Adventure therapy, sometimes referred to as outdoor therapy, is an emerging field of substance abuse treatment that is quickly growing in popularity. It combines nature and physical activity, two long-proven components that can facilitate healing, to provide recovering addicts with a highly engaging form of psychotherapy. It’s an approach to substance abuse that’s off the beaten path—literally!

Adventure therapy is an alternative addiction treatment approach that combines multiple psychological concepts (including traditional cognitive behavioral therapy) to promote physical and mental wellbeing through challenging physical activities. These activities can be conducted indoors or outdoors and in rural or urban settings. The benefits? Clients will face challenges that require real-time problem solving and decision-making skills and promote a goal-orientated mindset. These activities are usually conducted in a group setting, many of which require teamwork to accomplish successfully. This encourages recovering addicts to bond with their peers and re-learn valuable social skills for when they re-enter society. The hands-on nature of these challenges encourage mindfulness, patience, self-confidence, and a host of other positive qualities long after the adventure is over. Clients learn to trust themselves and regain a sense of control, independence, and accomplishment.

Types of Adventure Therapy

Who says substance abuse treatment can’t be fun? Games, challenge courses, and wilderness-based programming make for a dynamic treatment approach that can boost social skills and self-esteem but also leave clients with a fun new hobby (an important part of relapse prevention). Here are a few of the types of activities offered through Moving Mountains Recovery adventure therapy:

• Hiking
• Fishing
• Skiing
• Snowboarding
• Rock Climbing
• Kayaking

The inherent nature of adventure therapy makes it remarkably well-suited for countering the negative mindset that can arise from long-term substance. Anxiety and self-doubt become a thing of the past as adventure-based challenges are faced and overcome. With the help of adrenaline-pumping activities and a hands-on approach, substance abuse clients learn that they can accomplish so much more than they initially believed, and gain real-world skills that are applicable well beyond the scope of addiction treatment. At Moving Mountains Recovery, we’ve witnessed the incredible transformative effect outdoor-based therapy can have on adults and teens recovering from drug use. Creating those opportunities for personal growth begins with removing ourselves from our comfort zone, and there are no better means of doing that than the great outdoors. Clients leave our adventure therapy course with a team mindset and a newfound sense of accomplishment that sets them up for success in recovery and day-to-day life.