Wilderness Therapy encourages {State} teens to learn valuable life skills
Wilderness therapy programs provide {State} teens a secure and supportive environment for self-discovery. Teens who are removed from a negatively influential environment are allowed greater freedoms to explore themselves, their skills and improve relationships with their families. Programs are designed to create challenges found within a {State} teen’s family and social environments. Teens learn how to develop health relationships, learn applicable life skills and process their own issues with guided support of licensed professionals. 
{State} teens who experience wilderness therapy learn to self-advocate, be assertive, use open communication and participate in peer groups. Programs issue a series of increasingly challenging tasks that each teen must overcome to succeed. These tasks mimic a problem one might find in social situations and involve a great deal of patience. Each teen navigates these tasks with the assistance of a therapist and sometimes within a peer group. Teens often join their peers to overcome a task and develop self-confidence, communication skills, cooperation skills, and trust.
A variety of other tasks in the wild may include learning primitive skills (such as fire starting or fishing), outdoor adventures (such as kayaking or backpacking), and even games designed for problem solving (such as rock climbing or rope courses). These tasks are coupled with traditional talk therapy so when a {State} teen is frustrated, they can discuss it with their therapist instead of bottling it up. Many programs include family weekends, where families visit and participate in these problem-solving games as well. Wilderness therapy brings families together and gives a teen a greater chance of success in the real world because an at-home support group is created.
