Skipped When Conditions Are Wrong
Safety, weather, a medical reason, or a teen who is not ready all mean we skip it that day.
Your part
This Is Not A Month In The Woods
You hear what the group task was working on. You do not get a camp story in place of the fear your teen actually faced.
Looks fun, are they at camp?
Ask Which Fear It Addressed
We will name the goal in plain language, and confirm it happened on our campus rather than in a wilderness program.
Are they hiking for a month?
Hearing The Debrief, Not An Itinerary
Family sessions cover what came out of the task. There is no itinerary, because this is not a wilderness course.
We'll sign them up for Outward Bound later.
Finding A Smaller Challenge At Home
The useful part is a smaller difficult thing written down for home, not an outdoor program enrollment after discharge.
Length of stay
30
days in residence, by progress
These challenges run alongside the 30 to 90 day stay rather than following a set schedule.
90
How This Fits Into A Stay
Group challenges happen inside a 30 to 90 day stay on our Southern California campus, not at a separate wilderness site. They do not replace individual therapy, and we skip them when safety, weather, or a teen's refusal rules them out. Aftercare means a next therapist who knows what your teen was working on.
- The first two weeks test whether this is a fit, and we never force a breakthrough during an activity.
- Most teens finish in one to three months, and some never do this at all because therapy alone was enough.
- Aftercare means a next therapist and a smaller challenge identified for home, not a wilderness waitlist.
When to call
Call Us. We'll Tell You If This House Fits.
If therapy sessions alone are not enough, or your teen will not get started, call Aaron Earnest and the admissions team. They will tell you whether a campus challenge belongs in the plan. If working with an animal fits better than a group task, our equine therapy page covers that.